Most teachers read professional development books over the summer months. Sometimes, groups of educators get together and tackle them as part of a school-wide or department-wide book study during the…
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Considering diving into reader’s notebooks with middle and high school students? You’ll have some decisions to make! Reader’s notebooks are not a new concept, but recently, I’ve had several discussions…
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Arranging your secondary classroom for the first time, or maybe just looking for ways to switch things up? In this post, you’ll find over 20 helpful ideas for everything from…
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You know the the feeling you get when you walk into a classroom in which there is a true love and appreciation for books? It’s palpable. I like to call…
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Looking for meaningful summer learning activities for teens? This post contains rewarding ideas for working with older students during the summer months. It’s the end of the year. You’ve made…
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Wondering how to help students improve their writing skills and confidence? Model writing by writing aloud! To be honest, when I began teaching, I had very little idea how to…
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This post is part of a series about reading instruction. To start from the beginning, read about getting to know your readers. When teachers plan reading curriculum in secondary, the…
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Searching for ways to teach reading meaningfully in secondary? Welcome! This post – Getting to Know Your Readers – is the first in a series about how to teach reading…
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Nearing the end of the school year? Keep students engaged. Try these end of the year activities for secondary ELA. Sometimes teachers feel guilty about incorporating fun lessons at the…
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Lesson transitions can be frustrating when they don’t go smoothly. Move from one activity to the next efficiently using these simple tips for classroom transitions. Imagine this: You’re teaching an…
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Engaging grammar games for review in the middle or high school ELA classroom Like many other skills, grammar concepts need to be reviewed. It’s okay to move on from a…
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Whether you’re helping students prepare for a unit assessment, mid-terms, final exams, or standardized tests, effective exam review strategies are important. I’ve written about maximizing review time previously. In this…
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Do you ever feel like you’re not sure what to do with the students who…fail vocabulary quizzes, struggle to write essays, find grammar challenging, or grapple with literary analysis? It…
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Book cover lessons? If they aren’t a thing, they should be. If books were ever cool, the time is now. Classroom libraries are taking the world by storm, teachers are…
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Figurative language is easy to make one of the most engaging aspects of an ELA class. By nature, it is playful. Because it can be paired with pretty much any…
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Did you land on this post while searching for ways to make poetry less painful…more exciting…more interactive…more creative? Maybe you’re starting your first poetry unit, or maybe you need a…
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Wondering how to teach grammar? People have strong opinions about whether or not it should be taught. Grammar has even been referred to by Grammar Alive as the “skunk at the…
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As the push for choice reading gains momentum, many teachers have been wondering about how to balance independent reading with class novels. Some wonder, is there still a place for…
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Color-coding strategies are fun, but they also wield a deeper value. Colors can have a positive impact on memory and attention. Using color-coding is a great way to provide scaffolding…
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Looking for books to challenge middle school students while also retaining an element of “appropriateness” in terms of content? Try this list of teacher-recommended texts.