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This site has lots of great and free secondary ELA templates available to teachers!

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Subscribe - Bespoke ELA: Essay Writing Tips & Lesson Plans

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This blog has insightful lesson planning and classroom recommendations that is helpful to any ELA teacher!

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Building Book Love - Secondary ELA Resources

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Here's a guide for helping map out your ELA class curriculum!

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1. NUMBERED WEEK:

My first column is WEEK. I used to try and use an exact calendar, but I've found that a simple weekly outline is much easier to manage at the year-long scope.

2. UNIT EQ:

The most important guiding light for each of my units is the Unit Essential Question. Placing this in primary location on the guide always helps me stay focused on the purpose - to explore this question using the skills and texts for the unit. The question also reminds me to take a step back every now and then and assess my classroom: who's asking the questions? Who's doing the work? Are things moving in an inquiry-driven direction? If not, we quickly return to the EQ and reset from there.

3. FOCUS SKILLS/TARGETS/OBJECTIVES:

Next, I list the focus skills of the unit. Note, I don't list ALL of the skills students will learn and/or practice, just the focal points. These skills come from the assessment designed for that particular unit and the specific author's craft elements that manifest themselves in the texts at hand.

4. CONCEPTUAL IDEAS:

This might be a new column for some of you. This column is, for me, the next most important after EQs. Yes, I said it: ideas are more important to me than skills. Big ideas are prevalent in English and for the early part of my career, we talked about them when they came up. I never made an intentional effort to address things like racism, toxic masculinity, or even nurture vs. nature. Conceptual ideas have traditionally be reserved for other subject areas, but once I started pulling these into units and shining a light on them, I saw huge growth in my students personal reflections on what they've learned in the class. I hope when they went home and their parents said, "Honey, what did you learn today?" My students stopped saying "Um, we did chapter 4 of Gatsby " and started saying "exploring the relationship between masculinity and wealth". Okay, I know that 98% of them said "Nothing", but let me dream!

5. FOCUS TEXTS:

Here, list your core text and any supplementary text you'd like to explore. Hyperlink YouTube videos, TED Talks, articles, NewsELA articles...you name it!

6. SEL:

Social. Emotional. Learning. SEL is not an initiative. It's not something that happens once in a while in your classroom. Checking in on student well-being and the context of the season of life that students are in is crucial. In this column, I like to list things as light-hearted as Homecoming Week (so that I remember that week will be hella-crazy), and as serious as final exam stress periods.

7. ASSESSMENTS:

This is a column to link any common assessments you've agreed upon with your team. Create them on Google Docs or Forms and link away! Simple, easy, and essential!

8. ACTIVITIES:

This space if for the handfull of activities that your team would like to highlight during each unit. There's definitely not room for everything that you'll do, but maybe you can put all common shared activities here.

9. BELL WORK/VOCABULARY:

Here is a place to link any weekly work that you want to accomplish in bell ringers. For me, that's almost always vocabulary practice and word work. I like to keep this on the map because seeing all of the work as a whole on the map reminds me of the grand scope of that work. It's also nice to have all of those slides in one spot linked and ready to go!

Curriculum writing is a journey.

And you are lucky to be on it. If you're here and thinking about re-design or building something from scratch, know that you are doing important work. What you select, how you select it, and how you lay it out on a map shapes the life, education, and experience of all the young people that get to live your map day in, day out. Be thoughtful. Be intentional. And take chances. Push to try new things and use this map to keep the big picture in mind.

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How to Set Up Your ELA Curriculum Pacing Guide - Mud and Ink Teaching

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Traditionally, curriculum maps are developed based on one, golden goal: meeting standards. In my experience and research, standards are not only different in different parts of the world, but oftentimes are limiting or inaccurate representations of the big picture of what students need to learn in a

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A great source of helpful tips and guides for many ELA writing struggles!

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Get your students to revise and edit their own work instead of you!

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The curse of the red ink pen is real. If you're like me as a teacher, I know that when I am grading my students' essays- online or on paper- I feel the pull to edit every single mistake that I see on the page. I feel the need to edit every single comma error or sentence error as well as provide comments about the content of the writing.

I think this stems from our teacher desire to see our students succeed and produce a publishable piece of writing. But here is what I have learned during my teacher career:
If YOU are doing the editing and revision, the student will NOT learn.
Oftentimes, I will see students click through a Google document to accept all the changes that have been made. There are very few occasions when a student may ask why something has been marked. They mostly just accept whatever has been edited or revised and move on. They don't tend to stop and reflect and, most importantly, learn what they did wrong and how to correct it in the future.

This is where we as teachers need to fight the urge to be our students' editors.

We need to put the red ink pen down, or just simply STOP editing all the mistakes in a student's essay. That does not mean that we can't provide some valuable feedback. But too much feedback is overwhelming; too little is also equally as ineffective. We need to know how to give the right kind of feedback, the right amount of feedback, and the right tools to enable students to become their own editors.

Here are three strategies to enable your students to become their own editors and learn from their own mistakes.

Strategy #1: Use mentor sentences with a revision application

Mentor sentences are an excellent tool to model writing skills ranging from grammar to literary/ rhetorical devices and style. I've written more about getting started with mentor sentences in secondary ELA here if you are looking for more guidance on how to use this strategy in your classes.

But specifically using this strategy to encourage student writers to edit and revise their own work means that mentor sentence work cannot stop at simply crafting new sentences. It means also applying the skills from the mentor sentence to the revision process.
Connecting mentor sentence work to writing is key to helping students transfer skills from one context to the other.
Here's how to do it:

First, students need to work with a mentor sentence by making observations and writing their own original sentences modeled after the mentor text.

Second, students need to go back to a piece of writing and apply the skills from the mentor sentence to their own writing. This works best if students keep their writing work in a writing portfolio (either online or in the classroom). That way, they can go back and select an essay (new or old) and apply the mentor sentence skills to it.

Third, students need to apply the skill(s) from the mentor sentence to the piece of writing. If the mentor sentence focuses on a grammar rule, then students can go back and EDIT a piece of writing for this grammar rule. If the mentor sentence focuses on a literary device, students can go back to an essay draft and add that device into a sentence of the essay for impact. The same goes for a stylistic device as well.

Fourth, students need to reflect back on what they changed or added to their writing after completing this revision task. This part is KEY because it will help students learn and apply new skills through articulating the purpose behind the revisions. When students are required to do this kind of articulation, it clarifies their understanding of the targeted writing skill(s).

Note that teaching writing skills in isolation from the writing process does not work. Mentor sentences need to be attached to writing revision.
If you are needing a bundle of mentor sentences that have revisions tasks build into them, check these out from Bespoke ELA:

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You are NOT an editor! How to Get Students to Edit & Revise Their Own Work - TeachWriting.org

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The curse of the red ink pen is real. If you're like me as a teacher, I know that when I am grading my students' essays- online or on paper- I feel the pull to edit every single mistake that I see on the page.

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It is important that your students be able to understand what proofreading is and how to do it correctly the first time!

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It's human to occasionally write a typo or two, but what should an English teacher do when capable students make consistent, silly mistakes in their drafts?

