Teaching creative writing to high school students can be both exciting and intimidating. Some students enter your creative writing class bubbling with ideas, while others (especially reluctant writers) freeze when faced with a blank piece of paper.

But don’t worry! If you’re freezing up trying to think of fun and meaningful Creative Writing activities, I’ve got you.

You can help every student discover the fun way the written word can become a creative outlet. Below are 13 tried-and-true activities—many pulled directly from my High School Creative Writing Curriculum—that build writing skills, foster students’ creativity, and leave a lasting impression.

And, if you need an entire Creative Writing class, you can grab that complete, done-for-you 9-Week Creative Writing Class right here!

Creative Writing Activities #1: Erasure Poems

Erasure poems are a category of poems in which poetry is created from existing text. They blend visual arts and poetry. 

The most well-known variations of erasure poems are probably blackout poetry and found poetry. These are great for getting students to warm up to writing because it doesn’t actually require them to write!

But it does get them thinking about poetry in a new way and examining the beauty of words. Plus, it’s just hands-on fun for a Creative Writing class or unit that can be a lot of plain pen-and-paper work.

You can get a resource for teaching both of these types of poems right here.

Creative Writing Activities for High School #2: Flash Fiction Challenges

What is flash fiction? It’s fiction with a very short and strict word count. It’s the perfect way to help students build writing endurance, challenge them to use precise and concise diction, and just get them writing.

Give students a strict word limit (100–500 words), and see how they handle character development and key elements of plot in a tiny space. These short stories are quick to grade and a fun activity for creative writing clubs, too.

My favorite variation of flash fiction is the two-sentence horror story.

You can learn more about using the two-sentence horror story in class in this blog post.

Or you can grab a FREE two-sentence horror story activity right here!

Creative Writing Activities for High School #3: Journal Writing

Journal writing and Creative Writing go hand in hand, right? 

You can use journal writing as a daily warm-up or as a once-a-week activity. 

Use writing prompts or story starters to get students writing. (You could even make a Mad Libs-style prompt.) Make sure they know there’s no pressure to write perfectly, finish their work, or even write coherently!

Funny or silly writing prompts are always a hit (like having students write from the perspective of an inanimate object, create a diary entry of a mythical creature, or describe goofy products).

But they can also be used to offer unique challenges (write a piece of historical fiction, 

You can get nine weeks’ worth of editable Creative Writing prompts right here. They’ll save you from staring at your screen blankly five minutes before class begins every day!

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Creative Writing Activities for High School #4: Teach Literary Terms

You can weave literary terms throughout your entire Creative Writing class–and you should!

But I also like to start with a short figurative language unit to front-load the most important and most used terms. 

In my Figurative Language Mini-unit (which you can get here), I teach ten different literary terms, have students do a figurative language scavenger hunt, assign students a sensory writing activity, and more.

Literary terms are must-have knowledge for any young writer; make sure you build some direct instruction into your class!

(And if you’re required to give a final exam, a literary terms test like this one can be a practical option.)

Creative Writing Activities for High School #5: Quick Story Chain

Story chains are a great way for students to let loose, collaborate, and just have fun writing.

In small groups, have students each write one paragraph of a quick story before passing it to the next student. The results are often hilarious—and it’s a great way to break writer’s block.

I liked to have students pass stories around the whole classroom while writing only one sentence at a time. Try each variation and see what crazy stories your class creates!

I like having this idea in my back pocket for when there’s a weird 10-15 minutes left in a class. You don’t need any supplies beyond paper and pencil.

Creative Writing Activities for High School #6: Skill-building Minilessons

Creative Writing classes shouldn’t just be fun activities and different writing tasks. At some point, you need to actually teach Creative Writing skills.

I prefer to do this using a minilesson format: teach a short lesson, then give students a short writing task that lets them practice the concept.

In this post, I talk about different lesson plan ideas you can use for these minilessons (writing dialogue, showing not telling, etc.).

Or, you can grab a collection of no-prep Creative Writing Minilessons right here!

I tried to make the Creative Writing exercises hands-on or collaborative so students aren’t just sitting still and writing every class period.

Creative Writing Activities for High School #7: Teach Different Types of Writing

Some Creative Writing classes are really niche–like a fantasy writing class. But most aren’t. If you’re teaching a generalized Creative Writing class, consider covering different types of writing.

You could talk about different genres (horror, comedy, sci-fi, etc.) and have students try out different ones. 

I like to cover different poetry formats (odes, haikus, etc.) because poetry is more accessible (i.e. shorter) for reluctant writers. You could also talk about different types of poetry (free verse, slam poetry, etc.).

If you need lessons that cover different types of poems, you can grab a bunch right here!

Creative Writing Activities for High School #8: Poem of the Week

Studying a Poem of the Week is a cheat code, honestly!

Poem of the Week activities do it all: expose students to new poems and authors, offer analysis practice, teach new literary terms, and serve as mentor texts for original writing.

Here’s how I did Poem of the Week Activities:

Each week, we’d have a different Poem of the Week. Students would do one analysis task (explain a metaphor, find alliteration, etc.) as a daily bell ringer at the start of class. On Mondays, I’d introduce the poem and talk a little bit about the author.

On Fridays, after we’ve studied the poem and analyzed it fully, students would use it as a mentor text to write their own. So, if we had studied a sonnet, students might be challenged to now write their own sonnet. 

You can get nine weeks’ worth of Poem of the Week activities right here!

Creative Writing Activities for High School #9: Fairy Tale Retellings

If you need a bigger writing project or summative assessment, having students rewrite a fairy tale is a perfect choice!

Have students reimagine fairy tales like The Little Mermaid or Cinderella. Encourage them to add magical creatures, set the story in real life, or write from the unique perspective of a side character.

Because students already know the basic plot points of the story, they won’t face as much writer’s block.

That means, instead of spending classroom time coming up with a story, they can jump right into more nuanced skills like characterization and crafting dialogue. This is the perfect project for struggling writers because the scaffolding is already built in!

If you want to learn more about doing a Fairy Tale retelling project, check out this blog post. 

If you need a done-for-you project–with worksheets to help students plan out their stories–grab my Fairy Tale Retelling Project right here!

Creative Writing Activities for High School #10: Author Study Project

Talk about differentiation! If you want a project that gives students a lot of choice, try an author study.

I go into more details about doing an author study in this blog post, but the gist is that you’ll have students choose an author to study.

They’ll read a few of their works and identify essential elements of that author’s style. Then, your students will try to emulate that author’s style in a brand new, unique piece of writing.

If you’re looking for a more challenging Creative Writing activity for older students, this is it! You can grab this project ready to go right here!

Creative Writing Activities for High School #11: Create a Graphic Novel or Comic Strip

This is another great way to combine writing with visual arts in your classroom: have students turn one of their stories into a comic book.

There are, of course, all kinds of creative ways to implement this idea. If you want one that’s no-prep, you can grab my Comic Book Memoir Project right here.

With this resource, students write short creative nonfiction pieces inspired by their own lives. Then, they tell the story in a comic strip format.

If you don’t want students to create comic books as a big project, you could offer comic book strip templates for brainstorming, as a starting point, or to help students map out new ideas for stories.

You could even spend a day examining comics or graphic novels as a writing genre.

Creative Writing Activities for High School #12: Write a Children’s Book

Students write and illustrate their own children’s book aimed at younger students. This creative writing project makes them consider language skills, clarity, and student choice in a new light.

If possible, you could even pair with an elementary teacher and have your students read their original stories to a classroom of younger writers. Nothing motivates young writers like an authentic audience!

Creative Writing Activities for High School #13: Use Photos as Inspiration

You can take this idea and use it to spark creativity with nearly any kind of fiction writing.

In my Figurative Language Photo Writing Project, I have students pick an image of a setting. Then, they must practice their figurative language skills to describe that setting. 

You could give students historical photos with no context, and ask them to write historical fiction. Or give them images of creepy places as inspiration for a horror story. 

If you have any kind of narrative writing unit plan, consider using photos as inspiration to help spur your students’ creative thinking.

Final Thoughts

There’s no single formula for teaching creative writing, but offering a variety of creative writing activities high school students can engage with is an important part of building confidence and excitement. Whether it’s erasure poems, a fairy tale retelling, or a children’s book project, these fun activities help students develop critical thinking, language skills, and a deeper appreciation of the written word.

If you’d like sequenced lesson plans, journal prompts, and creative writing projects ready to go, check out my High School Creative Writing Curriculum. It’s packed with new exercises that will keep your students writing on a regular basis—and save you planning time!

The post 13 Engaging Creative Writing Activities High School Students Will Love appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

We all know what it feels like to read a book and see some aspect of ourselves reflected. It’s powerful. It makes us feel seen. Of course, we want to give that to our students. 

But too many educational institutions are recycling the same curriculum from fifty years ago. Or longer. I know in my first year of teaching, the only textbook we had was the same edition from when I was in high school. And that textbook was outdated when I was using it as a student. 

The world has changed, and so, too, must our curriculum.

This doesn’t mean abandoning the classics. It means expanding our course materials and teaching practices to reflect the modern world and the different perspectives our students will encounter in higher education and beyond.

In this post, I’m going to how diversifying the curriculum can benefit students with some tips for updating your own curriculum.

Why Diversify the Curriculum?

There are many reasons to make sure your English curriculum is a diversified one. (Honestly, the real question should be: why keep the traditional canon?)

How Does Diversifying The Curriculum Boost Minority Voices?

When we include a wider range of resources in our English literature classrooms, we’re doing more than just checking a box. We’re making sure students see the often-ignored contributions of marginalized people.

That might mean adding novels from the Global South. It could be adding poetry by Black authors. You could teach essays from minority ethnic writers whose voices are too often missing from the national curriculum.

For many young people, exposure to a diverse curriculum is their first real chance to engage with texts that align with their own experiences. This kind of inclusive content helps students feel validated, especially ethnically diverse students and those from underrepresented backgrounds.

When students see themselves reflected in the subject matter, they recognize that their stories and communities are worth studying. They see that their voices are just as valuable as those of Shakespeare or Fitzgerald.

When students–all of our students–see themselves represented in the classroom, it gives them confidence. It also boosts engagement and buy-in.

How Does Diversifying The Curriculum Help Students With Personal Growth?

