Is independent reading time really worth it? There’s so much else to do. And how the heck can I possibly add it in when I am required to do so much else?

Independent reading time can feel like a luxury in a jam-packed curriculum—but it’s one of the most powerful ways to help students grow as readers. 

Whether you call it SSR (Sustained Silent Reading), DEAR (Drop Everything and Read), or simply “reading time,” giving students space to read their own books builds skills, confidence, and even classroom community.

In fact, a national survey found that while 94% of teachers believe students should have time for independent reading, only 36% provide it daily—usually due to pressure to “cover” curriculum (Education Week, 2017).

But really, independent reading should be a core part of the curriculum.

In this post, I’m going to make my case for why I believe adding an independent reading program to your classroom is one of the best things you can do for your students (and yourself!).

What Is Independent Reading Time?

At its core, independent reading time is a structured period during class where students read self-selected texts. The teacher isn’t lecturing, and students aren’t completing a worksheet—they’re just… reading.

Students get to choose their books and read for the simple pleasure of reading.

Depending on your school or philosophy, you might see it referred to as:

• SSR (Sustained Silent Reading): A consistent, predictable time when every student in the room is silently reading.
• DEAR (Drop Everything and Read): A flexible version where, at a set signal, everyone stops what they’re doing and dives into a book.
• Choice Reading or Free Reading: Students can read any book of their choice–fiction, nonfiction, comic books, whatever!

No matter the acronym, the goal is the same: to nurture a lifelong habit of reading.

At the end of the year, isn’t that the goal? Sure, improved vocabulary and better grammar skills are great. (I’m a big advocate of grammar!)

But I think we also know that turning our students into lifelong readers is the #1 goal.

Why Independent Reading Time Matters in High School English Classes

It’s easy for independent reading time to get edged out for new initiatives, required texts, and all the other stuff we have to get through in a year.

Some people even believe that it’s a waste of time. You might not even think it’s worth it beyond the elementary or middle school level. 

But independent reading isn’t just a fluff activity.

It’s an evidence-backed practice that strengthens reading skills, improves motivation, and fosters equity in the classroom. Here’s what the research says:

Independent Reading Time Benefits #1: Strengthens Motivation and Positive Attitudes Toward Reading

Even though this is maybe the least “exciting” benefit academically, I think it’s the most important. And this is my blog, so I’m putting it first!

We know that choice and autonomy are huge drivers of motivation. 

Independent reading time allows students to select texts that interest them, making reading feel like a personal activity rather than just an assignment. This shift builds lifelong reading habits (AERA Open, 2024; ILA, 2018).

I feel like I have to reiterate that benefit: it builds lifelong reading habits. Isn’t that a life-changing benefit to every student already? Honestly, that’s enough for me.

Independent Reading Time Benefits #2: Builds Word Recognition and Vocabulary

This one will make admin happy. 

Students who regularly engage in independent reading encounter far more words in context than they would through direct instruction alone. This repeated exposure strengthens word recognition and grows vocabulary naturally (AERA Open, 2024; Cullinan, 2000).

Students who read independently show greater vocabulary growth and literacy development than peers who do not (Sullivan & Brown, 2013).

Independent Reading Time Benefit #3: Improves Fluency and Reading Stamina

If you’ve “popcorned” any reading in class lately, you know our students are struggling with fluency.

Like any skill, fluency improves with practice. The more time students spend engaged in meaningful reading, the smoother and faster they become at processing text. Short, daily sessions (5–15 minutes) can build stamina, while longer weekly blocks (20–30 minutes) give students time to dive deeper (Cullinan, 2000).

Independent Reading Time Benefit #4: Increases Comprehension

Students who consistently read independently demonstrate stronger comprehension skills. Independent reading builds background knowledge and reinforces strategies learned during guided reading or class instruction (AERA Open, 2024).

While comprehension gains were small, the study shows that independent reading time helps build essential reading mechanics. 

Independent Reading Time Benefit #5: Develops Critical Thinking Skills

More than once, I’ve had students bring me articles from The Onion to discuss–as legitimate news. Students need to practice their critical thinking skills a lot more. And independent reading allows them to do that!

When students choose their own texts and reflect on them, they practice questioning, making inferences, and connecting ideas. Even quick exit slips or conferences can spark critical engagement (ILA, 2018).

Independent Reading Time Benefit #6: Expands Reading Volume—Building Knowledge and Stamina

You’re not going to be shocked by this, but the more students read, the stronger their academic performance. 

Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding’s well-known study found that students who read about 40 minutes per day were in the 90th percentile on standardized tests, while those who read less than two minutes per day scored in the 10th percentile (Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988).

Independent reading time guarantees every student is increasing their reading volume, even if they don’t read much outside of school. (And we know they’re not.)

Independent Reading Time Benefit #7: It Supports Math Achievement!

I actually don’t think we English teachers will be surprised by this, but everyone else might be: independent reading boosts math skills!

Research from the National Endowment for the Arts (2007) found that students who read more often also performed better in math and problem-solving assessments. 

Likewise, OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA, 2009) highlighted that reading engagement was strongly associated not only with higher reading scores but also with achievement in mathematics.

The critical thinking, persistence, and comprehension skills nurtured during sustained silent reading (SSR) or Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) sessions strengthen students’ ability to understand complex math problems and apply logical reasoning. 

If you have to justify your time spent doing independent reading, you can remind your administration that it’s not just about ELA. It’s going to help students across all academic areas! 

Independent Reading Time Benefit #8: Creates Equity by Supporting Students Who May Not Read at Home

Ooh, this one’s juicy!

Not every high schooler has access to books or quiet reading environments outside of class. Independent reading time creates an equitable space for all students to practice reading.

According to this Scholastic article, 46% of educators–and 69% of educators in high-poverty schools–believe that students do not have adequate access to books at home. 

By embedding independent reading into your class, you ensure every student benefits—especially those who wouldn’t otherwise have the chance. 

Your students might not have the books or the time at home to read, but you can help close the gap by providing both in your classroom.

Independent Reading Time Benefit #9: Nurtures a Reading Culture, Empathy, and Social-Emotional Skills

What we read shapes us. And I don’t think I have to remind you that our students will one day become our neighbors, fellow citizens, and voters. 

Don’t you want our future to be full of good people? Then the young folk need to read more!

The International Literacy Association highlights that when students choose what they read, they form lasting reading habits and identities (ILA, 2018). (AKA, they become readers.)

Self-selected reading has also been linked to higher empathy, social awareness, and emotional well-being (Cullinan, 2000). These benefits are particularly important in high school, when students are navigating identity, relationships, and the pressures of adolescence.

Independent Reading Time Benefit #10: Reduces Risk of Incarceration

If we’re teaching to improve students’ lives, then I can’t skip this point. Independent reading time isn’t just about grades—it’s about life outcomes. 