Many students resist proofreading and editing at first because it means more "work", and they'd rather just rely on spell check. Although it's true that our students are busy and stretched thin, we teachers still have to defend the importance of taking that extra brief moment to proofread before printing or submitting. ( Honestly, don't most people need to think twice before they hit send? )

If your students' mistakes are making you want to chuck your grading pen across the room in frustration (which I have done), check out this list of ideas.
(P.S. - You might also like this sister post, .)10 Ways to Teach Revision to Teens
1. Establish the differences between proofreading, editing, and revising.

Don't assume that students know the difference between finding errors, fixing errors, and changing content. (I've put these three vocab words on tests before!) Even if they do know the technical definitions, they might need coaching about exactly how to do each one.
2. Preach reading their work out loud.

SO many errors could be fixed if students just read their work out loud ("with vocal chords", as we sometimes say in class), instead of just staring at the screen or reading it in their heads. This strategy is critical to avoid sentences that aren't clear, have dropped a word, or have written clumsy word choices. There's just no substitute for this strategy. Check out a free activity here .
3. Pass out an awesome editing checklist.
...either a general one, or an assignment specific one. These are SO important for students, and if they're smart, they will reuse the checklist on all writing assignments (if not carry it with them to the next school year).
Even better, pair that checklist with task cards that help them focus on one checklist task at a time (and make editing more tactile). Use my Editing Checklist, Activity, and Task Cards Kit to get started ASAP!

4. Encourage using at least TWO spell checkers...

Why not mandate students to use spell check AND a free account on or ? (NOTE: I usually show students how to use each one and discuss pros and cons. For example, Hemingway is great for identifying passive voice, but the downside is that it values conciseness and simplicity more than I think is necessary.)
5. ...and show students the errors that spell check misses.

One of my favorite activities involves giving students a paragraph of text (that I wrote) with intentionally-planted errors in it, copying the text into different websites, and noticing which sites catch different errors. It's always VERY eye-opening for students!
6. Keep the bar high on your rubric.

This one may require you to get support from your English department, but don't be afraid to make very clear expectations for the number of errors students can make and earn a certain grade. Here's an example of what my rubrics usually look like...

7. Proofread on a screen AND a printed page.

This is purely anecdotal, but I really think that we notice errors more easily with a pen and a printed draft. (Want to prove me wrong? Ask students to do both screen and paper before voting on which is more effective.)
8. Make peer editing a competition.

Now, this is risky, but hear me out: put students in partners and ask who can find MORE errors in their friend's draft. (To keep them from going overboard, tell them that they could be penalized for "grammar fraud" if they point out too many spots that are NOT errors!) Get that activity for FREE here!

Do you have more ideas? Tell us in the comments!

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10 Ways to Help Students Proofread Effectively

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It's human to occasionally write a typo or two, but what should an English teacher do when capable students make consistent, silly mistakes in their drafts? Many students resist proofreading and editing at first because it means more "work", and they'd rather just rely on spell check.

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This presentation offers 10 weeks worth of common literary devices to help reinforce literary analysis!

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This editable Power Point presentation contains TEN weeks worth of bell-ringers that target common literary devices used in literary analysis.

The devices included are:

Each week is devoted to a specific device, and students practice creating their own original example of the device and then practice analyzing the device across four different literary examples during the week. On Fridays, students respond to a homework assignment that challenges them to analyze an example of each device in a work they have read and studied.

This bell-ringer bundle pairs well with the other bell-ringer bundles from Bespoke ELA:
Bell-Ringers for the ENTIRE Year-40 WEEKS - EDITABLE PROMPTS w/ Mentor Sentences 30 MENTOR SENTENCES for Literary & Rhetorical Devices with Writing Revision FOR YOU:
* Be sure to click the "FOLLOW" button that is located next to my picture so that you can hear about sales, new products, and freebies!

* Don't forget to leave feedback to EARN POINTS that turn into cash towards future purchases!

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You might also like: Literary Analysis MEGA BUNDLE Nonfiction Resource Bundle Sample Essay Pack: TEN Literary Analysis Essays Argument Essay Revision Forms: TEN Activities for Success Grammar Editing Mini-lessons for Essay Writing Crafting Commentary for Literary Analysis The Thesis Statement for Literary Analysis: SIX Mini-lessons for Success Blending Quotes Using the TCS Method
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Literary Device Bell-Ringers for Analysis + Close Reading Practice- EDITABLE

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This editable Power Point presentation contains TEN weeks worth of bell-ringers that target common literary devices used in literary analysis. The devices included are: Each week is devoted to a specific device, and students practice creating their own original example of the device and then practice analyzing the device across four different literary examples during the week.

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Here's a strategy guide to helping students better utilize quotes in their papers!

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C= Context

After the transitional device, the next step is to include a "when" statement to provide plot context for the place in the text where the quotation occurs. This is the only place in the text where plot needs to be addressed. Students must always assume that the reader (us) knows the story and that we do not need a summary.

Here are some examples of T + C:

For example, when Macbeth goes to murder the king...

In the story, when Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth about the witches' prophecy...

For instance, when Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo and his son...

S = Speaker

The next step in the process is to add in the person who says the quotation. If a character is not speaking, then the speaker is simply the "narrator" or the "speaker." After the TCS, the student adds in the quotation followed by commentary/ analysis.

Here are some examples of TCS with quotations:

For example, when Macbeth goes to murder the king, he says, "quote."

In the story, when Lady Macbeth receives the letter from Macbeth about the witches' prophecy, she says, "quote."

For instance, when Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo and his son, he says, "quote."

There are other ways to go about blending textual evidence into writing, but the TCS strategy is accessible for students across levels and helps them blend quotations easily and effectively. Check out the Bespoke ELA guide for Blending Quotes for ESSAY WRITING with TCS (Transition, Context, Speaker).

What strategies do you use for blending textual evidence? Leave us a comment below! We'd love to hear from you!

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How to Blend Textual Evidence Quotations into Writing: A Simple Strategy for Essay Writing - TeachWriting.org

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The TCS strategy is an easy to follow strategy for imbedding or blending textual evidence quotations into essay writing. This is a great skill for all levels of learners in writing workshop. Students blend quotes using transition, context, and speaker. Try out this skill with your students to hel

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Great on online learning, utilize this prompt-filled slide show to encourage critical thinking in students!

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This product is 50-slide Google Slideshow/ Digital Notebook that contains 50 prompts to respond to a piece of literature. Students can type directly into the slides to respond to the questions. These also make great bell-ringer activities during the regular school year for any novel unit.

The 50 journal prompt style activities ask students to complete various tasks from creating a poster for the book using Canva.com, putting their characters in hypothetical situations to respond, and, of course, analyzing the text for various literary techniques and devices from theme to style to setting and conflict.

This reader response bundle of prompts can be used as a digital journal and can help students interact with any novel-- whether they are reading in class or outside of class!
FOR YOU:
* Be sure to click the "FOLLOW" button that is located next to my picture so that you can hear about sales, new products, and freebies!

* Don't forget to leave feedback to EARN POINTS that turn into cash towards future purchases!

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Related Blog Posts: 5 Innovative Activities & Projects for Any Novel Unit FOUR Ways to Get Your Students Hooked on Reading 5 Activities to Encourage Creative Thinking in Secondary ELA Five ESSENTIAL Questions to Guide Textual Analysis Other Resources for Distance Learning: Rhetorical Analysis-- Introduction + Independent Study for Distance Learning Independent Vocabulary Study for Secondary ELA-- Great for Distance Learning! Google Form Digital Escape Room: Literary Devices for Distance Learning Bell-Ringers for the ENTIRE Year-40 WEEKS - EDITABLE PROMPTS w/ Mentor Sentences 30 MENTOR SENTENCES for Literary & Rhetorical Devices with Writing Application 25 Essential Handouts for Writing Workshop Crafting Commentary for Literary Analysis Literary Device Bell-Ringers for Analysis + Close Reading Practice- EDITABLE
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Reader Response Google Slideshow for ANY NOVEL-- Great for Distance Learning!!