At the same time, a diverse curriculum nurtures empathy in all students. (And don’t you think the world needs more empathy right now?)

Reading about lives that are different from their own shows students different perspectives outside of their their daily routines. Whether it’s a memoir from a refugee, a coming-of-age novel set in southeast Asia, or a poem rooted in Black history, these texts encourage students to consider the human experience more broadly.

When students encounter the voices of others, students develop compassion, critical thinking, and cultural awareness. These are crucial skills they’ll need not only in college but also as citizens in the modern world.

Reading more diverse voices makes our students better people. What more could we want?

How Does Diversifying The Curriculum Benefit Students Academically?

There are also measurable academic benefits. When students engage with diverse representation in their reading lists, teachers often notice:

• Higher engagement: Students are more invested in reading when the characters or themes feel relevant to their lives.
• Stronger writing: Exposure to a wider range of resources and styles helps students expand their own writing voices.
• Improved discussion skills: Debating complex issues of social justice, identity, or cultural difference often sparks deeper conversations and better critical thinking than sticking with a narrow canon.

Research in academic publishing supports these benefits. For example, Nguyen et al. (2022) found that diversifying reading lists at the University of Kent not only increased student engagement but also helped foster an inclusive learning environment that recognized the often-ignored contributions of marginalized people. 

In other words, the texts we assign shape more than just students’ grades—they shape how students think about belonging, justice, and whose voices deserve space in academic programs.

How Does Diversifying The Curriculum Make Students Better Citizens?

And let’s not ignore the cultural context.

The Black Lives Matter movement, debates over social sciences, and conversations on social media have made students more aware of inequality. They want to see those issues reflected in the course materials we teach.

If we don’t give students a space to discuss important issues, how will they learn to think through them? In the classroom, we can guide students to think critically, ask questions, and communicate with one another with respect. We can challenge them to question a source’s biases.

If we don’t do this in the classroom, we leave students to navigate the world on their own. And where will they turn for answers? Social media. Poor sources. Uninformed friends and family, maybe.

As Nguyen et al. remind us, schools must keep pace with the recent changes in society if they want to remain relevant. A diverse curriculum doesn’t just reflect the past; it prepares students for the future.

Start by Auditing Your Curriculum

Before making changes, it’s worth doing an honest review of your current course design. A curriculum audit helps you see where you’re already strong and where you may be missing opportunities for diverse representation.

(I would grab a copy of your syllabus and a couple of highlighters.)

Here are some questions to guide your audit:

• What percent of authors on your reading list are from underrepresented backgrounds? (Go ahead and highlight those name/texts.)
• Are there units that include inclusive content or do they mostly focus on white male voices?
• Does your subject matter reflect both academic knowledge and the own experiences of your students? (In other words, is there space in your units for students to connect and reflect?)
• Do your course materials highlight the often ignored contributions of marginalized people?

This process doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. Even little things—like noting gaps in black history coverage or identifying where social justice themes could be layered in—are good starting points.

By reflecting on what’s currently in your curriculum, you’ll have a clearer vision for how to build an inclusive curriculum that serves today’s high school students.

​Don’t forget to check for female voices in your curriculum. Sometimes we focus so much on race, we forget there are other marginalized voices to boost. 

If your audit shows you a curriculum with almost no diverse voices, don’t beat yourself up. Many curriculums are similar. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about doing better. And now that you know the weak spots in your curriculum, you can focus on doing better.

What If You Have a Strict Curriculum?

Many of us teach in settings where the national curriculum or district-mandated syllabi limit our flexibility. Maybe your academic programs already require a specific focus on canonical texts. Perhaps your school is cautious about course design, or you’re a first-year teacher worried about deviating too much from expectations.

You might work in a district or state in which getting a new text approved is onerous at best, and, at worst, could you get you doxed by niche parent groups.

The good news? Little things can still make a big difference.

Even if your core texts are locked in, you can bring inclusive content to your classroom through supplemental materials. School staff across primary school, high school, and even higher education institutions are finding creative ways to work within constraints while still offering students diverse representation.

Think of it this way: Shakespeare can stay. But let’s read him alongside a writer from India or a poet from Harlem.

Dickens can stay. But let’s also show students a short story highlighting the struggles and triumphs of ethnically diverse students in a modern world.

And if even this feels risky, don’t despair. How you talk about the books on your curriculum–and not on it–can be powerful, too. Even if you can’t actively teach certain voices, you can let students know they exist. We can hope the students that need those texts find their way to them.

So, How Can You Diversify The Curriculum?

So how do we actually make this happen? Here are some good starting points that don’t require reinventing your entire syllabus:

Diversifying The Curriculum Tip #1: Pair Canonical Texts with Diverse Short Works

You don’t have to get rid of your main texts entirely. Instead, supplement them with short, diverse works.

If you’re teaching Of Mice and Men or The Great Gatsby, add in a short story, poem, or essay by an author from a minority ethnic or underrepresented background. These little things enrich the subject area by providing different perspectives while still keeping your course materials manageable.

Examples:

• Pair The Great Gatsby with poetry from Langston Hughes to highlight the often ignored contributions of marginalized people during the Jazz Age.
• Teach Macbeth alongside a short story that also deals with ambition and morality like “The Prophet’s Hair” by Salman Rushdie.

Diversifying The Curriculum Tip #2: Add Full Novel Studies by Diverse Voices

Add one new novel study to your year-long curriculum. Even one new text per year can shift the culture of your English literature class.

A unit on Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, or Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi can introduce students to voices often missing from academic programs. This creates a more inclusive curriculum that better reflects our students’ realities and the diverse enrollment in our schools.

You can find a new text that teaches the same skills or focuses on the same essential questions. 

Want some ideas for diverse novel studies? Grab my World Literature curriculum–full of global voices–for free by signing up below (or check out my done-for-you class right here.)

Diversifying The Curriculum Tip #3: Encourage Diverse Texts During Independent Reading

Independent reading is an excellent way to bring in inclusive content without needing administrative approval (probably, anyway). At the very least, it won’t require you to get a new text approved for your curriculum.

Curate a classroom library or further reading list that highlights authors from underrepresented backgrounds. Encourage students to explore academic publishing lists, award winners, or even recommendations from universities. Be sure to promote minority voices during your book talks and let students see you reading texts from diverse authors.

Not every student will pick up a text about black history or racial justice, but making these books available ensures students at least see that these voices are valued and included in course design.

Final Thoughts on Diversifying the Curriculum

As English teachers, we hold incredible power in shaping how students understand the world. By making intentional choices in our course design and teaching practices, we can foster classrooms that reflect inclusive learning environments.

Diversifying the curriculum isn’t about discarding the past. It’s about broadening our lens to include the often-ignored contributions of marginalized people while giving students tools to navigate the modern world with empathy and academic knowledge.

Start with little things—a paired text, a diverse novel study, a thoughtful independent reading list. These changes add up to a classroom where every student, regardless of background, feels seen.

The post Diversifying the Curriculum in High School English: Practical Tips for Teachers appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Whether you’re teaching a full Creative Writing class or a short writing unit, humor is the universal language that can spark imagination, improve writing skills, and keep writer’s block far away.

In this post, I’ll explain why journaling should be part of every creative writing class, how to build effective classroom routines around it, and strategies for grading journal writing without losing your mind.

Oh—and I’ll share dozens of funny prompts, comedic story starters, and great ideas to keep your classroom laughing and learning all year long!

Need a bunch of done-for-you journal prompts? You can grab a 9-week, editable slideshow with tons of writing prompts for your students right here! 

If you want to skip ahead to the prompts, click here. 

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Why Have Students Journal in Creative Writing?

How do we improve student reading? We get students to read as much as possible.

So, how do we improve student writing? The same. We give them tons of opportunities for low-stakes writing.

Journaling is a great way to help students develop confidence and fluency in their writing. It gives them a safe space to experiment with different genres, characters, and story starters—without the pressure of a formal writing assignment.

Your students’ journals will become a repository of ideas. So when you finally assign a writing assignment, they won’t be able to say, “I don’t know what to write about.”

But the best thing about journaling? It gets students writing consistently. And the best way to improve as a writer is to write more often. Even if what they’re writing is a humorous story about a serial killer who moonlights as a stand-up comedian or a mythical creature trying to become social media famous.

Funny journal prompts take the pressure off. When students are laughing, they’re relaxed. When they’re relaxed, the words flow. And when the words flow? That blank page becomes less intimidating.

Journals also:

• Encourage creative thinking and original ideas
• Help students explore the writing process in a low-stakes setting
• Offer a snapshot of a student’s writing style and growth over time
• Provide endless opportunities for connection and classroom community (hello, inside joke!)

Whether your students are retelling Snow White with magical creatures, imagining a dream house with a magic wand, or turning a boring historical figure into a comedy writing goldmine, journaling can be the gateway to stronger, funnier, and more confident writers.

Classroom Routines and Expectations for Journaling

If journaling feels like one more thing to manage, let’s simplify. With clear expectations and predictable routines, journals can become the best medicine for classroom chaos—and a powerful support group for budding writers.

Here’s how to make it work:

1. Set a Routine

Decide when journaling will happen. Will it be a bell-ringer at the beginning of class? A wind-down activity at the end? A weekly newsletter-style reflection every Friday?

My suggestion? Start class with 5–10 minutes of journal writing. It’s a fun way to ease students into the creative mindset and create structure from the start.

If you’re adding journaling to your classroom, make sure it is a consistent part of your day. Consider it a must-do classroom management tool.

Plus, starting with journaling gives you a moment to take attendance and deal with any beginning-of-class chaos. 

And journaling first thing means it won’t be forgotten! How often do we push off good ideas because we ran out of time?

2. Use a Variety of Prompts

Provide a variety of prompts to keep things fresh. From funny picture writing prompts to a list of funny things that happened last week, the right prompt can transform even the most reluctant writer into a storytelling machine.

Include prompts that reference:

• Everyday life
• A favorite book or favorite song
• Pop culture (hello, video games and social media!)
• Silly hypotheticals (What if your best friend was actually a magical creature from another time period?)
• Funny animals, inside jokes, or a character missing their funny bone

In addition to prompts, I like to always provide my Creative Writing students with the option of free choice or free writing.

Sometimes students come to class and they have something they need to get off their chest. Or, they might have a longer writing idea they want to flesh out. Let them use their journaling time to pursue these passions. 