The connection between literacy and incarceration is well-documented. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2003), 70% of U.S. inmates read below a fourth-grade level. 

The U.S. Department of Education has also reported that individuals with low literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed, live in poverty, and encounter the criminal justice system.

By embedding independent reading time in high school classrooms, teachers are helping students strengthen one of the most protective skills they can have: literacy. 

Reading daily builds comprehension, vocabulary, and confidence—skills that open doors to education and employment instead of closing them off. In fact, a study from the RAND Corporation (2013) found that prison education programs, particularly those improving literacy, reduced recidivism by 43%.

It’s Worth It

In short, independent reading has a ripple effect. With this one activity, you can improve your students’ academic performance and help them grow as people.

Independent reading time might feel like a small daily choice, but its long-term impact is profound. Each page read is another brick in the foundation of opportunity, helping steer students toward futures where they have more agency and fewer systemic barriers.

Plus, there’s one more benefit that you can’t put a price on: your happiness. I guarantee that independent reading will become one of your favorite parts of the week. I know regular reading kept me happier in the classroom, and I never called in on “reading” days!

How Do You Implement Independent Reading Time?

Ok, so you’re sold on the benefits of independent reading, but how exactly do you implement it?

This will, of course, vary from teacher to teacher, but here’s how I structured independent reading for thirty minutes once a week in my classroom:

1. Review Expectations: I reviewed independent reading expectations. Yes, even on the last week of the school year with senior students, I reviewed my expectations every. Single. Time.
2. Book Talk: I highlighted two books students could check out if they were looking for a new title. These were like two-minute book talks. (I had a Google Slides presentation with my expectations and good book recommendations on it to make this easy.)
3. Transition: Gave students a couple of minutes to get their books and settle in. I used exit tickets to keep students accountable, so I passed these out and addressed any issues (like students not having books) during this time.
4. Keep Time: I started a thirty-minute timer on the board. As soon as I was satisfied that students were on task, I opened my own book and read. Periodically, I’d make sure students were still on task.
5. Quick Task: When the timer went off, I’d give students a couple of minutes to finish their exit tickets and tell them what to take out next. I’d collect exit tickets while students put books away and transitioned to the next activity.

If you want a play-by-play of what a day of independent reading looked like in my classroom, read this post in which I logged the good, the bad, and the ugly of one day of independent reading.

How Long Should Your Independent Reading Time Be?

Independent reading time works best when it’s consistent and predictable. High schoolers thrive on routines, and when they know what to expect, they’re more likely to settle into reading quickly.

Some ways to structure it:

• Start of class routine: Open every lesson with 5–10 minutes of daily independent reading time. It signals a calm, focused start.
• Flexible block schedule: Once a week, do a longer block of reading time. Aim for 30–40 minutes of reading block once a week. (This was my personal preference and works well for longer, block schedules.)
• Whole-school approach: Some schools run DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) programs where everyone reads at the same time, across subjects.

How Do You Handle Students That Hate Reading or Refuse to Read?

Ok, I know what really worries you. How do you handle noncompliant students during silent reading time? What do you do with those students that just… staring at the ceiling. Or doodling. Or flat-out refusing to pick up a text.

It sucks, but you’re going to have at least one kid in each class who is just not on board. Some students have struggled for years and associate books with failure. Others simply haven’t found “the book” that makes them feel like readers. So what do you do?

1. Have Consistent Consequences

I was a pretty lax teacher. Classroom management was never my strength. If my twelfth grader wanted to text instead of getting work done, well, I believed he or she would have the natural consequences. 

But when it came to reading time? I was tough. If you distracted the class or refused to pick up a book, you were out. 

At the beginning of the year, I always gave my dean a heads-up. I’d let her know we’d be starting independent reading, so she should expect a few visitors. 

But after a week or two of being sent out, students got the memo. Maybe they weren’t happy about reading, but they were at least silent and making an effort to look at a book.

2. Build Book Access and Representation

Sometimes “I hate reading” really means “I’ve never seen myself in a book” or “I don’t have anything worth reading at home.” Make sure your classroom library has diverse voices, high-interest titles, and texts at multiple reading levels. This removes excuses while also affirming identities.

The last decade has given us a treasure trove of diverse, inclusive texts. Make a commitment to read diverse books yourself, so you can share them with your students.

3. Pair Reading with Connection

A quick check-in—“What do you think so far?” or “Which part confused you?”—can turn reading into a relational activity instead of a solitary chore. Students who resist often respond better when they see reading as a conversation, not an isolation booth. 

If you’re finding that many of your students are having a hard time being independent readers, you can build up to it. Let students dicuss their books with small groups, book clubs, or literature circles. 

Maybe you spend the first quarter doing literature circles, letting students partner socializing with reading. Meanwhile, you work on building a community of reading–book talking interesting books, asking questions about their reads, and constantly mentioning new, exciting titles you’ve discovered. 

​You may have to scaffold and build to individual reading.

4. Allow Alternative Formats

My only requirement for what students read was that it be printed “on a dead tree.”

(I didn’t love the idea of students reading on ebooks or their phones. It leaves too much opportunity for distraction. However, audiobooks or e-books could be a great accommodation for students who need it.)

But I repeatedly told students to find even graphic novels or magazines that interested them. Some students were taking college classes, and I encouraged them to “double dip” by reading their textbooks. I even had a student bring in his car manual once. 

5. Acknowledge the Resistance Without Shaming

Forcing a book into a student’s hands rarely works. Instead, normalize the struggle: “Finding the right book is like finding the right pair of shoes—it can take a few tries.” That reframing keeps the door open for reluctant readers to eventually walk through.

The goal of independent reading is to cultivate of love of books. So students shouldn’t be forced to read something that doesn’t appeal to their personal interests. 

Let students know that they have to read something–but they don’t have to stick with anything. I often had students pick up a new book every reading session. It might feel disheartening, but discovering what you don’t like to read is just as important as figuring out what you do.

How Do You Build a Classroom Library?

Book by book, my friend. 

When I started independent reading in my class, my library had maybe twelve titles. It was sad. Even the students knew it was pathetic. 

I made a point of taking my students to the school library regularly to make up for the deficiencies in my classroom. 

Meanwhile, I checked out thrift stores and used book stores for good deals. 

I did a few DonorsChoose projects. I asked for (and received!) funding from the school to grow my library. 

Once a year, my colleagues and I would go to a WSRA conference. There would be a bookseller there who sold new titles for $2. We would each walk away with multiple tote bags full of books for our classroom libraries. 

We also utilized the First Book Marketplace to acquire new books for our students. 

If you want lots of details for creating and organizing the classroom library of your dreams, check out this post here.

How Do You Hold Students Accountable for Independent Reading Time?

This one is tricky, right? Accountability is important—but too much structure can make reading feel like a chore. That goes against the whole point of independent reading. 