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This product is 50-slide Google Slideshow/ Digital Notebook that contains 50 prompts to respond to a piece of literature. Students can type directly into the slides to respond to the questions. These also make great bell-ringer activities during the regular school year for any novel unit.The 50 jo...

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This guide helps you not only understand when to talk about figurative language, but how to teaching it in a fun and insightful manner!

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Figurative language is easy to make one of the most engaging aspects of an ELA class. By nature, it is playful. Because it can be paired with pretty much any unit, it can be woven in throughout the year to ensure students get the repetition and practice they need. Here are some ideas for teaching figurative language in middle or high school.

Any time! Figurative language is fun to teach with almost any unit. When lesson planning, consider what type of figurative language is the most relevant to the text and the skills students need to develop.

With Poetry...

For example, build figurative language into your poetry units. Teaching poetry? Try to identify the technique the poet uses most frequently. Think, what literary device packs the most power? Then, as students practice literary analysis, make sure that figurative language is part of their response. This lesson will work with any poem of your choice.

With Shakespeare...

While most of my literature units only focus on a few literary devices, teaching figurative language with Shakespeare's plays is different. They are so rich in a wide range of poetic devices that we spend more time studying how they reflect his craft.

Try beginning a Romeo and Juliet unit byintroducing figurative language. Then, before finding examples from the play, ask students to look for them in a text that is more familiar, like The Lion King. With this scaffolding, students are more prepared to notice and analyze figurative language in the play.

With Short Stories...

Throw in a literary terms with each short story students read and analyze. Reading "The Gift of the Magi"? Study irony. While reading "The Lottery," dig deep by analyzing the symbolism of the ritual, the people's names, and the objects involved. Additionally, "The Scarlet Ibis" provides opportunities for discussion of many similes and metaphors.

With Novels...

Novels are the perfect opportunity to focus on more complex figurative language. They generally contain multiple examples of a device. For instance, To Kill a Mockingbird is full of allusions and idioms. What's more, novels provide the chance to study figurative language that develops over the course of an entire work. Consider: Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm both are perfect for studying allegory.

With Creative Writing...

Don't forget to build figurative language into writing units. It can be a powerful way to frame an essay, but even more so, students generally love learning to use literary devices in creative writing. In particular, this lesson has been enjoyable for students because it allows them to respond to high-interest nonfiction texts through figurative language, color, and abstract thinking.

How to Hook Students:

Sadly, even figurative language can be boring if all students do is identify examples and practice with worksheets. Try adding some divergent thinking and movement, like this.

Analyze figurative language in movies...

Students love seeing the application of what they are learning in popular culture. Youtube is full of videos that will engage students. Play one like this, and have a meaningful discussion about how the literary devices add to the viewers' experiences.

Discuss figurative language in songs...

Students will find this clip and many others like it engaging. So, watch them dance in their seats and sing out loud as they reflect on how song writers embed figurative language in popular music. Ask students: What would this song be like without the similes? How does the power of this poem rest in its figurative language?

Write figurative language to complement art...

Art is visually appealing, which makes it an excellent writing hook. Try asking students to write a short response to a piece of artwork using a specific type of figurative language. For example, maybe they think Van Gogh's brush strokes look like tufts on a blanket or scales on a lizard (similes). Or, perhaps they think their favorite surrealist's work is just a little crazy (understatement). Alternatively, students responses could be a narrative to accompany the artwork instead of a commentary on the artist's style.

Act it out...

Put students in pairs or small groups. Then, assign them one type of figurative language, and ask them to write a script that uses that device at least ten times. Students can record their skits and play them for the class or perform their skits live. The repetition generally makes these skits entertaining and memorable.

Watch Flocabulary clips...

Flocabulary has some high-interest figurative language clips students love. Here is one for similes and metaphors. They also have one for hyperboles and personification, and this one is for figurative language in general. Instead of just showing students the clip and moving on, have them write down examples or explanations from the clips that they haven't thought of before.

Play games...

Games can bring energy and social learning benefits to the classroom. Figurative language lends itself well to game play, if your classroom culture calls for such. Try Figurative Language Truth or Dare for a basic level game. Want to add more terms and challenge advanced students? Play Get Schooled!

Teaching figurative language can and should be fun and memorable. Begin by hooking students, make sure to sprinkle it in frequently throughout the year, and add some divergent thinking to push students beyond simple identification.

Interested in reading more about figurative language? In this post, Language Arts Classroom writes about 10 poems and figurative language to teach with each.

This scaffolded literary analysis activity works with any poem or song and helps students reflect on how figurative language impacts the text and the reader overall.

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11 Ideas for Teaching Figurative Language Meaningfully | Reading and Writing Haven

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Figurative language is easy to make one of the most engaging aspects of an ELA class. By nature, it is playful. Because it can be paired with pretty much any unit, it can be woven in throughout the year to ensure students get the repetition and practice they need.

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Use this guide to create lesson plans focused on engaging content chunking!

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An important element of effective lesson design is content chunking. Often, it gets side-stepped due to time constraints or a push to get through the material faster. When teachers prioritize content chunking, it can increase student engagement. Consider the following conversation I had with an evaluator years ago...that I still remember vividly.
Evaluator: How long do you think you spent on the plot metaphor presentation?

Me: ( fairly confidently) Probably about ten minutes. Maybe fifteen.

Evaluator: Actually, it was twenty. Did you intend to spend that much time on direct instruction?

Me: ( much less confident) Hmmmm. No, I'm surprised.

It's interesting how a teacher's perspective of how class time passes can be much different than that of a student's. Having a good grasp on our sequence and pacing as well as a solid understanding of student attention spans and the need for frequent review can positively impact instruction.

Sometimes, it helps to have another teacher, evaluator, or coach help us reflect on lesson design. If you've never done this, it can be powerful to reach out to someone for specific feedback or to record your teaching so that you can reflect upon it.

WHY USE CONTENT CHUNKING?

Research shows that students learn material more easily when we practice content chunking. In this post, I'm referring to content chunking as two different things, but both equally important:

breaking down course content and skills into smaller chunks that are more easy for students to digest

chunking the class period strategically to increase mastery of content

When done effectively, students comprehend the content better, learn more of it, and remember it longer. Content chunking gives students time to really dig into a skill, idea, or concept long enough that they can appreciate it, reflect on it, and connect with it at a deeper level.

Middle school students, in particular, are typically only able to focus for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. High school? 15-20. Research also suggests that in order to increase learning, students need multiple review opportunities within a class period, not just one at the end. Content chunking is a great way to address both focus and mastery issues.

What's more, content chunking provides opportunities for students to get up and move. Increased blood flow and oxygen are beneficial for learning. And, if you chunk the content, you're able to provide different learning styles and formats for students.

So, let's look at some examples of how you might practice content chunking without making a class period feel like it's full of a bunch of isolated activities. How can content be chunked so that it builds throughout the lesson?

LESSON DESIGN EXAMPLES...

