Sane and Simple Tools to Help You Teach Middle School ELA
How should you teach persuasive writing? Here are some tips and tricks to get your students started. What is persuasive writing? Before sending your students off to write, make sure they understand what persuasive writing is. Persuasive writing is designed to convince the reader to think or act a certain way. Persuasive writing employs these […] Read more…
No matter how entertaining you are, your students still need to move around and talk during class. Here are some great ways to get students moving, talking, problem solving, and interacting with different classmates. What’s the perfect size for grouping students? Students often struggle in groups. One student make take over and do all the […] Read more…
Looking for fresh ideas for lesson planning? Here are suggestions for what to teach in March. Here are some important events this month that you’ll want to be sure to add to your calendar: March is Women’s History Month The first week of the month is “Write a Letter of Appreciation” week Read Across America […] Read more…
Ready to teach expository writing? Before your students jump into expository writing, make sure they understand what it is. What is expository writing? Whether you refer to it as expository or informative writing, expository texts explain. They inform the reader about something — the writing can be structure as: how to do something cause/effect comparison/contrast […] Read more…
As you are preparing your students to begin with narratives, teach them the elements of the genre. Before they even put pen to paper, you can use videos to teach narrative writing. Why? We are surrounded by stories. Commercials, TV shows, movies, video games, print ads, and billboards — they all tell (or attempt to) […] Read more…
When it’s time to teach narrative writing, you’re faced with lots of choices, requirements…and grading. Looking for help with where to start and how to organize this writing task? Here are some tips for teaching successful narrative writing. What is narrative writing? Narrative writing tells a story. It may or may not be true. It […] Read more…
I recently received a message from a teacher asking for help with her struggling middle school writers. She knew that all of her plans, units, and writing prompts were not going to be effective teaching tools if her students didn’t grasp the writing fundamentals they needed. Perhaps you spent an entire in-service day planning your […] Read more…
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…
Do you plan writing projects and provide students with an assignment sheet? Doing so can help you focus instruction and improve student outcomes. Here are some quick steps help you plan your own projects: You are driving home from school, listening to the radio, and daydreaming…suddenly an amazing idea pops into your head for your […] Read more…
One of the most rewarding and impactful aspects of writing workshop is the writing conferences your students will have with you and their peers. How can you make the most of this time? Here are some ideas for you: 👉 You can find a week’s worth of free mini lessons in my exclusive resource library. […] Read more…