If your students are independent workers and readers, you may not have to do anything at all to hold students accountable. Classes that are naturally compliant might be cool just… reading. 

But here are some ideas to up the accountability without adding tons of time to your class or a huge academic burden on students:

• Reading Conferences: Meet briefly with students to check progress and recommend next reads. This builds a culture of reading and keeps you connected to what students are reading and where they’re struggling.
• Book Talks & Peer Shares: Let students recommend books to each other. This builds a community of readers. Students will also get their best recommendations from each other!
• Exit Tickets: I made a bunch of quick exit tickets students could fill out in under five minutes that were easy peasy. The ones I used focused on reading strategies (making predictions, summarizing, asking questions, etc.). But you could also focus on figurative language, grammar in context, or any topic that ties back to your curriculum. I made independent reading exit tickets for several focuses. You can check them out here.

The International Literacy Association stresses that student choice and engagement are key—so accountability should never feel like punishment (ILA, 2018).

Tips for Making Independent Reading Time Successful

Simply handing kids books and hoping for the best doesn’t always work—especially in high school. Here are a few strategies that help independent reading time stick:

• Create a Routine: Keep the schedule predictable. Five to ten minutes at the start of class can be surprisingly effective.
• Curate a Classroom Library: Access matters. A wide range of genres, cultures, and difficulty levels keeps every student included.
• Model the Behavior: Read alongside your students. It shows them you value the time too. Tell students when you’ve discovered a particularly good book. 
• Hold Students Accountable (Lightly): Exit tickets, reading conferences, or independent reading exit slips can help students reflect without turning reading into a chore.
• Celebrate Reading: Invite book talks, peer recommendations, or bulletin boards to make independent reading visible.

In Conclusion

Independent reading time isn’t “wasted” time—it’s an investment.

Even ten minutes a day adds up to hours of practice across a school year. When high school students see reading as something they choose to do, rather than something assigned, it changes their relationship with texts both inside and outside your classroom.

If you want to instill a lifelong love of reading in your students, give some of your instructional time to independent reading.

The post 10 Benefits of Independent Reading Time in High School English appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

2025-2026 is shaping up to be another year when critical thinking, source evaluation, and honest conversations about justice are more important than ever. 

Between constant misinformation online, the rise of extremist rhetoric, and ongoing conversations about racism and civil rights, our students need the tools to read critically and think deeply.

And let’s be real. We need to teach some empathy in between our grammar and writing lessons, too.

If you’re planning your next semester, here are essential ELA lessons for 2025. These ideas are designed to keep your students engaged and your teaching connected to the real world.

ELA Lessons for 2025 #1: Teach Students to Spot Misinformation

Let’s face it: we’re living in an age of deepfakes, clickbait, and AI-generated nonsense. If students can’t tell a credible source from a shady one, they’re in trouble.

But it’s not just fake news: it’s also misunderstood humor. (I can’t tell you how many times my students have brought me satirical articles from The Onion believing it was factual news.)

Try This:

• Use my FREE Source Credibility Checklist to teach students what makes a source trustworthy.
• Pair it with my How to Do Research Lesson so they learn how to find good information in the first place.
• Then, layer in my Satire Lesson. Students will learn to identify irony, exaggeration, and author’s purpose–essential for decoding modern media.

ELA Lessons for 2025 #2: Dive Into Fascism and Extremism — Before It’s Too Late

It might sound dramatic, but understanding the signs of fascism isn’t just a history lesson — it’s a survival skill.

Recommended Pairing:

• My What is Fascism? Lesson breaks down the key traits of fascist movements in student-friendly language. (And using an activity that will get students up and moving).
• Use this lesson before reading novels like Internment by Samira Ahmed, which imagines a near-future America where Muslim Americans are forced into camps — an eerily relevant discussion of civil rights and authoritarianism. (Learn more about why teaching Internment is awesome in this post.)

ELA Lessons for 2025 #3: Teach a Holocaust Novel Study Unit

With Holocaust denial and distortion on the rise, teaching the Holocaust in an engaging, age-appropriate way is critical.

Try This:

• Use Maus by Art Spiegelman to help students see the personal side of historical tragedy. This Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel makes tough history accessible — and connects perfectly to discussions about propaganda, dehumanization, and fascism. (Learn more about teaching Maus here.)
• Consider pairing Maus with my What is Fascism? Lesson so students can make real-world connections.
• You can use this Stages of Genocide Graphic Organizer Worksheet or WebQuest to give students a clear framework for understanding how genocides unfold step-by-step, from classification and dehumanization to denial.
• Help students see that genocide isn’t just history — it’s something the world has grappled with again and again. This World Genocide Project challenges students to research, compare, and present on genocides around the globe. It’s perfect for fostering empathy and critical thinking about human rights and justice.

ELA Lessons for 2025 #4: Analyze Propaganda and Education in Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is another powerful graphic memoir that shows students what living under oppressive regimes looks like. (You can learn more about why Persepolis is such a powerful novel to teach here.)

My Propaganda & Education in Persepolis Lesson helps students analyze how information is controlled, what “education” really means under authoritarian systems, and how to question what they’re taught.

Bonus:

• This is a perfect springboard for students to compare modern media, censorship, and propaganda techniques in their own country.

ELA Lessons for 2025 #5: Use Literature to Talk About Social Justice and Civil Rights

Nothing sparks empathy and critical thinking like a good story. Novels like The Hate U Give and Born a Crime invite students to examine systemic racism, police violence, and privilege in ways that feel real.

(Never taught these novels? This post explains why you should teach The Hate U Give, and this one explains why you should teach Born a Crime.)

Try This:

• My unit for The Hate U Give digs into modern civil rights and helps students connect the novel to current protests and policies.
• My Born a Crime unit explores race and identity through Trevor Noah’s hilarious (and heartbreaking) memoir.

ELA Lessons for 2025 #6: Build Media Literacy and Research Skills

When students learn to back up their opinions with real evidence, they’re less likely to fall for conspiracy theories and echo chambers.

Try This:

• Pair my Source Credibility resources with my CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) Writing Resources — perfect for practicing argumentative writing grounded in facts.

ELA Lessons for 2025 #7: Encourage Students to See Multiple Perspectives

One antidote to extremism? Exposure to different voices. A World Literature unit or class that crosses cultures can help students see beyond their social media bubbles.

Try This:

• Use Persepolis alongside Maus to show how two graphic memoirs tackle big ideas about oppression, survival, and truth from different cultures and time periods.
• Kick off your World Literature unit with my “Why Study World Literature?: The Danger of a Single Story TED Talk” lesson. This powerful talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie helps students examine how stereotypes are formed and why hearing multiple perspectives matters now more than ever.

