Reading and Writing a Literary Critique Use the Nine Yardsticks of Value Chart to show how you rate the autobiographical novel Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao. Also, carefully read the following critique and use the chart to indicate what you believe to be the values of the author, “Monkey Bridge,” Cao has a distinctive style [...]
April 23rd is the day many celebrate the birth of William Shakespeare, one of the more widely read dramatists of all times. Prepare your students to understand Elizabethan society a little better. Have a go with your students and have them take a Humours Quiz to determine their own basic personality traits, then see how they’d [...]
Planning for Efficient Student Feedback on Speech Presentation Days (See variety of feedback form below) To help student focus on various aspects of public speaking by classmates, for each round of speeches, I ask students to complete one section of our speech check list each day they are not speaking. Once the assignment is given, [...]
Looking for an outstanding professional development opportunity? Then the annual conventions of the National Council of Teachers of English and the Conference on English Leadership are for you! Boston, MA is the setting for the 2013 Conventions. See info at NCTE.ORG (November 14-17) and NCTE.ORG/CEL (November 17-19) The following are links to handouts from my [...]
Have you seen this resource from Frank Baker? He acknowledges that the conten is somewhat dated, the basic elements still are useful in its updated format. Take a look and adapt to your setting. OBSERVING PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES I used it with success during the 2008 election season. It proved to be a good way to [...]
“Where’s an English teacher when you need one?” began Dr. Robert Probst, at a session I attended at a Conference on English Leadership. His speech reminded us that like parents, we educators prepare our students to do without us. In order to achieve this we must understand two concepts we hear about in the [...]
Michael Blau recommends this site with links to videos for teachers. “Bringing multimedia into the classroom is a great way to engage students in learning. Supplementing lessons, opening up new interests, and offering inspiration, online videos make for an incredible teaching tool. In 2010, we covered our favorite 100 video sites for educators, and we’ve [...]
Perhaps, because so many elementary and middle school teachers are female, the books on our standard reading lists tend to appeal more to students of that same gender. Not sure if that’s the case, but admittedly teachers of young men in all grades recognize that our male students often are reluctant or resistant to reading the [...]
Some people believe that fiction reflects the social, economic and political incident or events experienced or observed by the authors. Taking a little time to explore the life and times of Ralph Ellison may help your students see why this comment may be true about the author of Invisible Man. This assignment includes some choice [...]
Sometimes it is helpful for students to be released to express their emotional responses to literature. Being objective is tough and writing personally can be a step to writing more objectively. Anyway, whatever words, phrases, or images the writers choose to use reveals their attitudes toward the topic anyway, so why fool ourselves in thinking [...]
