language arts – Teaching English Language Arts

Train Essays and Pie Paragraphs

October 17, 2022October 17, 2022 by admin

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Seeing is Believing Sometimes, when students SEE how essays work, they can write their own with more confidence and competence. One thing that has worked for me is using colors, metaphors, and formulae. USING COLORS: If you can locate colored pencils or highlighters in different colors, enough for three colors…

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…

Sensitivity to Holidays

July 5, 2019April 29, 2020 by admin

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Writing About the Holidays The holiday season, for many, extends from November through February. Families will be celebrating Diwali, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the New Year at various times during these months. Writing about holidays is a wonderful way to share cultures in words, pictures, and music. Yes, holidays also…

COLORS, ARRANGEMENT AND STORIES

January 22, 2019February 12, 2019 by admin

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Critical Thinking in Colors and Shapes Colors and arrangements can be used evoke different moods, different personalities, and different feelings. Spend at least five minutes looking closely at this painting, Nine Colors by Ellsworth Kelly. 1. What do you notice about the colors and arrangement of these circles on a…

POETRY-African American History Month Project

February 15, 2018September 28, 2018 by admin

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Celebrate Cultures February is a great time to incorporate an oral language component into your lessons and invite students to memorize and recite a poem by an African American poet. This assignment lists several to get you started. To increase confidence and decrease apprehension, give the students the grading criteria…

Books for Boys

November 25, 2017December 4, 2017 by admin

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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…

Emotion Words for Tone and Mood

June 24, 2017June 24, 2017 by admin

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Do you find it tough trying to get yours students to be more precise and use just the right word to express their observations about the author's tone in piece of writing , director's tone in film, or the student's personal response to that work? Here's a list of terms…

Engaging Starts

November 20, 2014October 25, 2014 by admin

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Introducing New Units of Study We know that getting off to a good start makes all the difference in the world. Why not consider some of these ideas for kicking off your next unit of study or the next book you plan to teach. With careful planning, gathering resources, and…

Exploring Genres of Fiction #2

November 1, 2014August 16, 2017 by admin

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#2 - Historical Fiction Teaching or assigning historical fiction can be a rewarding experience for teacher and students. I’ve found it a great way to collaborate with colleagues on cross-content or interdisciplinary assignments. Students have found it a wonderful way to learn about specific historical periods, people and events within the comfort…

PROFESSIONAL ENRICHMENT

July 28, 2014May 22, 2014 by admin

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A Thrilling and Chilling Ride Anna J. Small Roseboro, National Board Certified Teacher Past President of the California Association of Teachers of English* Education policy is on a roller coaster ride that is both thrilling and chilling. Those of us who teach the English/language arts were excited about the research…

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