ELA Lessons for 2025 #8: Foster Civil Discourse Skills

Students need to learn to disagree respectfully, especially in a tense election year. Don’t be afraid to bring in discussion protocols, Socratic Seminars, or debate frameworks alongside your literature units.

Try This:

• Many of my novel units include guided discussion questions that push students to back up their views with text evidence — a vital life skill in 2025.

Final Thoughts: Why These Lessons Matter

ELA teachers do so much more than teach reading and writing; we help shape how the next generation understands truth, justice, and community.

By choosing essential ELA lessons for 2025 that tackle source credibility, fascism, propaganda, the Holocaust, and social justice head-on, you’re giving your students the tools they need to survive–and thrive–in a complicated world.

The post 8 Essential ELA Lessons for 2025: Keep Your Classroom Relevant and Engaged appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

When I was first hired as an English teacher, they gave me nothing. ​No textbook. No standards. Not even a course description.

There were some lit sets, but many were missing so many books that there weren’t enough for a whole class. Oh, and there wasn’t a list of what we had either. 

​So trust me. If you’re frantically Googling for help, I understand. I’ve been there. 

And I hope that this blog post helps a little bit.

Whether you’re looking for a complete curriculum to teach world literature or seeking free printable high school curriculum resources to supplement your lessons, you’re in the right place. 

This blog post will show you how to make the most of these free resources while helping your high school students develop a love for literature, improve their writing skills, and gain a deeper understanding of the world.

Plus, I’ll highlight how teachers can use free resources to enhance their instruction across multiple subject areas, such as language arts, world history, and social studies.

A Note for Homeschool Parents

While my audience is high school English teachers, this is for you, too!

More and more parents are opting to homeschool their students, but there’s no reason most traditional high school resources won’t work at home, too. 

There are tons of free online resources that would benefit any homeschool mom or dad looking to fill in the gaps of their homeschooling curriculum–or buy themselves time while they create their own!

Even if you’re homeschooling, I encourage you to give some high school resources a glance.

The high school years are tough. Content gets more niche and complex. You can’t possibly be expected to be an expert in everything!

So use whatever resources work for you and your learners. Even if they’re not strictly marketed as homeschool curricula.

How to Start Looking for a Free Printable High School Curriculum

I know you probably came here looking for a free, downloadable PDF–and I’ll get to that. But before you just start downloading everything you can find, I want to encourage you to really think about what you need​.

Because freebie overwhelm is totally a thing. 

There’s an infinite number of excellent resources out there because every teacher approaches ELA differently and has different student needs to meet. 

If you’re here because you have to start teaching really soon and have no curriculum, try to take a moment. Do you know where your students are at? Do you have anything to help you narrow down your search–standards, a course title, a list of books available? 

(And overwhelmed first-year teachers, I have extra tips for you in this post!)

Looking at every free curriculum online will give you tons of ideas, but no direction. And you’re trying to put together a cohesive curriculum. 

So, if you’re starting from scratch, consider popular high school English course titles. If you can pick a focus for your class, it will help you narrow down your curriculum choices.

My high school had Survey of Literature, American Literature, World Literature, and Perspectives of Literature courses. If you decide to go with a class like American Literature, it will help you immensely narrow down what you’re searching for!

Some schools offer really fun enrichment courses like a Science Fiction and Fantasy class. 

Do you only want to teach classic books? Or do you want to incorporate more modern titles or YA fiction?

​If you were given no parameters, try to create your own first. Then, you can find a curriculum to help you reach your vision.

My Printable High School Curriculum for Language Arts

While I don’t have a comprehensive set of curricula to cover every high school ELA need (yet!), I do have some resources that could help you out. I have several year-long curricula–each with a free pacing guide you can check out. I also have many units with free guides. 

Below, I’ve listed and linked all of my free pacing guides. If one sounds interesting, please download it and check it out! Even if you don’t end up using the resources that pair with the pacing guides, you might find inspiration for setting up and timing your own units.

(If you’re looking for actual activities for use in your class, my free ones are listed a little further down this post!)

​Free Year-long Pacing Guides:

• Complete High School World Literature Curriculum Guide
• Complete Year-long High School Grammar Curriculum Guide (Click on bonus preview to see this one)

Free Novel Unit Pacing Guides:

• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Pacing Guide
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Pacing Guide
• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Pacing Guide
• The Complete Maus by Art Speigelman Pacing Guide
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Pacing Guide

Free Skill Pacing Guides:

• Essay Writing Pacing Guide

Free Teacher Guides (not curricula, per se, but still helpful for planning):

• Facing Controversy in the Classroom: A Teacher’s Guide to Navigating Challenging Literature

Don’t see anything that appeals to you? 

Luckily, I’m not the only seller on Teachers Pay Teachers! I highly recommend browsing the TPT site for curriculum guides from other amazing sellers. You can search by grade level, core subjects, and even specify free. 

Free Online Curriculum Resources for Teaching High School English

An alternative to the old-fashioned, printable teaching guides is to build your curriculum around a free online resource. 

This is a little risky since free resources don’t always stay free. High school teachers looking to build a curriculum that can be used again and again may not want to base their teaching around one website. However, online lessons might be especially helpful for a high school homeschool curriculum.

If you’re looking for more ways to enhance your lessons and reach your students, there are plenty of free resources available that will help you teach effectively across different subject areas. As a high school English teacher, you can benefit from the following free online resources:

• Khan Academy: Free courses that can supplement your lessons in subjects like math skills, history, and science.
• Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool: Although designed for homeschooling, it offers complete lesson plans that can easily be adapted for classroom use.
• Ambleside Online: A great Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum that provides book lists and resources you can use to enhance your English literature lessons.
• CommonLit: A great source for texts, lessons, and literary unit ideas
• NoRedInk or Quill.org: Online, scaffolded grammar instruction based on each student’s individual skills
• Full Curriculum Sites: Websites that offer free online resources in world history, American government, and other key subject areas that can support your English curriculum.

These resources will help you enhance your classroom experience, whether you’re supplementing your lessons with additional online courses or providing free printable worksheets for extra practice.

Free Printable High School English Activities

I also have some great FREE resources you can download now to add to your ELA curriculum. Here they are:

• FREE “I Am” Poem Lesson–great for starting the school year or a poetry unit
• FREE Back-to-school Classroom Scavenger Hunt–another great first week of school activity
• FREE 2-sentence Horror Story Writing Activity–fun flash fiction for a horror unit or Halloween time
• FREE Figurative Language Activity–great enrichment for a figurative language or poetry unit
• FREE Figurative Language Handout–includes 10 terms with definitions and examples
• FREE Fill-in-the-blank Comic Book Activity–students practice inference skills by filling in bubbles on a blank comic book page
• FREE Dystopian Novel Anticipation Guide–a great intro activity for a dystopian unit
• FREE Source Credibility Checklist Using the CRAAP Test–a checklist for evaluating sources
• FREE Claim, Evidence, Reasoning Handout–essential for any analytical writing
• FREE Visual Notetaking Student Handout–this is a must if you plan on doing any sketchnotes or visual notetaking
• FREE Tone and Mood Words List–a handy reference for any tone/mood analysis
• FREE FANBOYS Coordinating Conjunction Poster–a classroom resource to help with grammar
• FREE Dear Martin by Nic Stone Quote Poster–even if you’re not teaching Dear Martin, the quote is gold

Again, you don’t have to limit yourself to my freebies. Search around TPT and filter by “free.” It’s amazing how many wonderful resources are available for older students–all completely free and created by experienced teachers. 