But don’t forget to provide prompts for students who need more structure and scaffolding.

If you don’t have the time to set up prompts every day for class, you can grab my done-for-you Journal Prompts here! Each day includes two options and a free write choice. Plus, it’s entirely editable, so you can add, delete, or tweak anything!

3. Encourage Choice

Let students choose from a list of journal prompts—or invent their own! Some might want to tackle a scary story, while others prefer a funny story involving the big bad wolf joining a literary magazine.

In this post, I’m sticking to comedy, but your students will want a variety of options. Make sure some of your prompts work for genres other than comedy. 

You might also want to provide a variety of formats for your journal prompts.

For example, you could offer a sentence starter vs. a scenario. You could ask a personal question and a what-if question.

Provide funny writing prompts next to horror writing prompts. Make sure your prompts include a variety of formats, genres, and topics. You want to give your students opportunities to challenge themselves and work outside of their comfort zones.

4. Create a Journal Routine

Students can:

• Write a title for each entry (a good habit for organizing ideas)
• Date their entries
• Star their favorite entries to expand into a longer short story later (or to receive feedback on from you)
• Copy down the prompt to which their responding

You also need a way to time your journal writing. I recommend setting up some kind of timer that your students can see. Your journal writing time should be consistent. Whether it’s five, ten, or fifteen minutes every day, keep that writing time the same every day throughout the week. 

Optional: Have students decorate their journals or choose a theme (like all stories take place in a time machine universe or feature a younger sibling as the main character). Decorating journals could be a great first-week-of-school activity!

5. Establish Expectations

Make it clear that journals are:

• A place for exploration, not perfection
• Meant to be creative and fun
• Occasionally shared, but always respected

Remind students that a silly comedic story can still reveal their unique perspective and help develop their writing style.

It’s also important that you make sure all students respect one another’s work. It takes a lot of bravery to write, and even more to share.

6. Model Journal Writing

Write in your own journal with your students. 

This might not be possible every single day. There will be minor emergencies or attendance issues at the beginning of class that you just have to deal with. 

But occasionally, and more often at the beginning of the year, show students what journal writing looks like. 

In my classroom, I would sometimes respond to one of the journal prompts in my own journal. I would even project my notebook so students could watch me work in real-time. Students saw me cross out words and draw arrows to ideas. I wanted my students to know that the art of writing was a messy one!

And then, I would read aloud what I wrote and reflect with my students on the parts I liked, the places I struggled, and what I could change or add if I had more time.  

Teaching Creative Writing means modeling what being a Creative Writer looks like.

7. Provide Opportunities to Share

After students have journaled for the day, provide time to share. This could be done on a daily or weekly basis. 

Sharing should be low-stakes and not required. Save required read-alouds for more formal writing assignments. Journaling should be a “safe space” for young writers. 

You’ll probably have some students who consistently want to share!

But you’ll probably have even more students who are shy about their work. When I had students who clearly loved their work but felt shy about sharing, I offered to read their entries aloud for them. They got to share their work and hear feedback, but didn’t have to directly face their peers. 

Grading Journal Writing

Okay, let’s be honest. You probably don’t want to read 150 rambling pages about a historical figure turning into a magical creature just to give it a grade.

When I was told I’d be teaching Creative Writing, reading and grading journal prompts was the number one thing that filled me with anxiety. But honestly, the process is only as bad as you make it!

So, how do you grade journal writing without turning it into a dreaded writing assignment?

1. Use a Completion-Based System

The simplest approach is to check for completion. Did the student write the entry? Did they give it a good-faith effort?

Here are some ideas:

• Do periodic notebook checks
• Use a stamp system
• Require students to star their 3 favorite entries each quarter and turn them in for feedback

I always told students that they had to journal every day, but that I was only going to check for completion and effort. If they wanted, they could star one or two entries for me to specifically read.

Some students never starred anything. Others always starred super long entries. Make one or two specific comments in the margins and continue on!

2. Create a Simple Rubric

Focus on qualities like:

• Creativity
• Voice
• Effort
• Clarity of ideas

This allows you to reward risk-taking and original thinking—even if their comedic story about a favorite season being canceled by a serial killer isn’t Pulitzer-worthy.

Rubric grading will take you longer, so this might be a better option if you’re teaching a short writing unit instead of a longer Creative Writing class. This could also be great if you have a really small class size. 

You may want to come up with some basic requirements for journal prompts (like a minimum of three sentences each), so that grading along a rubric is easier.

3. Offer Opportunities for Expansion

Let students revise one journal entry into a polished short story, turning a silly starter into a full-blown masterpiece. This shows growth through the writing process—and makes grading more meaningful.

Plus, you won’t have to actually read and grade the journal prompts themselves. Instead, you can spend your time reading fewer but longer pieces and providing more impactful feedback on your students’ writing.

4. Celebrate Journaling

Make spaces in your classroom for students to share their journaling.

You could have a bulletin board of students’ best pieces. (Require them to contribute at least one or two entries throughout your class.)

Create “funny hubs” in your classroom by sharing favorite (volunteer!) entries on a board or in a class literary magazine. Highlighting student voice is a great way to build confidence and community.

Sometimes, while I was grading or checking journals, I would snap a picture of a particularly good entry. Then, I could share it later (anonymously) and point out the writing technique or idea that the student did particularly well.

Similarly, you could collect funny responses and share them in your real-life or digital classroom.

Funny Creative Writing Prompts Your Students Will Love

Ok, ok. Get on it with it already. If you’re looking for prompts you can use right now with your students, here they are!

Ready to stock your journal bank with some funny creative writing prompts? Here’s a mega list of great ideas to use in your classroom. They’ll help you build routines, crush writer’s block, and keep students engaged for the entire year.

Funny Story Starters

Give students the first line of a story. Then, have them continue writing the story from there. Use one of the lines below, or create your own!

• The last time I saw my future self, they warned me not to eat the cafeteria tacos.
• A magical creature just enrolled in my school. Their favorite thing? Word problems.
• My younger sibling became president. On day one, they banned video games and declared Tuesday Pajama Day.
• My best friend and I accidentally built a time machine in science class.
• My pet hamster thinks he’s a stand-up comedian. Honestly, he’s funnier than most adults.
• My dream house has one small problem: it’s haunted by a very lazy serial killer.
• I woke up this morning with a new superpower: I can talk to squirrels. They’re very gossipy.
• The school janitor just revealed he’s actually an undercover wizard.
• I accidentally summoned a ghost who only wants to discuss outdated memes.
• I entered a cooking competition… but everything I cook turns into glitter.
• I adopted a dragon, but it’s terrified of fire.
• Our math teacher was replaced by a robot who only speaks in Shakespearean English.
• The class pet just ran for student council president—and won.
• My reflection started arguing with me in the mirror this morning.
• I joined a secret club that meets in the school janitor’s closet—and it’s weirder than I expected.

Funny Picture Writing Prompts

Instead of writing out a journal prompt, you could ask students to write about an image instead. This is one place where AI can actually really help!

You can provide a solitary image or give students an image to go with a scenario. Here are some possible scenarios you could use. (Pair these with images from clip art, memes, or AI-generated art!):

• A fairy tale wedding where the little pigs are the flower girls
• A scary story with a funny animal as the villain
• Snow White running a donut shop for magical creatures
• A group of historical figures starting a support group for people stuck in the wrong time period
• A T-Rex trying to play the violin in a fancy orchestra
• An alien family shopping for groceries at a very confused Earth supermarket
• A pirate getting lost in a modern city
• A vampire attending a beach party
• A unicorn working in a corporate office
• A robot trying to babysit toddlers

Funny Creative Writing Journal Prompts Inspired by Everyday Life

Not every student loves to write about crazy or fantastic topics. You’ll find that a lot of our students want to write about real life, or at the very least, keep their stories in the realm of reality. 

These writing prompts can result in humorous entries, but they use everyday life as inspiration.

• What’s the weirdest thing that happened last week?
• If your favorite book character showed up in your math class, how would it go?
• Describe your favorite season as if it were a person.
• If your family member had magical powers, what would they use them for?
• Imagine your school had no gravity for a day. What would that look like?
• Write about the worst haircut you can imagine.
• If your shoes could talk, what would they say about your day?
• Write a break-up letter from you to your alarm clock.
• Describe a dinner with your pet as your dinner guest.
• If your homework assignment became sentient, what would it do?

Comedy Writing with a Twist

Ask students to create comedy by adding a twist to something familiar. Here are some possible challenges you can present to your students:

• Rewrite a horror movie scene as a funny story.
• Imagine a serial killer trying to improve their image on social media.
• Describe a day in the life of a stand-up comedian who only tells jokes about historical events.
• Tell a story where the main character is allergic to laughter.
• Invent a holiday no one wants to celebrate and explain its bizarre traditions.
• Describe a villain who is extremely polite and apologetic.
• Write an instruction manual for how to survive your school’s cafeteria.
• Create a fake commercial for a ridiculous invention.
• Pitch a new reality TV show starring your English teacher.
• Tell the origin story of a superhero whose only power is extreme awkwardness.

Wrapping It Up: Funny Prompts, Real Growth

Whether you’re teaching middle school or guiding a seasoned high school student, incorporating funny creative writing prompts into your journaling routine is a good idea that pays off all year long. You’ll see improvements in creative thinking, stronger short stories, and students who actually look forward to writing.

Even better? You’ll be creating space for laughter, connection, and original ideas—the true hallmarks of an engaging creative writing class. Journal writing is a great way to build community–especially if you find yourself teaching a Creative Writing class. 

Ready to get started? You can grab my fully editable, 9-week slideshow of Journal Prompts right here!

The post 45 Funny Creative Writing Prompts Guaranteed to Get Students Writing appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

That’s where this post comes in!

Running literature circles in a high school English class can be magical… or messy. On their best day, they’re a great way to get small groups of students engaged in meaningful discussion while practicing critical thinking and deep reading skills. On their worst day, they dissolve into off-topic conversations and uneven participation.

So, how do you make sure your literature circle meetings land closer to magical? By using literature circle role worksheets.

These aren’t just busy work or another grade for the gradebook. Done well, they are simple teacher resources that provide specific roles, clear expectations, and a consistent structure—so every student knows exactly how to contribute to the group.

In this post, I’ll talk about why you should use literature circle role worksheets, how to use them, and offer some suggestions for what they should look like.

