Tools to Help You Teach Middle School ELA
The end of the school year or semester is wonderful and exciting …except for the waste. Rather than having students chunk their partially used notebooks into the recycling bin, have them upcycle them by creating new notebooks or journals. Here’s how: Whether or not it’s Earth Day , students often need a gentle reminder that […] Read more…
No matter what your students are writing, the most important piece of any essay is a strong, well-defined thesis. But for many students, this can also be the most challenging part of the essay–how can they even start a paper if they don’t even know what they’re writing about? Lucky for your students, then, that […] Read more…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Teaching creative writing? Not sure where to start? I’ve got you! Let’s get planning! How to Teach Creative Writing All writing is (or at least should be) creative. However, if you are teaching a specific creative writing class, here are some tips to keep it moving: Let’s look at each of these in more […] Read more…
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…
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…
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…