Incorporate Free Activities Regularly Into Your Class

In addition to trying to make the most of free printable high school curricula and free online curricula, try free year-long activities. 

If your school has a well-stocked library or you have a solid classroom library already, consider making independent reading part of your class. 

​As long as there are books already, it won’t cost you anything to let students borrow them. You can have students read every day or once a week. 

​This can be purely enrichment, or you can add in activities like reading exit tickets or independent novel projects to assess independent reading. 

Building regular reading time into your classes can fill a huge amount of your lesson planning calendar–and research proves it’s one of the best things you can do for your students!

There are other free activities you can make a regular part of your classroom to reduce the need for paid resources. 

Regular discussions are free. Reading public domain short stories or poetry will only cost your school the money to make copies. 

And if your school is located somewhere cool, you can even schedule free walking field trips. (Even a walking field trip to a park to sit and write is a fun way to mix up class!)

Take stock of the activities, places, and experts that you already have free access to, and make the most of them!

Conclusion

Remember, if you’re panicking about putting together a whole Engish curriculum, take a breath! Regardless of whether you’re a high school teacher or a homeschooling parent, there are tons of free resources out there and endless ways to puzzle them together into an amazing class. 

Start by finding a way to narrow down your search. (If possible, I recommend focusing on the skills your students need to learn the most.)

Then, refine your search from there. 

If you really don’t have the funds for a curriculum, it’s entirely possible to get through a year using only public domain texts, free online lessons, and the material you make yourself. 

Take a breath. You got this!

The post Here Are Your Free Printable High School Curriculum Resources appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Want to skip the prep? Check out this complete Allegory Introduction Lesson! It includes everything you’ll need: an editable presentation, exit ticket, graphic organizer, and more.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

How to Teach Allegory Step #1: Introduce The Topic

Begin by defining allegory simply: it’s a literary device where characters, events, and settings symbolize deeper, often abstract, concepts. 

You’ll also want to explain why authors might choose to present their stories as allegories. In some cases, like fables or children’s books, authors might use allegories to simplify stories for certain audiences–like children.

Other authors use allegories to separate themselves from political or societal criticisms made in their stories. 

How to Teach Allegory Step #2: Differentiate  Allegory and Symbolism

Personally, I think the hardest part of understanding allegories for students is understanding how they’re different from symbols. Take some time to explain explicitly the relationship between allegories and symbolism.

While both involve using one thing to represent another, allegory extends this representation across an entire narrative, with characters and plot elements serving as embodiments of abstract ideas. 

Symbolism, on the other hand, focuses on individual objects or actions standing for something else within a specific work.

So while all allegories use symbolism, not all symbols are part of an allegory.

How to Teach Allegory Step #3: Analyze Allegorical Texts

Once you’re confident that students understand the difference between symbols and allegories, it’s time to present them with an example they can work through and analyze. 

Guide students through the process of identifying allegorical elements in texts. Encourage close reading and critical thinking by asking questions such as:

• What symbols can you identify in this story?
• What larger themes or ideas might the characters or events represent?
• How do these symbols work together to tell a story?
• Can any real-world parallels be drawn from the allegory?

You can use a graphic organizer (like the one provided in this lesson) to help students track symbols throughout the allegory.

Examples of Allegorical Stories

Another difficulty in teaching allegories is finding good examples. Many of the great allegories are too long to serve as a simple example. Here are some allegories worth incorporating into your classroom.

Short Allegories

Aesop’s Fables can serve as excellent, short examples of allegories. In the handout in my Allegory Lesson, I use “The Tortoise and the Hare” as an example. “The Ant and the Grasshopper” is another great example you can use.

I use “The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss in my Allegory Lesson as a primary example. This children’s book is a wonderful allegory about embracing others’ differences. 

Longer Allegories

“The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis is a Christian allegory, with Aslan representing Christ and various characters embodying virtues and vices.

“The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato explores themes of enlightenment, perception, and reality.

George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is a classic historical allegory about the Russian Revolution of 1917.

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman is a fantastic graphic novel in which animals are allegories for groups of people during World War II. I think this is an especially great text for introducing allegories because the allegory itself is simple and easy to understand–even if the rest of the text is complex.

Lastly, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is another great option if you’re looking for a long worker that’s not too long. The allegorical symbols in The Alchemist are a little harder to pinpoint than in other texts like Maus or Animal Farm, but it’s a short, easy-to-read novel.

Conclusion

Teaching allegory offers a gateway to deeper literary analysis and critical thinking. By guiding students to uncover the hidden layers of meaning within allegorical texts, we empower them to engage with literature on a profound level. Through thoughtful exploration and analysis, allegory becomes not just a literary device but a window into understanding the complexities of the human experience.

Need to introduce your students to allegories but want to skip the prep work? Grab this editable Allegory Lesson and get started today!

The post How to Teach Allegory: A Guide for High School English Teachers appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

In this post, I’m going to share the top three things I think you should do when introducing your unit. 

(If you’re looking for done-for-you resources, check out my Holocaust Introduction Bundle and save yourself a ton of time!)

Introduce a Holocaust Novel Study Step #1: Give Some WWII Context

Unfortunately, we can’t just assume that our students are familiar with the basics of World War II anymore. Be prepared to give them some broad context for World War II before zooming in on the Holocaust. 

The tricky part of talking about WWII is keeping it brief. You probably only have a few days available for background building in your unit, and World War II could be a whole semester in a Social Studies class. 

I recommend not getting too bogged down in the details of every major war. By all means, mention important events like D-Day–the ones that students have probably heard referenced before and will hear references to again in the future. 

Instead, focus on the key pieces of information: when the war took place, the major countries involved, The Final Solution, Pearl Harbor, and Nagasaki and Hiroshima. 

(Admittedly, my approach to WWII is America-heavy. I’m American, and my students are too. So I spend more time covering the United States’ role in WWII than I might if I was teaching in another country.)

If you need a World War II overview and don’t want to spend time putting a presentation together (it takes a while–trust me), then check out my World War II and Holocaust Introduction Lesson. It includes a slideshow presentation and two different notetaking activities (choose the one that’s best for your students).