If you happen to be leading a graphic novel literature circle, you can find done-for-you literature circle role worksheets inside my Graphic Novel Literature Circles Unit.

What Are Literature Circles?

Never tried a literature circle before? Literature circles are small, student-led discussion groups where each member reads the same text and takes on a specific role to guide the conversation.

They combine the structure of assigned reading with the freedom of collaborative exploration, giving students ownership over their learning.

Instead of the teacher leading every discussion, students prepare ahead of time and come ready to share insights, ask questions, and connect ideas. This makes literature circles especially effective for engaging reluctant readers and fostering critical thinking skills.

If you’re looking for a way to give students more responsibility for their learning but aren’t ready to remove all of the structure yet, literature circles are the perfect mix of teacher-led and total student independence!

While the approach can be adapted for any age group, in high school, literature circles work best when paired with purposeful role assignments, clear expectations, and texts that students are genuinely interested in reading.

If you want to learn more about literature circles themselves, check out this blog post.

Why Literature Circle Role Worksheets Are Essential

If you’ve ever told your class, “Okay, get into groups and discuss the chapter,” you probably already know what happens: a couple of students dominate, a few quietly check out, and the rest offer a sentence or two before drifting off-topic.

Literature circle role worksheets fix that problem by giving each student an assigned job, written job descriptions, and a recording sheet where they prepare their contributions.

Instead of vague instructions, students know:

• What to look for in the text
• How to prepare for their role
• When and how to share with group members
• How their work fits into the group’s success

If you want students engaged during their discussion, literature circle role worksheets are essential. 

Besides engagement, they can guide students to dig deeper. Advanced students can narrow their focus so that they can go deeper instead of broader. Struggling students feel less overwhelmed with a singular job to do. Every student wins, and every student feels like they’ve contributed.

Whether you teach older students in high school, struggling readers in middle school, or even dabble in book clubs with short stories, literature circle role worksheets work at every grade level. They give structure without stifling student voice, and they make your literature circle discussions far more productive.

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Common Literature Circle Roles to Include in Your Worksheets

One of the best parts of using literature circle role worksheets is that you can assign a wide variety of student roles. 

I recommend choosing roles based on the skills you want to highlight during your unit OR based on the strengths of the text.

For example, if you really want students to work on analyzing character during your unit, be sure to include a “Character Captain.” For graphic novels, you might want to include a “Visual Analyst” who dives deeper into the images to find meaning and symbolism.

Here are some various roles to consider, along with a brief description of the literature circle role for each:

• Character Captain – Tracks character development, relationships, and important moments of change.
• Connector – Links the text to real-world events, social studies topics, personal experiences, or other media.
• Dialogue Decoder – Analyzes key lines of dialogue, explaining their meaning, tone, and impact on the story.
• Discussion Director – Creates open-ended questions for the group meeting to spark a meaningful way of looking at the text.
• Literary Luminary – Selects an important moment or short passage for close reading and discussion.
• Panel Tracker – Follows the sequence of panels in a graphic novel, noting layout, pacing, and visual storytelling choices.
• Prediction Expert – Makes predictions for the next section of the book using evidence from the text.
• Researcher – Brings outside context, such as information on the time period, the author’s life, or relevant topics like Native Americans or physical science concepts.
• Summarizer – Delivers a concise recap of the main idea and key events from the section of the book.
• Super Story Illustrator – Produces a visual arts representation of the reading for the rest of the group.
• Super Story Teller – Retells an event in their own words, sometimes creatively, to engage class members.
• Theme Tracker/Seeker – Identifies recurring themes, symbols, or motifs and explains how they develop across the text.
• Tone & Mood Monitor – Notes shifts in tone and mood, offering constructive feedback about how language shapes emotion.
• Visual Analyst – Examines illustrations, page design, and artistic style to explain how visual choices affect storytelling.
• Vocabulary Enricher / Word Wizard – Finds unfamiliar words, defines them, and shares how they shape meaning.

Look, I know some of the roles sound cheesy. You don’t have to give every role a cutesy name! And, in fact, if you’re teaching in high school, you may not want to.

It doesn’t matter what you name the role. All that matters is that students have a clear understanding of their purpose while reading. Choose a title for each role and provide a short description for students. 

You can rotate specific roles every week so students get to try a new role and build different skills.

How to Use Literature Circle Role Worksheets in Class

Here’s a step-by-step approach to making the most of literature circle role worksheets:

1. Assign the Roles – At the start of a reading cycle, hand out role cards or role pages so every group member knows their responsibility.
2. Explain the Job Descriptions – For the first time, model what a completed recording sheet looks like. Walk through a sample text so students see the process.
3. Give Preparation Time – Offer enough time in class or as homework for students to gather notes, quotes, and ideas for their role.
4. Run the Literature Circle Meeting – During the group meeting, have each student share from their role worksheet while others listen and respond.
5. Rotate Roles – Switch student roles each week or every section of the book so students experience different ways of contributing.
6. Follow Up with Reflection – Have students jot down what they learned from other group members and set goals for next time.
7. Extend the Learning – Use the content from literature circle role worksheets as inspiration for final projects—like a movie trailer, graphic arts poster, or a vocal music performance based on the text.

Rotating roles is important. If you choose every role based on a skill you want to cover, then students will have practiced four different skill in-depth over a month! When else do you get to have students practice a single skill set that deeply?

It will also help balance the workload. Some roles are going to feel a little easier or a little harder to certain students; by having students rotate through roles, you’re making your literature circle “fairer.”

What Students Can Do on Literature Circle Role Worksheets

The beauty of literature circle role worksheets is that they’re adaptable. Again, the job you have students do on their worksheets should focus on the skills you want them to practice. 

Depending on the role, your worksheets can prompt students to:

• Write down important quotes from the reading and explain their significance
• Sketch big ideas or scenes (great for Super Story Illustrator roles)
• Jot down questions for discussion—both comprehension and deeper thinking questions
• Highlight unfamiliar words and define them in their own words
• Record page numbers for moments they want the group to revisit
• Map character relationships as they change over time
• Summarize the main idea of the section of the book in a few sentences
• Make personal or real-world connections to events in the text
• Note patterns or symbols they see emerging
• Predict what will happen next and explain why
• Respond to conversation starters or prompts you provide
• Reflect on how their role helped them understand the text better

By tailoring the worksheet prompts to each literature circle role, you make sure students are always prepared to contribute something meaningful to their literature circle discussions.

Troubleshooting Literature Circle Roles

Sadly, no matter how well you plan your literature circles and how much prep you do, you’re bound to run into some problems. Here are some of the most common issues and suggestions for how to handle them.

• If a student is chronically absent:
  • Consider assigning that student a flexible role that can be completed independently and submitted digitally, such as Visual Analyst, Word Wizard, or Illustrator. 
  • You can also rotate roles less frequently so their absence impacts the group less.
  • Another option is to add an extra, “less important” role to the group that the student will do every week. For example, groups might be able to do without a Summarizer (although their presence would help). A chronically absent student could be the Summarizer for the whole literature circle. Yes, that student receives less practice with essential skills, but at least the rest of the group doesn’t suffer for his or her absence.
• If groups are uneven:
  • Some students can take on two smaller roles in one session (for example, Summarizer and Word Wizard) or split a bigger role (like Plot Mapper) into separate responsibilities. 
  • You can also have one role “float” between two groups to fill gaps.
  • I recommend always having a “back-up” role you can fall back on. For example, if your class is twenty-one students, you might have three groups of four and one group of five. If you have a backup role, you can just give the group of five the extra role. (Make sure you have extra literature circle role worksheets to fall back on.)
• If a student finishes their role too quickly:
  • Have them prepare two examples or extend their role into the next meeting. For instance, a Connector could prepare an extra connection to an outside source, or a Dialogue Decoder could explore how the same conversation might change in a different setting.
  • You might also just have to check their work. For example, if a Researcher claims she’s done early, look over her worksheet. Could she research more topics? Cite her sources? Make connections between the text and history? Students that finish quickly may have only done surface-level work. Encourage them to go deeper.
• If students are struggling with their role:
  • Provide role-specific sentence stems, guiding questions, or example notes. 
  • You can also model the role during a full-class discussion before assigning it to small groups. (For example, maybe you read the first chapter of a book or a short text as a whole class so you can model each role.)
• If a student is too quiet or dominating a conversation:
  • Consider establishing discussion norms, such as “no one speaks twice until everyone speaks once,” before the weekly group meetings to keep the conversation balanced. 
  • You could also rotate discussion leaders to give quieter students more opportunities to guide the group.
  • If you really need to intervene you could also “rig” the students roles and tell them what they’ll be doing. Maybe a quiet student is suddenly the Vocabulary Enricher, so he has to share his findings. Or a talkative student becomes the Super Story Illustrator so her contribution has to be mostly visual.

Why I Recommend Graphic Novel Literature Circle Role Worksheets

Graphic novels are a meaningful way to reach struggling readers, visual learners, and even reluctant participants. They’re accessible without being “too easy” for older students, making them perfect for mixed-ability literature circle groups.

My Graphic Novel Literature Circle Bundle includes:

• Literature circle role worksheets with clear job descriptions
• ​Group discussion logs
• Group discussion prompts
• A final project (a visual theme poster)
• Rubrics for both the project and the group discussions
• And more!

If you’ve been hesitant to try literature circles for the first time, or you’re looking for a more effective way to structure literature circle activities, this resource is a great way to get your feet wet. It takes hours of prep out of the equation, allowing you to dive right into your reading groups. 

It also includes a comprehensive teaching guide with tips, suggestions for literature circle themes and titles, and so much more.

You can learn more about the resource and grab it today right here.

Conclusion

Literature circles can be an engaging and empowering way to help students take ownership of their reading and learning. By rotating roles, providing clear expectations, and offering diverse texts, you give students the chance to practice collaboration, critical thinking, and analytical skills in a student-led format.

​These roles are critical for encouraging engagement, skill development, and important classroom discussions.

Whether you choose a theme like banned books or graphic novels, or let students select their own texts, the key is fostering a space where every voice matters and every perspective adds value. With a little planning and flexibility, literature circles can transform your classroom into a vibrant community of readers who challenge, inspire, and learn from one another.

Need a done-for-you unit? Grab my Graphic Novel Literature Circle Unit right here!

