Sane and Simple Tools to Help You Teach Middle School ELA
What do writing anxiety and a trip to the hospital have in common? As of the date on this post, I’m recovering from a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction. While I was in the hospital, I spent a good part of the day (and nights) discussing, describing and rating my pain. This was facilitated by […] Read more…
Elementary school teachers can get away with wearing all kinds of cute outfits. What about a middle school teacher’s wardrobe? We have the sharp-eyed teens checking out what we wear…and didn’t you wear that blouse last week? Still, we don’t have to wear boring/safe clothes. Just a few fun pieces added to your basic teacher […] Read more…
Are you ready for the end of school? Exciting? Sure… just sometimes too exciting! Keeping students engaged and still learning until the last few days can seem like a herculean task — especially if you’re finished with standardized testing. What can you do to keep your students engaged, fun, and different ways to end the school year? […] Read more…
Looking for a unique gift for a teacher? Most teachers have plenty of mugs and candles — but here’s a list of some thoughtful, fun, unique items that would make wonderful teacher gifts — any time of year. This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure policy here. 13 Unique Gifts for […] Read more…
Teaching our students to be critical thinkers is more important than ever. One (fun!) way to do this is to teach about how propaganda is used in popular culture. Examples abound! Start with propaganda they know Your students may be surprised to realize how pervasive propaganda is in their lives. Just by asking them to […] Read more…
Help your students create a resource book that is more than just a place to record notes or homework. Teach your students how to make their notebooks a true resource. At the end of the school year, do your students drop their notebooks into the recycling bin as they leave the classroom? 😩 A year’s worth […] Read more…
Do you use daily writing warm ups at the beginning of your writing class? How can you make the most of them? Here are a few suggestions: Writing warm ups + timer Here’s the scene: Your students come into the classroom. As they do every day, they work on a sentence or paragraph on the […] Read more…
Elementary teachers have Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein; high school teachers have T.S. Elliot and William Butler Yeats, but what about middle school? Here are 12 poems that seem to be written specifically for that special group. Poems that will speak loud and clear to your students! 12 poems that speak to middle school students […] Read more…
Students often struggle with poetry writing because, as the narrator of Love that Dog says, “anything can be a poem if you write short lines.” Teaching students how to write poetry can also help you teach the elements of poetry. Poetry Writing with Four Fun Forms 1. The Blackout Poem Students can hardly resist this poetry […] Read more…
The granddaddy of poems: the sonnet. Of all the poetry forms we can teach, it’s the most intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be! What’s to love about sonnets? Sonnets provide the “whole enchilada” for poetry study: rhyme, rhythm, meter, quatrains, couplet, figurative language, volta (turn). You can teach a whole unit on poetic elements […] Read more…