Consider, if you have time, sprinkling in some other background-building activities. You can have students create a WWII timeline (this activity is included in my Holocaust Stations activity), watch a film, or create a WebQuest.

History.com has lots of visually stunning and interactive web pages dedicated to WWII. If you want to go deeper, you’ll no doubt find lots of inspiration there.

Introduce a Holocaust Novel Study Step #2: Help Students Connect to Victims

Once you’re ready to focus on the Holocaust itself, you’ll want to give students some ways to connect to the human cost of this genocide. 

It’s one thing to read horrifying statistics; it’s another to get to know the people involved. 

Having a survivor talk to your class or taking a field trip to a Holocaust museum are wonderful and worthwhile activities, but they’re not always possible or realistic. 

Luckily, several Holocaust museums have created online exhibits to help you access the same information in your classroom. 

If you Google survivor stories, you’ll see a few museums have recorded some. Have students listen or read one (this is one of the activities in my Holocaust Stations resource).

You can also have students “walk around” (look at images of) a virtual museum exhibit and react to some of the artifacts displayed. 

These exhibits often have everyday items from the Holocaust and concentration camps and can give students some insight into what life “back then” looked like. (Students do a similar activity with a photo analysis in my Holocaust Stations resource).

Introduce a Holocaust Novel Study Step 3: Emphasize the Importance of Remembering History

Before jumping into your Holocaust novel study, it’s also a good idea to give your unit and the reason behind it some bigger context. Why are they reading about an event in the past?

To remember it, of course, and, hopefully, to prevent it from happening again. 

No doubt your students will have heard this before. “Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.” 

But what your students might not realize is that the Holocaust isn’t the only genocide in our world’s past. They certainly may not realize that genocides are still happening today!

Talking about the Holocaust not as a singular tragic period in history, but as one example of a large-scale genocide, might help bring some relevance to your unit. 

If you’d really like to help students make a connection between the Holocaust and the rest of the globe and global history (and practice research skills), I recommend assigning a World Genocide Project. 

Conclusion

A quick Google search will show you endless resources for teaching about the Holocaust. So, before you decide on any one lesson or activity, really focus on your teaching goals. 

Are there certain skills you want students to practice in this unit? Do you want to emphasize the human toll? Are you trying to get students to think about how their own acts of kindness can impact the world?

Use your goals to shape how you introduce the Holocaust. 

If, for your introduction, you want to provide some context around WWII and get students thinking about the experience of Holocaust survivors, I recommend grabbing my Holocaust Introduction Bundle.

Inside you’ll get three resources. The first is an introduction lesson about World War II and the Holocaust. Then, students will move on to my Holocaust Stations Activity. Last, students will conduct a short Holocaust One-pager Research Project.

Get all three activities here!

The post How to Introduce a Holocaust Novel Study appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Now, I think about my unit focused on speaking skills or my unit about writing an essay.

After all, my students don’t need to know Animal Farm for life, but they do need critical thinking skills. They don’t need to know Fahrenheit 451, but they do need to know how to support their ideas with evidence. 

In this post, I’m going to talk about the importance of skill-based learning over novel-focused teaching.

Skill-Based Learning: Equipping Students for Success

Skill-based learning is a pedagogical approach that prioritizes the development of transferable skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. 

Unlike traditional methods that focus solely on content mastery, skill-based learning empowers students with tools they can apply across various subjects and real-life situations.

The Advantages of Skill-Based Learning:

• Adaptability: In an era of rapid change, adaptability is key. Skill-based learning equips students with the flexibility to navigate diverse challenges and opportunities.
• Lifelong Learning: By fostering a culture of continuous improvement, skill-based learning prepares students for a lifetime of learning and growth.
• Equity and Inclusion: Skill-based learning ensures that all students, regardless of background or ability, have access to the tools they need to succeed.

A skill-based learning unit will have goals like, “Students will be able to identify comma mistakes in writing.” Or, they might be something like, “Students will be able to synthesize information from multiple sources.”

These learning targets focus on what students will be able to do. Notice that the skills are not limited to ELA classes. Grammar and writing are important for every field. Being able to synthesize information is necessary for any content area. 

These learning targets are not text-dependent. They don’t require students to have mastery over any particular poem or novel. Students can use any text to practice these skills.

Novel-Focused Teaching: Exploring Literary Worlds

On the other hand, novel-focused teaching revolves around the in-depth study of specific literary works. This approach delves into the analysis of themes, characters, and literary devices within a particular novel, aiming to deepen students’ understanding and appreciation of literature.

The Advantages of Novel-Focused Teaching:

• Engagement: Immersing students in rich literary worlds can spark curiosity, foster empathy, and ignite a passion for reading.
• Depth of Analysis: Novel-focused teaching encourages students to delve deeply into the nuances of a text, honing their critical thinking and analytical skills.
• Cultural Exploration: Through the study of diverse literary works, students gain insights into different cultures, perspectives, and historical contexts.

Novel-focused teaching is fun. When we all originally dreamed of being English teachers, it was probably novel-focused teaching that we imagined. 

Those posters we made in grade school about characters? Novel-focused. Diorama projects about setting? Novel-focused. 

When we have students express their opinions of a text, step into a character’s shoes in a creative writing prompt, or ask them to illustrate a scene, these are generally novel-focused assessments. 

These activities have a place, but they don’t always demonstrate skills that can be transferred to another subject matter.

Skill-Based Learning vs. Novel-Focused Teaching: Finding the Balance

When you set out to create a new unit or map out a new curriculum, start with skill-based learning.

After all, you want students to leave your classroom better equipped for the world, not just their next English class. 

Novels shouldn’t be the focus of your unit. Rather, they should be the tools you use to teach your unit’s skills.

Take, for example, my Persepolis Unit. When I designed this unit, my aim was to teach students how to create claims, use evidence, and support their ideas with reasoning. Persepolis was the text I chose to support teaching these skills. 

There are three lessons in the unit (one discussing communism in Persepolis, one about the recent riots in Iran, and one about education in Persepolis). With each, students must use their claim, evidence, and reasoning skills, but the text gives them something to write about.

Skills-based learning doesn’t mean you can’t read awesome literature or have fun activities. But the skills should come first. The text is how you get students there.

Conclusion

If you want to prepare students for the world as best you can, skills-based learning should be your focus. 

However, a balance of this approach and novel-focused teaching is the best way to create an engaging classroom. 

The post Skill-Based Learning: The New Way to Plan Your Units appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Technique #1 to Keep Students Engaged While Reading in Class: Reading Questions

Alright, I know. Reading questions are nothing new. But they still work. 

Before reading for the day, give students a list of questions to answer as they read. This gives students a task to complete as they move through the text. 

Even better, you can guide their focus by being deliberate in the reading questions you write. 

If your primary concern is ensuring your students understand the story and pay attention, give them reading questions that focus on comprehension. Who did this? Why was this character scared? Etc.

