writing

Writing hooks and leads examples

Making better writers: write a hook for an essay

Do your students need examples of a hook for an essay? If you’ve ever read a student paper that starts “In this essay, I will…” you know your students need help with hooks. If your students struggle with writing an intro, here are simple strategies and hooks that will make this easier for them. What’s […] Read more…

fun ways to practice descriptive writing

Easy Ways to Teach Descriptive Writing

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…

How to create a yearlong plan

How to create your yearlong plan – the easy way

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…

How to manage students using AI for writing projects

Are your students using AI to write papers?

Have your students discovered Artificial Intelligence writing tools yet? Would you even know? AI programs have become — well — a lot like Sci Fi becoming reality. Artificial Intelligence is already here If you’ve used Siri, Google, or Alexa — you’ve used AI. We love it, right? Get directions, order from the store, settle the […] Read more…

How can you teach gratitude to your students? Here are 15 tips to help you do just that.

Ways to Teach Gratitude in the Classroom

You don’t need an advanced degree to know that we can benefit from practicing gratitude.  As a teacher, you are in a unique and powerful position to help your students consider, think about, and practice gratitude. What are some good ways to do that? Let’s dive in! The benefits of developing gratitude (for all of […] Read more…

keep writing on track

How to plan effective student writing projects

It’s easy to lose track of time when students are working on a writing task. Suddenly, a project that you thought would take a week or two has stretched out to three, four, or…will it ever be finished? The danger of long writing assignments It’s not the number of pages, but the number of days […] Read more…

Engage middle school students in narrative writing by using short videos. Click through to learn how to effectively use commercial, pixar shorts, and TV shows to get your students thinking about narrative elements.

Teach Narrative Writing with Videos

Video and narrative writing go hand in hand. As you prepare your students to begin writing narratives, you’ll want to teach them the elements of the genre.  But 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, […] Read more…

Here are ideas to help students get excited about research. Lesson plans and ideas that will get you started.

How to Get Your Students Excited about Research

Research should be fun!  Yet it often involves restricted topics, rules, and requirements that can limit a student’s natural curiosity and enthusiasm.   Encourage students to follow their questions by implementing simple, small research activities about topics they are curious about. Create a Research Notebook I loved making  upcycled notebooks, and I decided to use […] Read more…

What should you teach in February? Here are ideas to help you get the most from this month!

What to teach in February

Looking for ideas of what to teach in February? Here are some ideas to get you started! There are tons of quirky, funny, and interesting holidays this month. You can find a whole list here. Here are some of the important ones that you’ll want to mark on your calendar: February is Library Lover’s Month […] Read more…

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