Tools to Help You Teach Middle School ELA
What is one of the best ways for students to learn close reading skills? Annotation. But, how do we avoid the dreaded entire-page-is-highlighted syndrome? Have no fear, because these easy steps will have your students writing amazing annotations in no time. What is annotation? The quick answer is that annotation means taking notes on what […] Read more…
Descriptive writing seems like it should be easy to teach, yet it is one of the most popular posts on my site, and I receive the most questions about teaching it. We know what we want our students to do, but they still struggle. There are plenty of reasons for this, but let’s start by […] Read more…
Ready to use mini lessons in your writing workshop, but not sure how? This post will take you the entire process from choosing your lessons to teaching. Let’s get started! What’s a mini lesson? A mini lesson is a short, 10 – 15 minute lesson that you teach by modeling a skill for your students. […] Read more…
Your principal tells you that you need a yearlong plan or a year-at-a-glance (YAG)…great. Now what is that and how do you create it? Here’s the easiest way to do that. Just read on. What is a yearlong plan? A yearlong plan is an overview of what you’ll be teaching all year. It will save […] 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…
Decoupage a boring stool or chair to create an author’s chair that will give your students a special place to sit and share their writing. Here are author’s chair ideas for creating your own: A few summers ago I made this stool for my classroom. My students loved it but were only allowed to use […] Read more…
What are types of propaganda? It surrounds us. And 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 are everywhere! Let’s get started: Start with propaganda they know There are so many modern propaganda […] Read more…
Need to engage your students? Whether you are teaching a creative writing class or a traditional one, here are fun, quick writing activities you can use to any time to get your reluctant writers — writing! They are great when: It’s great to have quick, fun creative writing exercises and lesson plans to turn to […] Read more…
You need easier and faster ways to grade. When you teach English Language Arts, assessing never ends! While you can’t always eliminate grading, there are ways to save time. Here are 11 tips you can use to reduce your workload. When you were getting certified to teach ELA, they didn’t tell you the unspoken secret: […] Read more…
Ready to host a reading challenge with your class? Whether you want your students to read 4 or 40 books this year, here are some ideas that will help you be successful. The Problem with a Reading Challenge It’s no secret that middle school students aren’t spending as much time reading as they are on […] Read more…