If, however, you want students to go deeper, write questions that focus on analysis. What could this object represent? Why do you think the author chose a flashback for this scene? Etc.

You could even give students reading questions to assist with social-emotional learning. How does the reader know that the protagonist is sad? How would you feel in this situation? 

In my opinion, the best set of reading questions will probably have a variety of question types. 

Reading questions can be given as homework if students are reading independently. But if you’re reading in class, use the reading questions to start discussions and summarize the text’s key points. Since students have already thought about and answered the questions on their worksheets, they’ll be more willing to share their thoughts with the class.

Reading questions may not be new or trendy, but I believe that in the right circumstances, they work well. Your students can even use them as future study guides if you have a test for the text later. 

Technique #2 to Keep Students Engaged While Reading in Class: Visual Notes

If you’re looking for a way to engage students while reading that’s a little more creative than reading questions, try visual notes!

Visual notes, doodle notes, and sketch notes are all the same thing. Essentially, students extrapolate the big ideas and main points from a text and represent them in symbols, graphics, and images. 

I believe visual notes work best for videos or shorter text, but you can try them with longer texts as well. 

If you’d like more information about using visual notes in your classroom, I have a complete blog post about them here. 

Be sure to also check out my FREE student handout with tips for creating visual notes. 

Technique #3 to Keep Students Engaged While Reading in Class: Annotations or Quote Tracking

This is one of my favorite techniques: annotations or quote tracking. 

Students can annotate texts in several ways. If they have their own copies of the text, students can write or highlight right on the page. However, if they’re using a borrowed copy of the text, they can use post-its to make temporary annotations instead. 

Alternatively, you can give students a graphic organizer and let them write down important quotes as they read. 

For students who are a bit behind on skills or who have never annotated a text before, giving them free rein to annotate can be daunting though. 

Instead, ask students to pay attention to a specific literary device. This works great for helping students prepare for a summative assessment. 

For example, if, at the end of the unit, you want students to create a character map, have them annotate or track quotes about a specific character. 

If you want students to write a thematic analysis essay, they should annotate or track quotes significant to the text’s main themes. 

When students know they are looking for something specific–and they will be assessed or need these annotations later for a major assignment–they’ll read with more purpose. 

Conclusion

These are just a few techniques to keep students engaged while reading in class. Of course, there’s no reason to pick just one. Try them all!

The post How to Keep Students Engaged While Reading in Class appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Improve Your Unit Step #1: Choose One Unit to Focus On

If you’re not happy with how your class went last year, or you’re very excited to make your classes the best they possibly can be, it’s tempting to try and work on everything all at once. 

But don’t. It’s too overwhelming, and your efforts will be scattered. 

Instead, choose one unit to overhaul at a time. During the summer, I think improving one unit and making it freaking awesome is more than enough work. 

(After all, you’re not getting paid any extra for this extra work.)

But if you’re an overachiever, you can attempt to work on multiple units–as long as you take it one at a time.

I recommend choosing the unit that was the biggest flop or the most boring to teach. In my experience, if you didn’t enjoy teaching it, your students probably didn’t enjoy learning from it either.

Improve Your Unit Step #2: Reflect

Take some time to jot down what went well and what didn’t. 

Even if you feel like the whole unit went terribly, there’s probably something good in it. 

Was there a text you or your students enjoyed? A presentation you made that already includes great content? Did you find some enriching YouTube videos you’d like to use again?

Obviously, the more you can reuse, the less work you’ll have to do.

Reflecting on what didn’t go well, though, will also help. 

Did your students fall asleep during your background-building introductory presentation? Did the final project feel rushed with students unable to complete it? 

Make a note of what needs to change as you rebuild your unit.

Improve Your Unit Step #3: Choose One Area of Skills to Focus On

Steps 3 and 4 are intertwined. After you’ve chosen a unit to focus on, decide what skills you’ll want students to focus on.

This will help you focus the assessments, lessons, and activities that you choose to incorporate in your revamped unit. 

Will this unit focus on research skills? Then maybe you can skip lessons on literary elements and focus instead on citing and evaluating sources. 

Do your students need a lot of practice writing? If so, you can choose a short novel or even short stories, so your students will have more time for both short and long writing assignments. 

It might be helpful to take a look at the Common Core State Standards (or whatever benchmarks your district uses). If you have high-stakes testing data, you could also look at that to see where students’ weaknesses tend to lie. 

While you might be able to touch on multiple skills during your unit, you’ll probably only have time to go deeply into one area. Choose before continuing.

Improve Your Unit Step #4: Choose or Tweak Your Summative Assessment

Once you know what skills you want students to focus on, choosing your final assessment should be easy. 

(If you’re changing your whole-class read for this unit, you may want to choose your new text in tandem with this step. To figure out the pacing for a new novel study, see my tips for quickly mapping it here.)

Are students working on speaking skills? Then a speech is a natural choice. 

Are students struggling with grammar? Then maybe you go with an essay or a test. 

Make sure that your big assessment at the end of the unit will align with the skills you intend to focus on in your teaching.

Improve Your Unit Step #5: Choose One Lesson to Make More Engaging

By now, you’ve made all of the big decisions: the unit, the skills, the assessment, and maybe even a new text. 

Now you can focus on the fun stuff–planning your lessons!

Like the steps before this one, I recommend choosing one lesson to focus on. Even revamping one big lesson can have a huge impact on your students. So don’t overwhelm yourself trying to redo every lesson. 

(Unless you switched texts or focuses. In this case, you are starting from scratch. Instead of reinventing the whole wheel, try starting with a curriculum from a colleague or Teachers Pay Teachers.)

Start with your most boring or most important lesson. It might be the introduction lesson that kicks off the whole unit. Or maybe it’s a lesson on a literary element that never quite lands. Perhaps it’s not even a “lesson,” but the way you structure the steps for your major assessment. 

Now, explore different ways to make this lesson more engaging. 

Typically, adding choice, a hands-on component, group work, or multimedia is an efficient way to make a lesson more engaging. 

You might want to read some blog posts or talk to colleagues for inspiration. If you work with an instructional coach, this is where he or she should shine. Your school librarian might even be able to help you try something new. 

If you’re revamping your assessment, try looking into authentic assessments. Content-heavy lessons can often translate well into a classroom scavenger hunt. Here are three more engaging strategies to try with your students.

After you’ve redone your lesson, if you still have the time and energy, you can move on to redoing another one. But remember, not every lesson has to have fireworks. It’s perfectly fine if several of your lessons consist of good ol’ lectures and notetaking!

Improve Your Unit Step #6: Try A New Teaching Technique

As you explore re-structuring your lesson(s), you may come across new techniques, tools, or ideas to try. 

And they might seem clunky, time-consuming, or out of your students’ ability range. 

