Scaffolded High School English Resources
At first, the idea of Creative Writing activities suitable for high school might cause your brain to crash. I think we’re used to thinking of Creative Writing as more of an elementary school unit when in reality,...
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How do you get American students to even begin to grasp life in a third world country? With Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani and Viviana Mazza, students will be able to engage and connect to the world beyond their own lives.
Read MoreYou’ve probably heard a million times that you should be using differentiated instruction in your classroom. If you’re in a stricter building, it may even be required that you document your differentiation strategies. But how, exactly, are we supposed to differentiate writing instruction for our advanced, gifted, special education, trauma-sensitive, and ELL learners in a single class period!? It seems impossible! At least it does until you consider scaffolding writing instruction.
Read MoreNot only does the book contain dueling, Victorian magicians, but Morgenstern’s details and descriptions make it feel like you are right there with them. This novel is not just a passive reading experience--The Night Circus is truly a magical experience to add to your classroom bookshelves.
Read MoreNow, when I attend conferences and professional development, using mentor texts and sentences seems like a prerequisite for every quality unit. In this post, I hope to answer any and all questions you might have about mentor texts. I’ll try to include plenty of examples, links, helpful resources, activities, and lesson ideas.
Read MoreJason Reynolds is the king of engaging young adult literature. We all know that. But Long Way Down, in my opinion, really kicks it up a notch. In this Long Way Down Lit Literature review, I’ll show you just how powerful, and accessible, this novel in verse is.
Read MoreEveryone should have a classroom library, whether you teach English or another content area. Classroom libraries offer all kinds of benefits: increased student reading achievement, greater access to print material, greater levels of volume of student reading, and more. But starting a classroom library is a daunting task. How do you afford it? Organize it? Maintain it?
Read MoreHow many times have you heard the phrase “I don’t read” in your classroom? For me, it happens every week during independent reading. For these reluctant readers, it is even more important that we find the perfect books for high school students who hate reading.
Read MoreHave you been told that you need to start using a claim, evidence, and reasoning (or C-E-R) framework for writing in your classroom? Maybe you need to closely adhere to the Common Core State Standards but aren’t quite sure where to begin. If you’re like me, you may have been told by administration-on-high that the whole school would be using C-E-R language in their classes to build consistency and teacher equity for students. Regardless, here you are wondering, what the heck is claim, evidence, and reasoning anyway? In this post, I aim to break it down for you.
Read MoreBeautiful. Heart-wrenching. Timeless. These are the words we often use to describe powerful classics. Well, they also describe Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls.
Read MoreSo, you have a teacher in your life. Maybe it’s a family member, a significant other, or maybe you just really want to do something nice for your child’s educator. What you DON’T want to do is hand them something cliche and useless (we teachers really don’t need any more coffee mugs, I promise).
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