The post Literature Circle Role Worksheets Made Simple: Roles, Tips, and Themes appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

It doesn’t take long as a classroom teacher to realize that it’s way smarter to have emergency lesson plans for substitute teachers ready before school starts.

When your sub binder is full of ready-to-go sub plans, you can head back to bed (or head out the door) with peace of mind knowing your students will be productive in your absence.

In this post, I’ll explain how to build meaningful, emergency substitute plans that don’t just feel like busy work. (I’ve broken these lesson plans down into “year-round” and “seasonal” categories.)

All of these are designed for high school students. But you can easily adapt most for middle school students or even younger students when needed.

The worst thing about feeling terrible is how much work it is to take a day off as a teacher. I can’t tell you how many times I went to work feeling crummy because it sounded like less work than submitting sub plans.

But I want better for you! So it’s a good idea to have at least one of these emergency plans sitting ready in your classroom.

Setting Up for Substitute Success: The Sub Binder

Before diving into lesson ideas, let’s talk about preparation. 

Even the best emergency plans won’t work if your guest teacher can’t find them or doesn’t know what to do. The most important thing you can do is create a substitute binder (sometimes called a sub tub or sub folder) that has easy access to everything a substitute needs.

My school actually required these. We had to have them done by the second week of school. We also had to submit links to important online learning spaces like our Google Classroom. If your school has a similar system, follow their directions.

Inside your sub binder, include a seating chart, a daily schedule, and clear notes about classroom routines. (This might have to be updated every quarter or semester, depending on your class schedule.)

If you work with special education teachers, add specific instructions for students with accommodations or other special needs. 

Sub Binder Tips

If you’re leaving worksheets in your binder, don’t forget to include answer keys. Substitutes will try and help your students while you’re away. Make sure they have the tools to keep your kids on track!

Another tip? Avoid technology-heavy plans. If you can, avoid leaving a YouTube video or Google Doc link.

Sometimes leaving a digital lesson is the easiest way to go. I understand it can be unavoidable. But every link or digital document is an opportunity for a problem. How many times have you had issues playing a YouTube video? Your sub will run into the same issues. But he or she won’t have the same know-how to get the class back on track.

Sticking to paper-based plans saves a lot of stress. Make enough student packets ahead of time, so you don’t need to worry about last-minute copies.

Finally, remember to leave more work than you think is necessary. The most important thing is that your substitute never runs out of things to do with students. If there’s extra time, having backup educational activities like word searches, short brain breaks, or quick discussion questions ensures that students stay on task.

Year-Round Emergency Lesson Plans For High School English

If you only have space in your binder for a few activities, make sure they work year-round and with any unit!

I’ll share some ideas that you can use at any time of the school year!

The Best Emergency Lesson Plan

Many times, you’ll need a sub at the last minute. But sometimes, you’ll know in advance when you’re going to be gone–a vacation, a doctor’s appointment, etc. 

If you can plan your absence, that’s obviously ideal. For these days, I always tried to leave my students work to continue on. This would be a project we had started, and I had reviewed and shown examples of. Or a worksheet reviewing a lesson I had taught the day before. Maybe an essay we were in the middle of writing. 

In my experience, work time on something students were already comfortable with was always the best lesson plan. 

Missing work days are great, too.

If my classes had lots of missing work, I would print off a list of missing assignments for each student. The sub could then pass these out and supervise while students got caught up.

Students who didn’t need the time could do extra credit or work on missing work for another class. (Sometimes, I would print off a list of missing work for a colleague for the sub to pass out, too!).

Don’t Forget Materials

Make sure to leave necessary materials–handouts with important information, markers for poster projects, etc.

Basically, if you have a heads up about your absence, make the most of the time and avoid having a sub introduce new material.

Also, be realistic when you’re leaving sub plans. Unless your students are very responsible or motivated, some kids just won’t do work when you’re not there.

Don’t leave anything for students to do that absolutely must be done–because it probably won’t be. Your sub is also not a miracle worker. They won’t have the same relationships with the students that you do, so don’t expect them to get the same amount of work out of your students. 

Your goal should be to leave enough work to keep students engaged in their ELA skills. The sub’s goal is to make sure everyone is safe. 

Reading-Based Emergency Lesson Plans

One of the easiest categories of emergency lesson plans for substitute teachers is reading. 

Reading activities work across many subject areas—not just language arts—and require minimal prep for both you and your substitute teacher.

Now, unless your classes are full of strong, motivated readers, I don’t recommend having them continue a class novel without you.

So many students just won’t do the reading. When you come back, your schedule will be all over the place because some students will have done it while others didn’t. 

But you could have students review what they’ve read. Maybe you have them answer comprehension questions, analyze characters, or write a summary.

If it’s late enough in the year that students have read a few books or had lots of time for independent reading, I recommend this Instagram-inspired Activity!

Students choose a book they’ve read and then create (draw) a faux Instagram post for it. This resource includes an example, so the sub can show students exactly what their final product should look like.

Best of all, this activity works with any piece of literature! It’s a perfect emergency lesson to keep copies of in your sub binder. (And hanging them up makes for a great bulletin board, too!)

You could also leave an article for students to read that’s not required for your current novel unit, but which would enrich their understanding. For example, if you’re reading a holocaust novel, you could leave students a nonfiction article about WWII to read. If you’re reading a historical novel, have students take notes on an article about the time period. 

This way, students who do the activity will benefit, but students who slack off won’t be too behind when you come back to the classroom.

Writing-Based Emergency Lesson Plans

When you can’t be there, writing is another reliable category for sub work. Writing assignments require little explanation from the regular teacher, but can fill an entire class period. They also give students a chance to stretch their creativity while still practicing skills.

If you’re studying a type of writing, offer students a way to review.

For example, you can have students complete this CER Review Worksheet to review claim, evidence, and reasoning writing. Or, use this Label the Essay Worksheet if students have just learned the five-paragraph essay format.

If your students are working on poetry, try giving them a Poem of the Week activity.

These activities consist of two parts: in the first, students read and analyze a poem. In the second, they write their own poem using the one they just read as a mentor text. The worksheets include all of the necessary directions and the resource includes answer keys for subs. 

For a graphic novel unit, you could add some enrichment by having students complete these fill-in-the-blank comic book pages.

This resource includes three different pages with blanked-out speech bubbles. Students try to make a cohesive story by filling in the bubbles with text that makes sense. This quick activity doesn’t take too much time, so pair it with another activity or leave it as enrichment for early finishers. (My Fill-in-the-blank Comic Book Activity is free right here!)

Grammar-Based Emergency Lesson Plans

Grammar often gets overlooked when building emergency substitute plans, but it’s one of the most useful tools in your sub binder.

Unlike some projects, grammar worksheets are straightforward and require minimal explanation. They’re perfect for a guest teacher who may not have a language arts background.

I keep a variety of grammar review worksheets in my sub tub. Because they include answer keys and detailed instructions, they are easy for a substitute to pass out and collect. They also work as independent practice, in small groups, or even as a timed challenge at the end of a class period.

If you want some high-quality grammar review worksheets that will be perfect regardless of the time of year, grab my Seasonal Grammar Review Worksheets here. Keep a few of these ready to go at all times, and save yourself hours of last-minute sub prep.

Some teachers worry grammar feels like busy work, but with the right student packets, it can be a strong form of reinforcement. 

Seasonal Emergency Lesson Plans

While reading, writing, and grammar activities can work any time of year, sometimes it’s helpful to tie your emergency substitute plans to the season. This makes assignments feel timely and relevant, which helps prevent the dreaded “Why are we doing this?” chorus that subs often hear.

Back-to-School Plans

At the beginning of the year, it’s especially important to have emergency plans in place. Falling ill during the first week or two of school is especially stressful. You don’t know your students that well, classroom routines haven’t been established, and students aren’t in the middle of any big projects.

Assignments like a Life Map work perfectly here. 

Students can create a visual representation of important events, people, and dreams for their future. This doubles as an icebreaker if a guest teacher has to step in on the first day or early in the year.

Another great option for the first week of the school year is to have students put together a World Literature Passport.

This requires more paper than a single worksheet, but students assemble their own reading “passport.” As students read during the year, they can record and map out all of the global voices they encounter.

As a sub plan, you can have students assemble their passports for the year and fill out the page with their personal information and “photo.”

Lastly, if you have to miss a day during the first week of the year, you could have students write an “I Am” poem.

It’s a fill-in-the-blank style poem, so no teaching is required. Complete your own “I Am” poem as an example and a way for students to get to know you; then, have them complete their own.

Get your “I Am” Poem activity for free below!

Fall Plans

In October, creative writing shines. The two-sentence horror story is a classic because it’s short, accessible, and fun. Students can share theirs aloud or post them on a classroom wall. 

You can grab a free worksheet for this activity right here.

In November, gratitude writing or letters of thanks to school staff make excellent sub activities. Not only do they keep students busy, but they also create meaningful connections within the school community.

(If you know you’re going to be out, you can use this Letter Writing and Envelope Addressing Lesson. Teach the lesson the day before you’re out and have students write the actual letter while you’re gone.)

If your students desperately need grammar review, you can grab some Fall Grammar Review Worksheets that fit the season while reviewing grammar essentials. 

Winter Plans

Winter can be tricky since illnesses spike and sick days pile up. Having multiple emergency substitute plans ready for this season is a lifesaver.

Reflective writing works especially well: have students set goals for the next school year, think about challenges they’ve overcome, or write about traditions their families celebrate. 

For a quick writing activity, grab this “Nicholas Was…” Christmas Creative Writing Activity and have students write their own 100-word story. This is the perfect way to fill up those short class periods after holiday assemblies.

These Winter Grammar Review Worksheets will make grammar feel a little more festive. They’re especially useful on those days when students might be absent, too!

When Valentine’s Day rolls around, you can leave students a romantic poem to analyze (like “To My Dear and Loving Husband”) or even have them write an ode to something they love themselves!

Spring Plans

By spring, students are often restless, which means your emergency lesson plans need to hold their attention.

If your classes are reasonably responsible, you can let your sub take them outside to do some creative writing. Sitting outside while writing some nature-inspired haikus is a perfect activity for a spring day. 

Since spring is also testing season, grammar worksheets double as review and filler when a substitute is covering multiple classes in a single day. You can get Spring-themed Grammar Review Worksheets right here. 