Character Development

Let's say you want to introduce an important topic, like integrity. You may choose to begin with a hook, maybe a video. The video may naturally lead into a turn and talk experience where students come up with a working definition of integrity.

After having time to talk with a partner, you may decide to engage students in a whole-class discussion. What is integrity, and what qualities comprise it?

Following, you may ask students to create a piece of artwork, like a motivational poster, that represents their view of integrity. Perhaps students post their creations to Seesaw, Padlet, or another visual app that will allow them to see one another's work and discuss patterns and trends.

Be intentional about the amount of time you want to devote to each element of the lesson.

Sentence Types

Instead of trying to cover simple, compound, complex, and complex sentences all in a day or a week, try content chunking. For example, you might spend a week on each sentence structure.

To chunk sentence type lessons, I've had students begin by writing a short (1/2 page) journal response. I usually find an image, cartoon, or controversial statement that evokes emotion. The topic doesn't matter as long as they write.

Next, we put the journal response away, and I conduct a mini lesson on, for instance, simple sentences. Built into the mini lesson, students will practice applying their knowledge of subject verb patterns.

To mix up the learning styles, I then have students do a manipulative sorting activity.

We wrap up by referring back to the original journal prompt to identify any areas where students used a simple sentence and talk about the flow of their response.

Reading

Imagine you are ready to introduce students to a new reading strategy. Whether it's a sign post or a skill like summarizing, re-reading, or evaluating a text, you might choose to begin with a mini lesson. Seravallo's Reading Strategies book has many helpful mini lesson suggestions you could pull from as do the Notice and Note texts.

After your whole-class mini-lesson, you may decide to dive into a workshop-type approach for the remainder of the period. For instance, you might offer students a menu of options.

Must Do: Read your independent novel. Meet with teacher in your small group to practice today's reading strategy.

Should Do: Write about your experiences with applying today's reading strategy in your readers' notebook or on a graphic organizer.

Could Do: Look for examples of this week's grammar concept and vocabulary in your independent reading novel.

Wrap up class by bringing everything full circle. Review what reading strategy students focused on, why it is helpful, and when to use it. Also, talk about productivity and stamina. How did students work? What new goals or foci will you collectively set for next time? Perhaps, give students an exit slip to determine their skill level with using the strategy from the mini lesson.

Writing

Writing essays is often challenging for students. Sometimes, their overwhelm and confusion simply comes from trying to do too much at once and not having a manageable, bite-sized focus. As a result, a few freeze and don't write anything at all.

We can use content chunking to address both the class period flow and the tasks we are asking them to do.

Chunk the content by focusing solely on one paragraph at a time, even going so far as to scaffold students' understanding of each part of a conclusion paragraph. What might this look like in terms of lesson design?

You could begin by reading an exemplary conclusion paragraph with the class. Ask them to brainstorm what makes it successful, and ask them what components a good conclusion paragraph should contain.

After a whole-group discussion, you could move into explicit note-taking on the three essential components for a conclusion paragraph.

Next, give students a few examples, and in small groups (for a different format), have them highlight paragraph components and evaluate each conclusion's effectiveness.

Finally, give students a graphic organizer and allow them to begin writing their own conclusion paragraph. By this point, they should have a much better understanding of the "how to". Plus, they won't be trying to quickly rush through it as an after-thought because the whole essay was assigned at one time.

This is the conclusion paragraph mini unit I use.
Whether you're looking for fresh lesson design ideas, needing to find ways to help students achieve mastery, or thinking about how to manage the minutes in a class period to increase engagement, hopefully you've found some inspiration in this post. When planning a lesson and a unit, these are some of the approaches I use intentionally. Understanding how the brain works and how students truly learn is an integral aspect to creating lessons that linger.
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Lesson Planning Tips: Content Chunking | Reading and Writing Haven

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An important element of effective lesson design is content chunking. Often, it gets side-stepped due to time constraints or a push to get through the material faster. When teachers prioritize content chunking, it can increase student engagement. Consider the following conversation I had with an evaluator years ago...that I still remember vividly.

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Assess your students' comprehension skills with these Google Slide Journal promts!

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This digital journal on Google Slides enables students to reflect back on classroom lessons either in class or at home through distance learning. There are over 70 original prompts included in this bundle as well as free choice options that encourage students to reflect on their learning.

These exit tickets are appropriate for any secondary content area in grades 6-12.

To use this Exit Ticket Journal, each prompt is numbered 1-180 so that you can assign a specific number of prompts to your students at a time. For example, you can assign prompts 1-5 due by the end of a specific week or by a specific date.

Alternatively, you can log in and check students' exit tickets at random to keep them on their toes. Students can also access these prompts at the end of a class period to answer at the end of a lesson. You can also use these prompts as entry tickets.

There are lots of ways to use these prompts, and exit tickets are beneficial because:

They provide teachers with an informal measure of how well students have understood a topic or lesson.

They help students reflect on what they have learned.

They allow students to express what or how they are thinking about new information.

They teach students to think critically.

They help students develop a growth mindset.

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Exit Ticket Journal on Google Slides-- 180 Prompts for the ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR!!

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This digital journal on Google Slides enables students to reflect back on classroom lessons either in class or at home through distance learning. There are over 70 original prompts included in this bundle as well as free choice options that encourage students to reflect on their learning.These exit...

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Want to include short stories into your unit or curriculum? This guide shows you not only how to utilize short stories for learning, but also some short story suggestions!

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A short story unit is the perfect way to begin a school year. Short stories are quick and applicable to so many learning standards. Yet, they are versatile, so you can really incorporate them whenever and however you want. People often debate which short stories should be taught at which grade levels. There is no clear right or wrong answer for that question.

The answer is fuzzy because not everyone uses a textbook. Not all schools within a district use the same textbook series. We just don't know which stories students will have already read when they enter our classroom. For this reason, I try to be flexible. In this post, I'm sharing the stories I've used most commonly at the ninth grade level and what standards I cover with them.

Begin by establishing a purpose.

What is your purpose for reading short stories? If your answer is "because it's in the curriculum map," "because students like them," or "because it's what I've always done," it might be time to re-evaluate. When teaching short stories, always establish and learning objectives and identify related standards first. What do you want students to be able to do before, during, or after reading the story?

Collect student evidence.

Before reading, I suggest giving students a pre-assessment so that you can accurately assess current understanding and track progress. Pre-assessments don't always give me valuable information about specific students, but they do sometimes help me to see a bigger picture of what the entire class might need. They point out misconceptions I might not have anticipated.

Model reading skills for literature.

I suggest modeling and discussing reading skills with one whole class study of a short story. Students are often adept at basic comprehension level skills. They probably don't need for us to model types of conflict, for example. Instead, older students can gain insight when a teacher models how to analyze the way a character's motivation impacts the story's conflict.

This approach works well in readers workshop or other student-centered classroom formats. Teachers can easily move from guided practice in whole class or small group format to more of an individualized learning approach.

Give students choice to work with partners or small groups for a second round. This freedom allows students to select stories they enjoy while also providing us with data we can use to reassess understanding. It's difficult for students to demonstrate mastery of skills when we are leading the discussion and guiding them to the "correct" answers.

Some teachers are uncomfortable with giving students complete freedom. That's understandable, especially if you are used to running a tight ship. Simply allowing students to choose what story they'd like to practice a particular skill with is a good start. If you're feeling ambitious, try allowing students to select the skill they feel they need help with the most. This approach works best when teachers have already modeled expectations and examples and students have had some time to dabble with them.