Push yourself though to try one new technique in your unit. It could be an online tool or program. Maybe it’s the way you structure your class–like having stations or inviting a guest teacher. 

You don’t need every day to be a new strategy. In fact, this could be overwhelming for both you and your students!

But attempting something new a few times a year will keep you growing in your craft and your students excited to see what happens next. 

Conclusion

Overhauling a unit or class can feel pretty daunting. 

The key, however, is to break it up into smaller steps.

Doing this while staying focused on improving one skill in your students will have a huge impact on the success of your unit!

The post English Teachers, Here’s How to Improve Your Unit appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

(Want a freebie to help students create their own sketchnotes? Grab this FREE Student Handout for Visual Notetaking!)

What Are Sketchnotes?

Sketchnotes, or the practice of taking visual notes, have been gaining popularity in the classroom as a way to engage students and enhance learning. They are a powerful tool for visual learners, helping them to better understand and retain information. 

Traditionally, students take notes by writing down or summarizing the most important pieces of information. They might organize these ideas with bullet points or a hierarchy system, but the notes themselves are all text. 

Sketchnotes, as you might imagine, is taking notes using visuals instead of words. Students use images or doodles to help organize and highlight information as they jot down their notes. 

Why Use Visual Notetaking?

This makes sketchnoting particularly useful for visual students or ELLs who might struggle to write quickly enough to keep up with a lesson or take a while to process which ideas are most important. 

There’s also plenty of research that shows that when students take visual notes, they are more likely to remember and understand the material. This is because visual cues, such as drawings and diagrams, help to anchor information in the brain.

It can also just be more engaging and fun for students who are sick of taking notes “the old-fashioned way.” Sketching is a form of active learning, which means that students are actively engaged in the process of understanding and retaining information. 

This can lead to increased motivation and engagement in the classroom. 

When To Use Sketchnotes in the ELA Classroom?

Sketchnotes can be helpful in any subject or grade level. They’re particularly useful in science where diagrams can help make complex concepts more understandable. But you can do a ton with visual notetaking in ELA too!

My favorite way to use visual notes is to keep students engaged while they listen to a text. Usually, I have reading questions to go along with an audiobook or large text that we’re studying. 

However, sometimes I want my students to listen to a Ted Talk, watch a YouTube video, or listen to a podcast. These are often supplemental materials for which I don’t have any curriculum. Instead of creating a worksheet from scratch, I ask students to create sketchnotes. 

This keeps students engaged with the ideas of the text as they listen instead of zoning out or pulling out their phones. 

Another way to use sketchnotes is an assessment–especially when students may have read different materials. 

For example, if you want to assess students’ understanding of their independent reading choice, you can ask them to create visual notes of the most important plot points, characters, themes, symbols, etc. 

Or maybe you want students to read an informative article on their own. They can create their own sketchnotes to share with groups the next day instead of answering questions. The groups can compare which ideas or concepts they highlighted in their notes and discuss the differences between their visual notetaking. 

Visual notes can even be presented in class or hung around the room for a gallery walk. 

How To Get Students Started With Visual Notetaking

If students have never created visual notesbefore, they might be overwhelmed by the idea of drawing their notes. 

Find some examples online to show students what sketchnotes can look like. Make sure to point out that there’s no “one right way” to create them. 

I love showing students this video when introducing them to visual notetaking. Not only does it give a great overview, but it emphasizes that artistic talent is not required for great visual notetaking. It also gives students great strategies for using doodles to highlight information. 

To help students remember these strategies, give them each a copy of this FREE Student Handout with sketchnote tips. 

If students need more scaffolded directions, you can try having them do the following: 

• Start with a clear layout. This can be as simple as dividing the page into sections or creating a grid.
• Use visual cues, such as arrows and symbols, to connect ideas and show relationships.
• Label and title important parts of the sketch
• Use colors to make it more visually appealing and easy to understand

Conclusion

Sketchnotes can be a powerful tool for enhancing learning in the classroom. They can also just be a great way to break up your classroom routine if it’s feeling a little monotonous. 

They are beneficial for visual learners and can increase motivation and engagement. By encouraging students to find their own style and using visual cues, labeling, and colors, teachers can help students to better understand and retain information.

Remember, you can grab your FREE Student Handout with Visual Notetaking Tips here!

The post Sketchnotes: What You Need to Know About Visual Notetaking in ELA appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Essay Alternatives Idea #1: Discussions

I love discussions as summative assessments! Add a juicy novel with rich themes, and you’ll have an assessment that is enjoyable for both you and your students.

Discussions allow more flexibility for your students to share their thoughts and engage with their peers. You can still have them write and gather evidence from the text as prep work for the discussion, which you can grade or not.

The best part of discussions is that once they’re done, so is the grading! Make sure you have an easy-to-read rubric with checkbooks, grade as students talk, and you’ll be done as soon as they are.

If you’re using a discussion as a summative assessment, either break the class into small groups that you can monitor one at a time or invite some guest facilitators to lead and grade other small groups.

Essay Alternatives Idea #2: Speeches

If you still want writing to be the focus of your summative assessment, a speech is a great alternative. 

Speeches include writing, like the essay, but they also provide opportunities for you to teach speaking and listening skills to your students.

Choosing a speech topic is automatic differentiation for students. 

Students can turn in the written form of their speeches, so you can grade their writing. But you can also assess their delivery and engagement with other speakers. This might prove a more balanced rubric for students who struggle with writing but can effectively communicate orally.

Plus, you can grade much of the assessment as students deliver their speeches. Most of the grading will be done by the time the students have all spoken!

Need a starting point? Try the Social Justice Speech Project.

Essay Alternatives Ideas #3: Portfolios

If one big piece of writing is too much, consider having students assemble a portfolio of their writing.

Students can work on their portfolios all semester and choose their best pieces to include. They can even include pieces you’ve already graded, which means all you’ll need to do is give the portfolios a cursory overview before assigning a final grade.

There are many different kinds of portfolios you can have students assemble.

Maybe you have them include one example of each type of writing you study (say an article, a poem, and a short essay).

You can also have them create new pieces for their portfolio. Check out the Author Study Project as an example.

Essay Alternative Ideas #4: Fiction Writing

Essays can become a little dry and boring if that’s all you assign. Why not mix it up with some fiction?

Fiction still requires a mastery of language, but also more planning (plotting) and creativity than an essay. 

It will challenge a lot of students more than an analytical essay ever will.

Plus assigning fiction writing can provide opportunities for all kinds of writing mini-lessons.

Try a Comic Book Memoir Project or a Fairy Tale Retelling Project for heavily scaffolded fictional writing assessments.

Conclusion

There are all kinds of other ways to test and challenge students’ skills besides the essay.

Taking a unit off from essay writing if it’s feeling a little stale (or if you’re short on grading time).

The post Here Are Some Creative Essay Alternatives for Your Next Unit appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.