End-of-the-Year Plans

The last days of school perfect for reflection. You might ask students to write letters with advice for younger students, reflect on the hard work they’ve done, or brainstorm goals for the summer.

If your students are seniors, have them create a Goal Map for their plans beyond high school. 

Why You Need Emergency Lesson Plans

School districts often emphasize the importance of long-term sub plans for planned absences, but it’s the unexpected sub days that catch teachers off guard. Even if you’re a veteran teacher, writing sub plans in the middle of the night while you’re sick is exhausting. Having a fun substitute packet or two stored in your sub binder is the best insurance you can give yourself.

The truth is, the most important thing isn’t whether your students move forward in the curriculum that day. It’s that they are safe, engaged, and practicing meaningful skills in your absence. With these emergency lesson plans for substitute teachers, you’ll have exactly that—plans that provide structure, keep students learning, and allow you to rest or recover without guilt.

The post Easy Emergency Lesson Plans for Substitute Teachers You Can Reuse Every Year appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

(Ok, ok. Maybe you’re ready for a little fun, too!)

The Thanksgiving season is the perfect time to balance review, writing practice, and fun activities that keep students motivated without adding to your workload. In this blog post, you’ll find a mix of ideas that work well at high school levels (but many can also be adapted for middle school students or even elementary students).

Need more seasonal ideas? I have October teaching ideas right here!

A Note About Ambiance

Look, I’m a basic white girl. We’re all about vibes here. 

As you dish out your fun Thanksgiving activities, don’t forget to set the mood! It is so important when we’re trying to bring seasonality into the classroom.

There are plenty of cozy, autumn setting videos on YouTube. Find one you like and project it while students work on gratitude letters or grammar worksheets. 

If you have the time, money, and inclination, consider picking up some faux leaves from the dollar store and decorating the borders of your bulletin boards.

We don’t need to go crazy here, but changing the environment will boost engagement and your students’ attitudes.

Ok, back to the lessons!

High School English Thanksgiving Activities #1: Write a Gratitude Letter

This one is a classic, right?

One meaningful Thanksgiving writing activity is asking students to express gratitude by writing a letter to a member of the school staff. This is a great way for secondary ELA students to practice audience awareness, tone, and clear writing while doing something kind.

A favorite teacher is always a winner, but you could encourage students to choose someone who doesn’t always get recognized—like a custodian, lunch staff member, or bus driver. Have them handwrite the letters on construction paper or type them up with graphic organizers for planning. This small act can make someone’s day and helps promote mental health for both writer and recipient.

Students can hand-deliver their letters or leave them with you for distribution. (I promise, your colleagues are going to love you for doing this!)

If a student is giving you pushback, they don’t have​ to choose a staff member. You could let them choose anyone–a parent, a friend, a member of their church–who has helped them in some way during the past year.

Not only is this activity the perfect opportunity for some seasonal gratitude, but it offers the chance to cover tons of ELA topics: formatting a letter, tone, writing for a real audience, grammar, and more!

If you want a no-prep lesson for teaching the art of writing a letter (and addressing an envelope!), check out my done-for-you lesson: How to Write a Letter and Address an Envelope Lesson.

It includes a presentation, worksheets, examples, and more–allowing you to turn a quick gratitude letter into a full-blown English lesson.

High School English Thanksgiving Activities #2: Thanksgiving-Themed Grammar Worksheets

If you want something low-prep that still reinforces skills, try Thanksgiving-themed grammar worksheets.

While you could probably find some free worksheets online for nearly any topic, you’ve probably discovered that the quality of these worksheets is hit or miss. 

I recommend my Fall Themed Grammar Review Worksheets to keep in your filing cabinet. While three of these worksheets are Halloween-related, this pack also includes:

• A leaf-themed worksheet on compound subjects and compound predicates
• An apple-themed worksheet on independent and dependent clauses
• A Thanksgiving-themed worksheet on identifying comma splices.

These worksheets are a fun way to keep students practicing grammar while sneaking in a Thanksgiving theme.

They’re especially great to keep on hand for those weird days around Thanksgiving break. You know, the days when an assembly cuts one class in half, but extends the other class periods? You can use a Thanksgiving-themed grammar worksheet to give your longer classes more review without shortchanging the shorter class of any new content.

(If you’re looking for other Thanksgiving grammar ideas, check out this post!)

High School English Activities #3: Create a Thankful Tree or Gratitude Chain

Don’t have time to teach a letter-writing lesson and give students time to write? Try a gratitude chain instead!

Bring a little Thanksgiving craft energy into high school with a thankful tree or gratitude chain. Using construction paper, students can write one thing they’re thankful for on a leaf or link. Connect each of these with a little dab of glue or tape. 

Over the course of the week, you’ll have a growing visual reminder of gratitude that doubles as a bulletin board display. (Any other lazy classroom decorators out there relieved?)

This fun Thanksgiving activity works well with students of all ages—younger students might decorate with coloring sheets or hand turkeys, while older students can write more thoughtful reflections.

High School English Activities #4: Thanksgiving Short Story Writing Prompts

Another creative way to get students writing is with short story or writing prompts inspired by Thanksgiving. Try prompts like:

• Describe the chaos of preparing a big meal like a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
• Have students explain how to cook their favorite Thanksgiving Day dish.
• Write a short story where a family Thanksgiving dinner goes completely wrong (burnt pumpkin pie, forgotten common Thanksgiving foods, or awkward family drama).
• Imagine you’ve been chosen to deliver the presidential turkey pardon. How would you make your speech stand out?
• Write from the perspective of a dish at the big meal—what would the mashed potatoes or stuffing say about being part of the Thanksgiving traditions?
• Create a futuristic Thanksgiving in which people no longer celebrate with food, but with technology. How would a Thanksgiving meal or Thanksgiving game look in 100 years?

Prompts like these not only strengthen writing skills but also encourage critical thinking about history, traditions, and culture. 

High School English Activities #5: Read and Discuss Thanksgiving Nonfiction

Make those cross-curricular connections to social studies with some interesting nonfiction.

Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to build background knowledge and encourage critical thinking. With so many myths and simplified stories around the first Thanksgiving, it’s valuable for high school students to dig into informational texts that offer more context.

Consider assigning a short article or excerpt about:

• The experiences of Native Americans and native people connected to the holiday
• The origins of the Plymouth Colony and its ties to the native land
• The history of Thanksgiving becoming a national holiday
• The modern presidential turkey pardon tradition

Pairing nonfiction reading with writing prompts or graphic organizers is a fun way to help secondary ELA students connect English skills with history and social studies. You could even show a short video clip or educational video to spark discussion before reading.

This makes for a great lesson that not only reviews comprehension and analysis but also honors the Thanksgiving holiday with honesty and depth.

CommonLit is a great place to find some of these texts! Just search Thanksgiving in the search bar.

High School English Activities #6: Integrate Thanksgiving Into Journaling

Not in the mood for super structured writing? Have students do some open journaling instead!

Encourage students to keep a gratitude journal for the week leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. Each day, they can jot down one thing they’re grateful for, a favorite Thanksgiving picture book from childhood, or even reflections on Thanksgiving traditions like paper bag turkeys or Thanksgiving meal memories. (Ask them to share what they’re thankful for every day and learn a little bit more about your students!)

This can be a great opportunity to foster mindfulness and give students an optimal experience for their mental health during what can be a stressful season.

(When I was in the classroom, everyone at my school started their classes with “good things.” You’d pick two kids randomly, and ask them to share a “good thing.” Thanksgiving week can be a great time to pilot something like this in your class!)

Why These Activities Work for High School ELA

All of these ELA Thanksgiving activities strike a balance between rigor and fun. Whether you’re reviewing grammar, practicing writing, or simply celebrating the national holiday, you’re giving students a great lesson in gratitude and creativity.

Plus, these ideas can be adjusted for middle school grades, elementary school, or even younger students, making them Thanksgiving ideas that work for students of all ages.

Look, as burnt out as our kids might be during November, we teachers are burnt out, too! We could all use a little more fun during what can be a stressful month. 

(That said, if your fun, ELA activity is showing a Charlie Brown special, no shade!)

So, as you’re planning your classroom activities for the Thanksgiving holiday, remember that it’s a great time to incorporate both creative activities and a fun Thanksgiving activity or two. From Thanksgiving crafts to short story prompts, you’ll find that this season can bring just as much learning as it does turkey and pie.

The post Try These High School English Thanksgiving Activities This Year! appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Teaching grammar can feel like an uphill battle—especially when students don’t immediately see how it connects to their real writing. But parallel structure is one of those concepts that clicks when it’s taught clearly and practiced with intention. Once students understand what parallel structure is—and how it affects clarity and flow—they’ll start to spot awkward writing on their own (and even fix it before you have to!).

If you’re looking for a practical way to teach this concept, here’s a breakdown of how I teach parallel structure in my own classroom using direct instruction, scaffolded practice, and targeted assessment.

Need a quick lesson? Grab my done-for-you Parallel Structure Lesson complete with slideshow, worksheets, exit tickets, student handout, and more!

Prerequisites for Teaching Parallel Structure

Like I said in the introduction, one of the great thing about teaching parallel structure is that even struggling writers can often recognize when something is wrong. So students don’t have to have a robust grammatical foundation to understand this concept.

Nevertheless, I recommend that your students have an understanding of at least the following concepts before teaching parallel structure:

• Parts of a sentence
• Clauses
• Verbals (optional, but helpful for identifying grammatical patterns)
• Commas (optional, but helpful for punctuating lists)

If your students collectively really struggle with parallel structure, then I think it’s ok to make it one of your earlier grammar lessons.

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Teach Parallel Structure Step 1: Direct Teaching with Lots of Examples

When introducing parallel structure, I always start with a pre-thinking activity. I give students a few pairs of sentences that are identical except for one thing: one sentence has parallel structure while the other does not. 

Then, I ask them which sentences sound the best. Undoubtedly, they’ll choose the ones with parallel structure (although they probably won’t use that terminology yet). I let students talk through why those sentences sound better than the others.

This gives us a solid foundation when we move into a student-friendly definition:

Parallel structure means using the same grammatical pattern when listing ideas or connecting them with conjunctions.

I like to pair this definition with a few intentionally awkward sentences to trigger that gut reaction—“Ugh, that sounds weird.” From there, we unpack why it sounds off and revise the sentence together.