When offering choice with short stories, it's a good idea to have texts available that represent the variety of reading levels in your class.

Reflect, reassess, and reteach (if necessary).

As we ask students to respond independently or with small groups, we should analyze their performance and adjust instruction to meet students' needs. Providing small group or independent work time frees us up to provide support for small groups of students.

These are some of the standards I cover with short story units along with texts that I've enjoyed sharing with high school students.

Character Motive and Inferences (RL.1)

MENTOR TEXT: "The Scarlet Ibis"by James Hurst is a great story for teaching students to make inferences and analyze textual details.
CHOICE TEXTS:

"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant

"The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell

You can ask students to record specific passages and their inferential or analytical responses to those passages as they read and reflect. Simply model expectations with the mentor text and require that they demonstrate that same skill level when working on their choice text.

Plot Analysis and Objective Summaries (RL.2)

I find it's easiest to ask students to objectively summarize a text that has a clear plot and conflict. Short stories work well because there aren't usually many subplots to complicate the work. In order to write an objective summary of a fictional text, students need to be able to recognize the plot.

MENTOR TEXT: "The Interlopers" is an easy story to use to model plot analysis and summary writing.
CHOICE TEXTS:

"The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury

"Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl

"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut

Development of Theme (RL.3)

What short story isn't good for analyzing theme, really? These are some of my favorites.

MENTOR TEXT: "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry is not just for the holidays.
CHOICE TEXTS:

"A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune" by Chris Crutcher

"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Author's Craft (RL.4)

I try to select texts that have interesting word choice and tone when teaching author's craft. Figurative language and sentence structure are also traits to consider.

MENTOR TEXT: "The Landlady" by Roald Dahl is good for examining sentence structure, tone, and word choice. Plus, this text contains a plethora of imagery and description.
CHOICE TEXTS:

"Hey You Down There" by Harold Rolseth

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving

"The Bridegroom" by Alexander Pushkin

Text Structure (RL.5)

When analyzing text structure, it helps to use short stories that have suspense, obvious pacing techniques, flashbacks, and tension.

MENTOR TEXT: "The Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
CHOICE TEXTS:

"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs

"The Lady or the Tiger" by Frank Stockton

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce

Those are some of my favorite texts and approaches for a high school short story unit. These same teaching ideas can be used in middle school classrooms, but the texts may need to be altered depending on the reading levels and maturity of your students. Do you have a favorite short story to teach? What is your purpose for including it in your curriculum? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

If you'd like a more comprehensive picture of what I teach at the beginning of the school year, you might want to read this post about my first nine weeks ELA curriculum.

My friend Lauralee teaches short stories, too. Her approach is slightly different. Read about her short story lesson plans if you want more inspiration.

Use these teaching resources to differentiate and support student choice in your classroom. Model first. Provide options second. Graphic organizers and reading guides are good for scaffolding students' understanding. These tools can be used with any short story.

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Short Story Unit Ideas for Secondary ELA | Reading and Writing Haven

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A short story unit is the perfect way to begin a school year. Short stories are quick and applicable to so many learning standards. Yet, they are versatile, so you can really incorporate them whenever and however you want. People often debate which short stories should be taught at which grade levels.

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This unit bundle offers great games for teaching argumentative writing!

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This digital and printable, engaging, and scaffolded unit will take your students through the entire argumentative essay with a student argument writing notebook. Lessons on writing a hook statement, a thesis statement, argument and counter-argument paragraphs, citing evidence, and formal writing. Plus, 5 fun and engaging argument games & a citing text evidence board game! This is also digital resource. It can be used for distance or e-learning. Each unit will contain a Google File Link Page that will provide you with a Google Doc/Slides for each activity. A video tutorial I created will provide you with some tech tools to assist you with delivering the content via distance learning.

☟ This Argumentative Writing Unit Includes: ☟

1. Complete argument writing notebook (both digital and print) keeps all documents and argument essay graphic organizers for the unit in one place for students.

2. Lesson on writing a quality, engaging hook (lead) statement with fun, interactive hook stations activity to practice the skill before students write their argument essay.

3. Lesson on writing a thesis using the thesis generator I created. This 'generator' uses a step by step guide to create an arguable thesis statement using formal writing.

4. Lesson on in-text citation with valuable note-taking documents within the student notebook. This lesson will teach students how to use in-text citations as well as showing them how to seamlessly incorporate evidence within their argument paragraphs.

5. Lesson on crafting an argument with specific graphic organizers for support and strong examples provided with the student argument notebook.

6. Lesson on crafting the counterargument paragraph with the formal 5 point counterargument method. Specific graphic organizers, note taking documents, and strong examples support students as they draft the ideal counterargument paragraph.

7. Graphic organizers take students through the entire argumentative essay.

8. Rubric for assessment and self-assessment.

9. Two beautifully designed class posters: 5 point counterargument model poster and citing sources poster

10. Handouts for supporting students with transition words, strong academic language, persuasive language, citing evidence sentence starters, etc.

11. Amazing Argument Pre-Writing activities with lesson plans, documents, printables, and instructional pages!

12. The Argument Games - five fun, collaborative games for creating arguments, counter-arguments, evaluating perspectives and sufficiency of evidence!

13. Citing and embedding text evidence board game!

14. Google Links Page- digital links to ALL documents for digital classrooms

15. Printable pages for non-digital classrooms

16. Lesson plan and unit outline for teaching this unit.
✨CCSS Aligned:✨
⛱ No Prep Plans

100+ pages, 100+ Slides

Follow my store by clicking on the link at the top of the page for updates, announcements, and fun freebies! You can also find me on my blog, on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter.

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Argument Writing w/ Argument Games and Citing Evidence Game - Distance Learning

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This digital and printable, engaging, and scaffolded unit will take your students through the entire argumentative essay with a student argument writing notebook. Lessons on writing a hook statement, a thesis statement, argument and counter-argument paragraphs, citing evidence, and formal writing. P...

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Aimed for helping students study poetry, with great recommendations for poems to utilize!

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I love this poem. I love the imagery, the title, the metaphor, but most of all, I love how teachable it is. The poem has a great deal of mystery and room for debatable discussions about author's intent, but it's also accessible to students who might feel intimidated by poetry - or even just intimidated by language.

That was the goal I had in mind while making this list: I wanted to find poems that were challenging and worth discussing in class, but also poems that could be tackled by students in one or two class periods. As a guide, I used The Big Six as my foundational analysis tool. If you've never used it, get on board!

THE BIG SIX

The Big Six is a tool that I developed in graduate school to help teachers take a consistent, rigorous, and focused approach to teaching poetry analysis. When teaching poetry, the goal for teachers is simple: GET OUT OF THE WAY. The worst damage we can do as teachers is setting the stage for teacher-led and teacher-dictated conversations about poems, what they mean, and how they should be interpreted. Yes, there are ways that students can veer of into wildly off-base territory, but for the most part, if the can be anchored by a few key concepts, most students are more than capable of discussing and thinking their way through a poem.

The Big Six components are meant to be entry points, or doors, into analyzing a poem: students can enter from any place they choose or feel most comfortable. Let's stay your students just read the above poem by Ada Limon. One student might be curious about the title's relevance and impact on the rest of the poem, another student might be laser-focused on the use of color imagery, and yet another student might have picked up on some of the themes suggested in the subtext of the piece. Now, those three students have three different places to start: title, tools, and theme.

