"MOOD AND TONE"

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 …

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 …

“You’re Never too Old to be Young: Using Picture Books with Older Students” is part one of a series about using picture books to teach middle school and high school …

Inside this Post:  Are your graphic organizers getting stale? Unlock the power of specialized graphic organizers, and watch critical thinking soar. (I’ll also be speaking about this topic at a …

You’ve just asked one of the most thought-provoking questions of your teaching career, and you look out upon a sea of faces with anticipation. Fully expecting students to exude wonder …

If you are a middle or high school teacher, and you’re not incorporating picture books in your curriculum, why not!? Creating mini lessons with short texts is one of the …

Trying to fill out that silly classroom supply list request form? Teachers in many schools are asked to complete one every year, but – for many reasons – these forms …

With the rise of independent reading and workshop approaches, many secondary ELA teachers are looking for mentor text recommendations. How can we encourage students to connect whole-class lessons to independent …

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 …

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 …