Here’s a quick example:

❌ She likes hiking, swimming, and to bike.
✅ She likes hiking, swimming, and biking.

Even struggling writers can feel the difference between the two. That instinct is a great hook to lead into identifying verbs, gerunds, infinitives, and how mismatches throw off the rhythm of a sentence. (It can also help build confidence in struggling writers!)

My Parallel Structure Lesson also includes side-by-side comparisons, common patterns, and a quick reference list of coordinating and correlative conjunctions—because let’s be real: neither/nor is the sneaky villain of parallelism errors.

Teach Parallel Structure Step 2: Practice with Parallel Structure Worksheets and Exit Tickets

After direct instruction, the next step is lots of guided practice. Students need time to identify errors, rewrite awkward sentences, and write their own examples using proper structure.

I like to teach a tiny concept and then immediately have students work on a parallel structure worksheet or exercise. 

For example, I introduce parallel structure and then have students identify on a worksheet sentences that are not parallel. Then, I go over parallel structure in lists. Students immediately work on a parallel structure worksheet that focuses on parallel structure in lists. 

I go back and forth: mini-lesson, then worksheet, and repeat until all of the major concepts have been covered. 

You don’t have to do it this way, of course. There are many ways you can use parallel structure worksheets in your class to support your lesson:

• As warm-ups after the initial lesson
• As partner or group review
• As targeted practice before a writing assignment

I also use quick exit tickets for formative assessment after each major “chunk” of the lesson. These might ask students to:

• Choose which sentence is not parallel
• Revise a sentence to make it parallel
• Explain why a sentence feels unbalanced

These small moments of practice are low-pressure but give you a good pulse check on who’s getting it. I also believe that smaller, more frequent bursts of practice are the key to getting grammar to finally stick.

Teach Parallel Structure Step 3: Provide Scaffolding

I always taught struggling students, so I build scaffolding into all of my lessons. You should, too! It helps all students–not just the ones who struggle.

In my Parallel Structure Lesson, I provide a parallel structure reference handout that students can use. This has helpful examples, tips, and a list of correlative conjunctions to which they can refer. Not only does it help make students more independent by giving them a resource they can use, but it provides even more examples and another way of absorbing the material. 

There are, of course, endless ways to scaffold. 

Sometimes during grammar lessons, I’ll scaffold in the moment. For example, if students are working independently on a parallel structure worksheet, I might tell them something like, “8 sentences are not parallel.” That way, they kind of self-check their work on the worksheet and feel more confident with their final answers.

Teach Parallel Structure Step 4: Assess with a Quiz or Writing Assignment

Once students have had plenty of practice, I like to wrap up with a formal Parallel Structure Quiz—nothing fancy, just a short mix of multiple-choice and revision-based questions that test both recognition and application.

Alternatively, you can use writing assignments (like short argumentative paragraphs) to assess whether students are applying parallel structure in their own academic writing. (Be sure to require proper parallel structure in the conventions part of your writing rubrics after teaching it!) This not only reinforces the grammar skill but shows students how grammar serves their writing, not the other way around.

Final Thoughts

Teaching parallel structure doesn’t have to be a dry grammar lecture. With clear instruction, scaffolded practice using parallel structure worksheets, and quick check-ins through quizzes or exit tickets, students will start to recognize the rhythm of clean, professional writing.

And more importantly? They’ll use it.

Don’t have time to put together your own lesson? Grab this complete Parallel Structure Lesson. Inside, you’ll get a step-by-step lesson plan, slideshow, seven student worksheets, student reference handout, exit tickets, and more! It’s everything you need to make those awkward sentences a little more smooth!

The post Parallel Structure Made Easy: Lesson, Worksheet, and Assessment Ideas appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how to teach theme with clarity, offer theme sentence examples you can use in class, and explain the key difference between thematic ideas and thematic statements.

If your students are struggling to write a theme sentence that’s more than just “love is important,” you’re not alone. “Theme” is a complex idea; our students aren’t going to get it right on their first try. 

In this post, I’ll cover theme basics and include some tips for teaching it. I’ll also talk about the purpose of theme, how to help students find theme in a text, and how popular films can be used to teach universal themes.

I hope the examples and tips in this post help you make your next theme lesson a successful one!

And if you want to make teaching theme really easy, you can save yourself a ton of time and stress by grabbing my Literary Theme Lesson! This lesson helps students understand how to write a strong thematic statement. It also includes materials like a student handout and a graphic organizer that you and your student can use with any text. So, regardless of the novel you’re teaching, this theme will fit perfectly into your unit!

The Purpose of Theme

First, why should we bother teaching theme at all? Because understanding theme helps students find the deeper meaning of a story. It teaches students how to think critically about not just books, but all media in their lives.

Themes are how writers explore the human condition, ask big questions, and share a universal message.

When students learn to identify underlying messages, they develop empathy, critical thinking, and the ability to articulate complex ideas—skills that matter far beyond the final chapter of any book.

Whether students are writing a thesis statement for a research paper or reflecting on their favorite books, understanding theme helps them engage with different human perspectives.

Thematic Ideas vs. Thematic Statements

Honestly, this is a concept I’ve even seen teachers themselves debate! But here is how I teach and approach theme. 

Thematic ideas vs. thematic statements is one of the biggest things students get wrong. They’ll identify popular themes like love, identity, or justice, and then stop there. But while thematic ideas are single words or abstract concepts, thematic statements make an original statement about those ideas.

Here’s how to break it down for your students:

I like to tell students that a thematic idea is a concept or idea explored in the text. The thematic statement is the lesson the author wants the reader to take away about that topic, idea, or concept. 

(And I point out that these thematic statements should be grounded in the text. There should be plenty of textual evidence available to support their interpretation!)

Another way to think about thematic statements or theme sentences is to view them as an answer to a question. For example, if the thematic question is, “What does this story suggest about the power of love?” the thematic idea is love. But the thematic statement might be something like, “Love conquers all.”

Once students make that shift, their theme work becomes more meaningful—and more aligned with the expectations of academic writing. 

It also better prepares them for thematic discussions or essays, if you have your eyes on a bigger thematic assignment.

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Common Thematic Ideas and Sample Theme Sentences

Once students understand the difference, give them some scaffolding. These theme examples can help them move from abstract central concepts to meaningful insights:

These theme sentence examples offer students concrete models for writing about the human condition, the main message of a text, and the central theme of a work of literature.

Theme Sentence Examples from Favorite Books

If you’d like some more specific theme sentence examples, here are some ready-to-use theme statements based on common high school texts:

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: The relentless pursuit of the American Dream can lead to disillusionment and self-destruction.
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Empathy is essential to combating injustice and understanding the complexity of human nature.
• 1984 by George Orwell: Totalitarianism thrives when citizens surrender critical thinking and privacy.
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding: Without societal structure, the human spirit is vulnerable to chaos and savagery.

These examples link plot points, main characters, and literary devices to powerful, full-sentence themes—making them great mentor texts for student writing.

Themes in Popular Films

Before having students find a theme in a 300-page novel, you can scaffold by giving them a quicker and easier-to-digest text to analyze. This could be a shorter piece of writing, like a short story or a poem. But it could also be a film.

If you’re struggling to get students to care about them, try starting with movies. Many blockbusters tackle universal themes that high schoolers recognize—making them perfect entry points.

Here are a few examples:

• The Hunger Games: Survival often demands the loss of innocence and moral compromise.
• Star Wars: The battle between good and evil is often internal as well as external.
• The Truman Show: Freedom requires truth, even when truth is painful.
• The Pursuit of Happyness: Perseverance and love can overcome even systemic injustice.
• Mean Girls: Fitting in can come at the cost of personal integrity.

Discussing the underlying theme of the film first can make the theme of a story easier to analyze later—especially when transitioning into more complex texts.

How Students Can Find Theme in a Text

Teaching students to find the theme of a story doesn’t have to be vague. Here’s a process you can give students:

1. Look at the main conflict: What challenge do the main characters face? What’s at stake?
2. Pay attention to character change: Do characters evolve? What do they learn (or fail to learn)?
3. Track recurring ideas or motifs: Watch for literary devices like symbolism or repetition that highlight the central theme.
4. Ask thematic questions: What is the author saying about love, identity, freedom, or power?
5. Draft and revise a theme sentence: Use a thematic statement formula like:[Author] suggests that [thematic idea] [commentary on it] through [how it plays out in the story].

You can provide scaffolds for students who are new to finding theme or who struggle to analyze texts. Offer a thematic question that students have to answer. (This will help students narrow their focus while reading.) You can differentiate by asking several thematic questions and letting students choose one for which to write a response.

You can also provide graphic organizers to help them track any textual evidence that might help them parse out the thematic ideas later. (I include one in my Literary Theme Lesson!)

Just like with any writing, encourage students to write a second draft of their thematic statements. They can create one, discuss it with partners or with a group, and then refine their ideas. 

Teach Theme the Easy Way

If you want to make teaching theme as easy on yourself as possible, grab my Literary Theme Lesson. It includes everything you need to teach theme. Here’s a quick overview of the lesson and everything else inside:

1. ​The completely editable slideshow walks students through theme, including the difference between thematic ideas and thematic statements. Use it for direct instruction.
2. Give students the included theme handout. It can serve as a reference for the rest of the year–and eliminate the need for time-sucking notetaking during the lesson.
3. After the lesson, you can use the included exit tickets to make sure students “get it.”
4. Lastly, pair the included graphic organizer with a text of your choice and let students attempt to identify theme and create a thematic statement. 
5. The included lesson plan guides you through the whole lesson and provides some teaching tips along the way.

Grab the complete, done-for-you Literary Theme Lesson right here!

How to Assess Students’ Understanding of Theme

Once students can identify thematic ideas and write full thematic statements, it’s time to assess their understanding—and that doesn’t always mean a multiple-choice quiz. (Although no shade if you use one–I’m a big fan.)

Here are two powerful, flexible options for checking student mastery:

1. Class Discussion or Socratic Seminar

A class discussion is a great way to gauge students’ understanding of a work of literature and its central theme in real time. Try framing the conversation around thematic questions like:

• What is this text saying about the human condition?
• Which universal themes show up in the story, and how do we know?
• Which specific characters and plot points reveal the theme of freedom, power, or true love?