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30 Poems to Teach Using The Big Six - Mud and Ink Teaching

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I love this poem. I love the imagery, the title, the metaphor, but most of all, I love how teachable it is.

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Have a student struggling with reading comprehension? This blogs offers some great advice and insight into how to encourage students to read at home!

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Are you wondering how to engage your kids with reading? It doesn't matter how old your child is - 2 or 15 - the answer is the same.

The other day, one of my friends asked me if her third-grade son's reading MAP score of 225 was "normal." If you're not familiar with MAP, it's a nationally normed, computer-based assessment (Measures of Academic Progress) which gives educators a very loose idea of reading achievement (and should never be considered the sole determiner of success, but that's a topic for a different post). After sharing with my friend that her son's MAP score was actually way above normal for a third-grader, she was surprised. "Math is normally his strength," she told me, to which I responded, "If you are reading with him at home every day, he will always excel at comprehension, even if he's better at math." I'm not quite sure she believed me.

When I was taking course work for my Reading master's degree, I remember being in the middle of a dilemma with a freshman student who was struggling with reading comprehension. I contacted his parents to share my concerns, and the mother told me that she just didn't know what to do to help him. "He's always struggled with reading. He just doesn't like it. What do you think I should do?" As I was in the midst of earning my reading specialist certification, I felt I should have an answer, but I didn't. It seems like such a common question: What makes a good reader? Yet, the answer wasn't obvious at the time, and it still isn't for most people. When I took this issue to my professor, the simplicity of his answer shocked me. "Did you ask her how often he reads at home?"

Here's the thing. Reading comprehension issues have been turned into something much larger than they really need to be. In order for kids to be better readers and writers, they need to READ. EVERY. DAY. However, the majority of this reading needs to take place at home. The reason reading comprehension is now embedded in many middle and high school English curriculums is because students are not being encouraged to read at home, and reading may or not be modeled for them outside the school day.

Many schools have adopted reading challenges to try to compensate for the lack of reading exposure at home through programs like the Million Pages of Books, Drop Everything and Read, and Knowledge is Power. Some teachers are encouraging independent reading time or setting aside a certain number of minutes during each class period for students to engage with books. These steps are admirable, and educators should do everything they can to positively impact students' perceptions of reading; every little bit helps. BUT. It's not enough without support at home.

Parents will either directly or indirectly teach their children to learn to love reading, hate reading, or feel indifferently toward it whether they try or not. So what is the difference between the child who excels at reading and the one who hates it? Practice. Let's look at some ideas for how parents can raise a child (a toddler or a teen) who appreciates and excels at reading.

Read Daily

Find at least twenty minutes a day where you can sit down and read with your child. Younger children need to be read to. School age children can take turns reading with you, you can read to them, or you can listen to them read. Teenagers might feel silly sitting down and listening to a parent read to them; if that's the case, spend twenty minutes sitting by your teen while you both read, and then talk about the text with your child.

Allow Freedom & Cater to Interest

Go to the library. Go to a bookstore. Check out Amazon. Borrow books from friends. Explore various genres. Spend some time learning about what your child likes and dislikes by trying different types of texts. There's nothing wrong with graphic novels, news articles, the Guinness Book of World Records, and magazines. Allow kids to read books on a nook or kindle or to use an audiobook as they follow along. One of my children's favorite books is a Charlie Brown Christmas book which features a recording of their grandparents reading the book out loud. Don't ask your child to shy away from a book because you think it's too difficult or too easy. Let' them come to that conclusion on their own. Giving children ownership in the decision-making process will help them develop independence and a positive attitude about reading. If you're not sure where to start looking for ideas, check out these resources:

Model Reading

Let your kids see you reading books, magazines, newspapers, instruction manuals, picture books, the Bible - you name it! Modeling reading is just as effective as modeling anything else: good behavior, working out, cleaning, eating healthy. Children of any age are impressionable. Obviously, it's better to start when your kids are young, but it's never too late. Many of us are doing a disservice to our children by prioritizing other things (like being on our phones) over reading. Reading in front of and to our children is not only a responsibility, but also a privilege.

Keep Books Everywhere

Studies have shown the amount of books in a home is related to literacy skills. We have several bookshelves in our home, but I also intentionally leave books in random places so that my children will be more likely to pick them up. We have books next to the time-out chairs. I encourage my children to read when they are in time out to help them calm down. Reading is a healthy life coping skill for many people. I also allow my children to put five to ten books at the foot of their bed at night time. If they have difficulty falling asleep or if they wake up before their alarm goes off in the morning, they read them. We have books on our coffee tables and in baskets. My one-year-old likes to pick these books up and flip through them. He points to different pictures and feels the textures, even when I don't have time in that moment to read the book to him. Long story short - keep books everywhere.

Stay Positive

When reading with our children at home, it can be easy to get frustrated. Let me give you some examples that are inspired by my own 3 and 5 years olds:

1. They don't want to read the same book, so they fight.

2. They can't agree on who should turn the page.

3. They like to talk over each other when asking questions.

4. One wiggles and puts their arm in front of the other's face.

5. One asks questions just to draw the reading process out further so that he doesn't have to go to bed.

I could go on, but you get the point. These examples apply to younger kids, but with older ones, a unique and different set of issues exist. Still, it's important as parents that we stay calm and positive. If I were to close the book and say, "You guys never get along while we read, so we are done," that would leave my children with a negative view of themselves and of reading. Instead, try to have patience, and devise ways to make reading more engaging and less stressful both for you and for your child. If you need some ideas, stay tuned for the next article in this series, which will be about ways parents can enjoy books with their children.

While parents read with their children at home, educators need to continue fighting the good fight in the classroom. Teach reading strategies, model what it looks like to think about books, plan for reading time during class, allow freedom to choose texts, praise progress, and educate parents about the magnitude of their role at home. The most powerful tool we wield to impact children's' view of themselves as readers is to encourage them to read every day and to support them in doing so.
Experienced parents and teachers, what advice can you offer others regarding reading at home with children?
Interested in related content? Click here to read about how to engage boys with books and here for tips on how parents can help older students who already hate reading.

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What Makes a Good Reader? | Reading and Writing Haven

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Are you wondering how to engage your kids with reading? It doesn't matter how old your child is - 2 or 15 - the answer is the same. The other day, one of my friends asked me if her third-grade son's reading MAP score of 225 was "normal."

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This guide offers advice on how to build new novel units from scratch!

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After teaching for ten years and then switching schools, I was very quickly reminded of how much work goes into writing curriculum from scratch. For a long time, I was in a happy place of continual revision of curriculum that I liked, but was tweaking here and there for relevance, rigor, and for fun.

Now? It's the Wild West. It's intergalactic chaos. It's constant guessing and unpredictability. All that aside, however, it's also invigorating and exciting. I would call myself "a curriculum person" because this kind of blank slate challenges me in a way that sparks joy in my life, despite the chaos, so I'd like to share with you how to most easily navigate through a first attempt at writing and implementing a new curriculum for a new novel in your secondary ELA classroom.

