General – Teaching English Language Arts

Experience Poems and Pictures (2019) – Four Versions!

February 20, 2020February 20, 2020 by admin

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Poems and Pictures to inspire writing and create more art. EXPERIENCE POEMS AND PICTURES combines original poetry, pictures of artwork by diverse teens and adults from the United States and Sri Lanka, with prompts for viewing and writing about artwork and exploring poetry to create new art. The poems, written…

Pulling Ideas Together

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 by admin

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Writing Better Essays One useful strategy for getting started is to permit students draft in first person and then revise to third person. When they realize that they are invited to present their own ideas, reflections, observations, the students tend to relax a bit and write more honestly about the…

Colors Call Out to Us

October 28, 2019 by admin

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Colors call out to us in nature and in advertisements. Help students understand the symbolism of colors as it relates to their feelings, as well as why different colors may entice them to behave certain ways, believe certain things, and buy certain products and services. What they learn in these…

Teaching Whole Books

September 4, 2019 by admin

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Resources for Teaching Texts View resources for Middle School and High School Traditional Texts, find lesson plans and ideas, articles and much more Middle and High School Resources for Specific Works A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret…

Labels – Who Am I?

August 30, 2019July 30, 2019 by admin

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Sara Holbrook's poem "Labels" can be added to the list of poems used to inspire students to think about themselves and to describe who they as based on their genetic and ethnic heritage as well as their own personal interests and passions. Consider a lesson in poetry writing that invites…

Gaining Cultural Insight: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

August 20, 2019July 30, 2019 by admin

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Gaining Cultural Insight This opening of the school year assignment, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? is a novel way to invite students to write a narrative essay based on two different books or literary works. It also can be adapted for history, science or math classes. Rather than focus on…

Understanding Non-Fiction Text Features

August 11, 2019August 12, 2019 by admin

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Non-Fiction Text Features Here's an efficient way to introduce/review the concept of text features with your students using slides, a short video, a check list and copy of their textbook from science or history. 1. Show the Text Features Slide that points out different features one may find in non-fiction…

We Wear the Mask

August 8, 2019August 6, 2019 by admin

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Start of the Year Writing Prompt Here's a start of the year writing prompt based on a poem, "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar. In one of my classes, it was the end of year essay prompt. Students were asked to consider three texts we'd studied and identify…

Ready for New School Year?

August 3, 2019July 31, 2019 by admin

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New School Year - Are you ready? “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.” (Hale, 1870) For many educators, the beginning of…

GETTING TO KNOW THEM

July 10, 2019July 12, 2019 by admin

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Opening Week Activities to Learn More about Students Here are five ideas that may be adapted for various content areas. See adaptations at the links. The assignments can be as simple or complex as time and resources permit. I've used them all as first week assignment and students do…

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