Over the course of three articles, I have talked about doing Literature Circles with my 8th-grade students. For a list of the novels we used, check here. To read about the procedures I put in place for my students, check here. And for an explanation of how I used mini-lessons both as a full class […]
Literacy
Relearning and Unlearning Writing in Grades 6-12
To relearn is to “learn something again, as after having forgotten or neglected it,” and after the five-seven weeks of summer break, students may have a fair amount of forgetting. That means teachers will begin each school year focused on student relearning. The German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus was a pioneer in the study of memory and learning which led to his discovery […]
How to Integrate Literacy into the Non-ELA Classroom
If there is one message that I get when I examine the Common Core standards for reading and writing, it’s this: Share the load. I think that English teachers have often shouldered the burden of literacy. We have felt that it is simply our job to teach students to write and to read and to analyze […]
How To Make Writing a Priority in Your ELA Classroom
For many years of teaching, I would follow the same formula over and over throughout the year with my classes: teach a unit, finish unit, assign paper on that unit. Writing happened, but it was the thing that we did after we did the other stuff. What this means is that writing mostly happened at home, […]
Why I Like to Start the Year with a Poetry Unit
Figuring out how to begin the school year can be intimidating. You’ll be setting the tone for the rest of the year, and you will never quite get the same amount of energy or hard work from your students as you do while the year is still fresh. (Ever notice that every single kid does […]
A Veteran Teacher’s Regrets: Student Choice
In my classroom, I integrated student choice whenever I could. We did reading workshop every Friday, when students read an independent reading book of their choice. Whenever we did a personal essay or literary analysis paper, I let students choose their own topics and ideas. I started doing I-Search papers, where students chose their own […]
Why Choice Matters: Reading as a Matter of Social Justice
Once upon a time I was a high school American Literature teacher who believed in the survey method of “these are the canonical works that all students should read before they leave high school.” I spent years patting myself on the back for getting struggling readers to love The Crucible, Of Mice and Men, and The Great Gatsby. We […]
Part 3: Adventures in Real Word English/Language Arts – Let Them Be Great
I love English Language Arts (ELA), but real world ELA can be eye opening.  I have been teaching my Technical Writing class for two weeks now. And I have had my share of ups and downs. I’ve always taken myself seriously as an educator. My love of literature and writing always translates easily into the classroom. […]