1. Read the novel

I know this sounds obvious, but really having a chance to get through the novel from start to finish before the kids do is critical. I have tried to muddle through a new book by just staying ahead of the kids, but let me tell you, the stress of that life is unbearable. In the very best case scenario, try to ensure that you have enough time to get through the novel before the kids start so that you have time to think about the priorities of why it's important to teach. While reading, consider the following:

What are the patterns that I find myself annotating? Are these the things I want students to look for, too?

What does this novel offer to students that no other novel has? What is uniquely special about this particular story that is a "must teach" because they won't likely see it again in such a clear way? (Things like parallel plot structure, extended metaphor, motif, a really strong example of foil character, etc.).

How have I been enjoyably reading this book - in larger chunks or chapter by chapter? What is the most natural way to break up the reading for the kids?

2. Consult Your Team

Some of us work on course teams. Some of us work solo. I find that I plan best when in conversation with a lot of people about the book I'm teaching. I talk to teachers at my own school who teach or have taught the novel in the past, I call my friends from my old school and talk to them about the novel, and I've even been known to put out the "bat signal" on Instagram to hear what the amazing teachers across the globe have been doing with the novel. After those three sources are consulted, I usually have WAY MORE than what I could possibly handle and I'm sparked with ideas for the unit. A few reminders:

Just because someone gives you something doesn't mean you have to use it

Accumulating resources is different from constructing a unit. I know teachers don't want to "reinvent the wheel" (which I find insane - I love reinventing that stupid wheel!), but regurgitating someone else resources for your students is not best practice.

Look at the resources through a critical lens - which resources address similar issues? Which resources are BOTH rigorous and exciting to use/teach? Can any of the resources be grouped together to address a big, conceptual question?

3. Create a Curriculum Map Vision Board

This is a new idea that I just started using for my unit on To Kill a Mockingbird. After reading the book and pouring through recommended resources, this is the place to visualize the patterns, issues, skills, themes, and questions that you'd like to address somewhere in the unit. I think there's potential to use this in class at some point, but for now, I just make these for myself as a draft before I commit items to an actual curriculum map.

4. Draft Your Essential Question*

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PROCESS!! I wish it could go higher on the list, but it's hard to write a high quality essential question without having processed through the steps above. If you've never gone through this process before, I recommend purchasing Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding (affiliate link) by Grant Wiggins and Jim McTighe (they're the original gurus) or at least checking out the abbreviated version on their publisher's website.

Your unit needs ONE essential question. One question that captivates curiosity, applies to a broad spectrum of texts, and begs your learners to uncover an answer rather than regurgitate one. McTighe and Wiggins lay out seven criteria that define essential questions:

1. Is open-ended; that is, it typically will not have a single, final, and correct answer.

2. Is thought-provoking and intellectually engaging, often sparking discussion and debate.

3. Calls for higher-order thinking, such as analysis, inference, evaluation, prediction. It cannot be effectively answered by recall alone.

4. Points toward important, transferable ideas within (and sometimes across) disciplines.

5. Raises additional questions and sparks further inquiry.

6. Requires support and justification, not just an answer.

7. Recurs over time; that is, the question can and should be revisited again and again.

So how do you get there? Look through your vision board. Look back at the resources you've curated from your team. What are the thematic patterns? What do you want students to walk away from your lessons wondering about - EVEN IF THEY DON'T READ THE NOVEL? The essential question is huge because it is the question that drives instruction - not the novel itself. It will help you make decisions about what to include and exclude from the unit.

Then, start drafting. Write all ideas down - even the "bad" ones. Cut them and paste them. Say them out loud. Run them by a colleague. Ask your non-teacher friends if they're captivated by your question. Once you think you've gotten there, run your question through the criteria above. When you've got it, throw a party for yourself!! This is a huge accomplishment!!

Before you begin the unit, be sure to have a place in your classroom where you'll display the question. In order for essential questions to really hold their value, you'll have to address the question throughout the unit, so making it visible sends the message to students that it's something they should be constantly thinking about.

5. Set Up for Backwards Design

If you've been trained in UbD (Understanding by Design), you'll have a more sophisticated understanding of what I'm about to cover, but essentially, when designing a unit, it is critical that everything starts with the end in mind. When working with essential questions, this is really easy: your unit should start and end with the essential question.

Most people end their units with an assessment. If that's the case, ideally, you'll have your students respond to the essential question in either a written, spoken, or project based way. However, you might want the final assessment to be more skill based. For example, if you want your students to write a literary analysis paper on symbolism in The Great Gatsby, you should do that and build up to those skills, but don't forget that to END the unit, students should also thoughtfully address the essential question that drove the unit. They could answer a reflection question on Google Classroom, they could have a mini-conference with you about the question, they could informally share in groups what they've learned about the question, they could present a portfolio that responds to the question, or anything else you come up with. But if you start To Kill a Mockingbird asking "When an injustice is committed, is empathy enough?" and end by asking them to write an essay that asks, "Who are the mockingbirds in the story?", your students will struggle to find value in the essential question.

As you look at your unit calendar and move backwards, be sure that the assessments you have planned match the skills you plan to teach in each section of the novel. Again, for example, if you want to end a unit by having students write a narrative, make sure that the instruction all throughout the novel is about plot elements, creating characterization, writing dialogue, etc. Good backwards design means that you are designing units that set students up for success - not blindside them with expectations.

6. Write Your Curriculum Map

For some teachers, curriculum maps are something they like to write as they teach. If you have time, sketching out your map before the unit is nice because it's a backbone that can keep you stable, but if you've done everything else up until this point, you'd be fine to fill it in as you do things that you like! If you need a map, I have one here that's pretty elaborate, but you can certainly do something simpler if you'd like. I have these blank maps printed and spiral bound for myself and I keep them at my desk! Once I've got a rough draft I like, I will start to move them into a digital format linking the assignments that correlate with each section of the map.

Did you find this helpful? Where are you feeling lost? If you need a community of teachers to run ideas by or be sounding boards, we'd love to have you join us in The Adventurous Teaching Academy Facebook group or on Instagram. Share below your best tips that you'd add to this list!

RESOURCES FROM MUD & INK TEACHING:

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How To Build A New Novel Unit From Scratch - Mud and Ink Teaching

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After teaching for ten years and then switching schools, I was very quickly reminded of how much work goes into writing curriculum from scratch.

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Use these essay alternatives to turn the boring 5-paragraphy paper into a fun assignment that'll engage the students!

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The Analytical Cube or the Say-Mean-Matter Quiz

While the cube and the say-mean-matter quizzes still both involve assessing writing, they do do so in more succinct formats that make them easier to assess (time-wise) than traditional essays. Here's how they work.

A cube quiz involves analyzing any four components of a text. Here are the components I like to use:

1. Explain the importance of the TITLE.

2. Explain how a CHARACTER changes.

3. Explain an important SYMBOL.

4. Explain an important THEME.

Students respond to each part of the cube in order to analyze a text. Since each part of the "cube" is focused on a single element or technique, I can very quickly read and assess a student's understanding of the text.

The say-mean-matter quiz is also a focused assessment strategy that challenges students to analyze a text. In the say-mean-matter quiz, students are given 3-5 items from text. These items can be objects, character names, places, quotes, symbols, etc. The student then explains what the text literally says about that item (plot), what the item means (commentary), and why it matters (thematic connection). The succinct format of these assessments break the analysis into focused chunks that get to the heart of analysis very quickly.

Click for an editable say-mean-matter template to use with your students. Be sure to subscribe to Bespoke ELA to unlock the Freebie Library over there for even MORE free lessons to print and use in your classroom.