Encourage students to support their ideas with character development, literary devices, and specific examples. You’ll quickly see who can move beyond a main idea and articulate a strong thematic statement.

For example, I teach The Hate U Give thematically. At the beginning of the unit, I give my students five thematic ideas and five correlating thematic questions. Their job while they read is to look for textual evidence that will help them answer those questions.

Throughout the unit, they complete short response writing tasks in response to other questions related to each thematic idea.

At the end of the unit, students participate in a discussion in which they argue their answers to each thematic question. This serves as their summative assessment (you can get that assignment here!).

2. Thematic Essay or Short Response

For more formal academic writing, assign a short thematic essay. Ask students to develop a theme statement and support it with evidence from the text—similar to a thesis statement in a research paper.

Prompts could include:

• Write a theme sentence that captures the central message of the text. Then, explain how the author develops this message through key moments and characters.
• Choose one of the popular themes discussed in class (e.g., survival, prejudice, identity). How does the author explore this theme across the entire work?

This kind of assessment works especially well at the end of a unit when students have seen the full arc of the story and can reflect on how the dominant theme plays out.

An example of this would be the final assessment in my Born a Crime unit.

At the end of the unit, students have to choose one thematic question to answer. They must then craft an essay response. Their thematic statement serves as the thesis for the paper. (You can get that essay assignment here!)

Final Thoughts on Teaching Theme Sentences and Statements

Helping students craft clear, meaningful theme sentences equips them to read more deeply and write more thoughtfully. It prepares them for everything from literary essays to break-out novels of their own one day.

Whether you’re diving into the Harry Potter series, examining Great Expectations, or discussing themes of love in short stories, your students can move beyond generic statements and connect with the universal themes of the human experience.

With a little careful attention, a few good theme examples, and the right tools, your students will be ready to tackle any given work—and walk away with a clearer understanding of literature, and themselves.

The post Theme Sentence Examples That Go Beyond “Love is Good” appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

To your students, these horizontal lines look similar. But their variety of uses, subtle rules, and even how to type them on standard keyboards are leaving your students totally confused!

The good news? With the right examples and a little clarity, you can teach hyphens and dashes with confidence—and even help your students master using them!

Keep reading if you’re ready to read essays with a little more sentence variety. In this post, I’ll go over hyphen and dash rules, common usage, and the different types of dashes. I’ll even cover tricky concepts like compound adjectives, numeric ranges, and word breaks.

If, however, you’re not looking to DIY your lesson, you can save yourself a ton of time and skip to the good part with this Hyphens and Dashes Lesson!

It includes everything you need to teach hyphens, dashes, and the differences between them. This lesson includes a slideshow presentation, worksheets, student handout, exit tickets, and more!

Before You Teach Hyphens and Dashes: Teaching Prerequisites

Before diving into hyphens and dashes, you should make sure your students are ready for them. A random lesson on these punctuation marks won’t serve your students if they don’t have the necessary background knowledge. 

​Make sure your students already know foundational grammar concepts before teaching hyphens and dashes:

• Sentence structure
• Independent and dependent clauses
• Optional: other, easier to master punctuation marks like the apostrophe, colon, and semicolon

As long as your students understand clauses and sentence structure, you’re probably all set for hyphens and dashes. But personally, I like to teach apostrophes first. (I think they’re easier to learn and they’re used more often.)

I also cover colons and semicolons before hyphens and dashes, but that’s mostly just preference. 

You could cover commas before hyphens and dashes, too, but I leave commas as the last bit of punctuation to cover. They just have so many rules!

(This post goes into more detail about sequencing your grammar lessons!)

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First, What Are Hyphens and Dashes?

At a glance, hyphens and dashes look like short horizontal lines (and truthfully, that’s how I describe them to my students). But don’t let that fool you—they serve very different purposes in formal writing and professional writing.

• A hyphen is the shortest of the bunch. It’s used to join ​parts of words, such as in compound words or to divide words at the end of a line of text.
• An en dash (–) is about the width of the letter “n.” It often appears in ranges of numbers or between compound adjectives when one includes a proper noun.
• An em dash (—) is the longest, roughly the length of the letter “m.” It shows an abrupt change, sets off extra information, or replaces commas and colons in certain sentences.

Each of these marks of punctuation has specific use cases—and students won’t master them overnight. But with clear modeling and good examples, you can simplify them for your classroom.​

FULL DISCLOSURE: ​I don’t really go into details about the en and em dash when I teach. My focus is getting students to understand the difference between hyphens and dashes–types of dashes can come later. If you want to go into detail in your lesson, however, go for it!

The Use of a Hyphen: Your Starting Point

I like to start with hyphens. I think they’re a little easier because when we use them, we look at words instead of clauses.

The single hyphen (-) is most commonly used in the following situations:

1. Compound Adjectives: When two or more words work together to describe a noun—especially before the noun—you’ll often use hyphens.
   • Example: She turned in a well-written essay.
   • This is called a compound modifier or phrasal adjective.
2. Compound Numbers: In compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.
   • Example: He is twenty-three years old.
3. Word Breaks at the End of a Line: Some word processors will add a hanging hyphen if a long word breaks across lines. This is one of the few times hyphens appear at the end of a line of text. (Our students aren’t likely to see this much. Today’s word processors can automatically move words to avoid the need for a hyphen. But on the off chance your students come across anything done on a typewriter or pick up an old edition of a book, it’s worth mentioning. This hyphen usage can be useful when handwriting though!)
4. Closed Compounds vs. Open Compounds: Some compound nouns become single words over time (notebook, snowman), while others remain separate words (high school, real estate). Students can consult a style guide or dictionary to determine the most current usage.
5. Prefixes and Suffixes: Use hyphens when adding prefixes to proper nouns (un-American), or to avoid confusion (re-sign vs. resign).
6. Phrasal Verbs: While these don’t usually need hyphens when used as verbs (look up, check in), they sometimes become hyphenated when used as nouns (check-in, follow-up).

Now Let’s Talk Dashes: Short, Long, and Confusing

In this section, I’ll break down the difference between en dashes and em dashes.

But again, I don’t go into these details in my own lesson. I just lump them together as a “dash.” It’s nearly impossible to tell the difference when handwriting, and the difference between word processors and operating systems makes differentiating between the two more challenging than I feel my students are typically ready for.

But hey, do what works for your students!

En Dashes (–)

The en dash often appears:

• In ranges of numbers or dates:
  • Example: pages 12–24, World War II (1939–1945)
  • Read as “to”: “pages twelve to twenty-four”
• Between compound adjectives when one part is a proper noun or already hyphenated (this is such a specific case of usage, I don’t typically cover it when I teach dashes, FYI):
  • Example: New York–based artist

Unlike a single hyphen, an en dash adds clarity to particular phrases that may otherwise confuse the reader.

On standard keyboards, you won’t find a key just for en dashes. In Microsoft Word, you can type it with Ctrl + minus key (on numeric keypad) or insert it from the special characters menu. On a Mac, try Option + Hyphen. (And to be honest, this is why I don’t teach the difference in dashes. Students just won’t take the time to do it “right.” Instead, I have them type a double hyphen so that their word processor auto formats them into a dash.)

Em Dashes (—)

The em dash has a wide range of uses in both academic writing and more creative contexts. Use a single em dash:

• To indicate an abrupt change in thought:
  • Example: I was going to say—well, never mind.
• In place of a colon to emphasize the conclusion of a sentence:
  • Example: She only had one thing on her mind—freedom.
• In place of commas to set off additional information:
  • Example: The students—most of whom were seniors—voted unanimously.

You can also use a pair of em dashes like parentheses. This works well for parenthetical information or to add a descriptive phrase in the middle of a complete sentence.

Common Student Mistakes to Watch For

When teaching hyphens and dashes, expect a few common usage slip-ups:

• Using hyphens instead of dashes for interruptions or emphasis
• Forgetting to hyphenate compound adjectives before nouns (to be fair, I even slip up here from time to time)
• Overusing em dashes when a comma or colon would be more appropriate (but it’s cool if they get excited to use dashes, right?!)

To reinforce these rules, consider pulling examples from real texts—or even letting students analyze the punctuation in passages from Khan Academy, New York Times articles, or literature from your curriculum.

I use the worksheets included in my Hyphens and Dashes Lesson to reinforce these ideas. They provide plenty of practice for each major concept.

Style Guide Differences

Another reason I, personally, don’t go into detail on the en vs. em dash? The rules aren’t consistent!

If you staunchly teach one particular kind of writing style, make sure you’re reinforcing the dash rules appropriately.

Not all style guides agree on every punctuation mark. Here’s a quick overview:

• Chicago Manual of Style: Uses en dashes for ranges and em dashes with no white space on either side.
• MLA Style: Similar to Chicago in em dash usage.
• AP Style: Avoids en dashes and adds spaces around em dashes.
• British English: Sometimes prefers single dash spacing, and may differ in hyphenation preferences.

Encourage students to follow whichever style guide you or your school requires—and to stay consistent.

Teach Hyphens and Dashes Tip: Make It Visual and Practical

Because the meaning of the sentence can change with a single punctuation mark, use side-by-side before vs. after comparisons to show students how punctuation affects clarity.

To do this, I include a visual hyphens and dashes student handout in my lesson. It serves as a reference guide all year.

Here are some other ideas you can try:

• Sorting compound words into hyphenated, closed, and open categories
• Editing short paragraphs with missing punctuation
• Identifying different types of dashes in printed texts
• Practicing with word processors to learn how to insert en and em dashes
• Typing practice with the alt key, hyphen key, and numeric keypad

The Last Point

Teaching hyphens and dashes may require a little extra work, but it’s well worth the effort. Understanding these subtle marks of punctuation helps students write with greater precision and confidence—especially in academic writing and standardized tests.

Using these little lines will make your students’ writing stand out when those big standardized tests come around.

​And in the meantime? You’ll get to read so much more sentence variety from your students! Honestly, it makes a difference when you’re grading a huge stack of papers!

So whether you’re breaking down a compound adjective, formatting phone numbers, or clarifying a range of numbers, you’ve got the tools to teach hyphens and dashes like a pro.

Want to save time planning your punctuation lessons? Check out my ready-to-use resource that walks students through hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes with examples, practice, and reference materials.

The post How to Teach Hyphens and Dashes in High School English appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

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.