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5 Alternatives to the Traditional Essay for Writing Teachers - TeachWriting.org

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This blog post by Bespoke ELA explores alternatives to the traditional essay that include oral essays, infographics, one-pagers, and other projects to demonstrate the same analytical skills as a written essay. These alternatives are great to helping struggling students and those with special needs

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Templates for various ELA activities and assessment!

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Simply put: Jamboards are awesome! The 20 Jamboard templates included here can be used for a myriad of reasons from checking in with students' mental health to responding to reading to analyzing characters and outlining an essay.

These Jamboard templates are set up as background images that were created outside of Jamboard. Students can interact with the templates by using the features on Jamboard: adding text, using the pen / marker / paintbrush, adding sticky notes, etc.

Essentially, these templates provide an organizational platform for students to use in order to organize their information. Some of these templates work better when used by the entire class at the same time while others are better fit for individual use.

The choice board options simply introduce students to ten book club options that can be completed by students either in groups or as individual projects using a range of technology from Jamboard to Google Slides to Google Docs to Canva.com .

If you find that you need to make a change to a template, you can simply overwrite the existing text by using the text box feature on Jamboard to enter the new text and then using the shape feature to put a solid color behind the new text. This way, you can tailor these templates to fit your needs.

These Jamboards can be used throughout the school year and will help you with activities and formal / informal assessment in ELA.

To use a specific template, simply click on the link included in the pdf document, and it will ask you to make a copy. This copy will be added to your own, personal Google Drive. You can then assign out the Jamboard to your students via Google Classroom.

Be sure to leave a review for this bundle on TpT in order to earn review credits to put towards future TpT purchases!
I'd also love to connect with you over at BespokeClassroom.com. See you over there!
-Meredith
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Related Blog Post: 5 Ways to Use Jamboard in Secondary ELA You might also like: Literary Analysis MEGA BUNDLE 30 MENTOR SENTENCES for Literary & Rhetorical Devices with Writing Application Poetry Bundle: 20 Short Poems to Teach Rhetorical Relationships & Explication Macbeth Bundle: Supplementary Materials for Any Macbeth Unit Nonfiction Resource Bundle 25 Essential Handouts for Writing Workshop Crafting Commentary for Literary Analysis Nonfiction: Tone and Bias in the Media Coverage of Jack the Ripper MEGA Beowulf Bundle: 25 lessons and activities/ 108 pages/ ANSWER KEYS!
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Jamboard Bundle: 20 Lovely & Useful Templates for English Language Arts

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Simply put: Jamboards are awesome! The 20 Jamboard templates included here can be used for a myriad of reasons from checking in with students' mental health to responding to reading to analyzing characters and outlining an essay.These Jamboard templates are set up as background images that were cr...

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Useful for most grade groups!

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These 100 question cards for any novel will help your students engage in meaningful and insightful discussions about the books they are reading. The cards address setting, characters, plot, theme, symbolism, point of view, style, and more! Students will need to use reading strategies such as inference, summarizing, comparing and contrasting etc. to dig deeper into the text.

These cards work for grades 3 through 12-- seriously! They are universal questions that work in conjunction with any novel study, and they are even EDITABLE so that you can make changes as needed.
Here are some suggestions for using these cards:
- Use in conjunction with close reading.

- Use as writing prompts for reading journals.

- Require students to complete a certain number of cards each week for their independent reading.

- Use in guided reading groups and literature circles as discussion prompts.

- Use as prompts for partner discussions.

- Use in reading strategy and literacy centers.

- Choose one card to display on the document camera for the whole class to use as a writing prompt.

- Allow students to draw cards randomly as writing or discussion prompts (always very popular!)

- Use after silent reading or the weekend to discuss what students have been reading independently.

This bundle of reading question task cards includes a lined response sheet that students can use as needed. However, students can also use Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or even their own paper to respond to the question task at hand. There are so many uses for these cards to use throughout the entire school year!

This bundle includes a set of black and white cards to use for black and white printing, but I have also included a colored version if you'd like to print in color. These are great for laminating and storing around the room for easy access throughout a book club or book study.
FOR YOU:
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* Don't forget to leave feedback to EARN POINTS that turn into cash towards future purchases!

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Reading Response Question Cards for Any Book-- Task Cards for Close Reading

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These 100 question cards for any novel will help your students engage in meaningful and insightful discussions about the books they are reading. The cards address setting, characters, plot, theme, symbolism, point of view, style, and more! Students will need to use reading strategies such as infer...

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Utilize the Socratic learning method for any text you use!

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The Socratic Seminar is named after Greek philosopher Socrates, who believed in the power of social learning and deliberate discussion. Socrates believed that humans learned best from questioning and discussion. He believed discussion helped individuals critically think through complex ideas and learn better than they could on their own. You can think of a Socratic Seminar as an "intellectual discussion," but you can also see it as a conversation where you "think out loud" and "talk it out." Essentially, it is a student-led discussion over a text or big idea. Instead of you facilitating the discussion by asking questions, students take charge of their own learning in this activity. It is a student-centered and social approach to learning. For you, this means it is less prep work.  For the students, it is more work...but isn't that how it should be anyways?!

While the students "doing all the work" sounds good in theory, you might be worried about this kind of approach actually working in the high school classroom. If you are nervous about it, that's natural. While these seminars are open-ended and student-centered, you will still provide just the right amount of structure and scaffolding. The first one you have in your classroom will be a learning experience for all of you, but each seminar will get better and better, and you'll find yourself wondering-as I do-why you don't do these ALL THE TIME!

In this product, you will find the following in the form of a PDF, as well as separate semi-editable digital versions (Google slideshow + Google form):

-Teacher Information

-Teacher Pacing Guide

-"Expectations" handout

-"Question Types" handout

-"Question Examples" handout

-Blank "Question Examples" template

-"Preparation" worksheet

-Rubric

-"Self-Evaluation" sheet

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Socratic Seminar for ANY Text: Literary Analysis - Distance Learning

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The Socratic Seminar is named after Greek philosopher Socrates, who believed in the power of social learning and deliberate discussion. Socrates believed that humans learned best from questioning and discussion. He believed discussion helped individuals critically think through complex ideas and lea...

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Here is a blog with suggestions on how to utilize online discussion boards both in the classroom and online!

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Online discussions can be helpful as a discussion strategy for virtual learning or in a co-seated classroom environment. But, how can we facilitate these discussions using the technology that we have available?

Find out why discussion boards are a good idea to use with any sort of virtual learning as well as FIVE easy ways to implement them into your classes.

Why Chat Discussions and Not Speaking?

Discussions that are done with typing or chat features can overcome any technology hurdles your virtual students may be experiencing. For example, I have many students with a district computer that does NOT have a functioning microphone. That means that they can't speak to anyone- not even to me. These students rely on the chat feature to be able to share their ideas and interact with their peers during class.

In and ideal world, we could simply all discuss content directly through a Zoom meeting. I navigate this anyway by having my chat box open at all times so that I can see student comments as they share them with everyone in the virtual class.

However, for convenience's sake, discussion boards provide a written record for assessment in case there is any issue with the discussion grade given by the teacher. Whenever I have a student or parent disagree with a grade or question the assessment of the discussion, I like to be able to go back and pull up the student's comments in the discussion to show where points were given or lost. Simply stated, written discussions help us keep our records in the chaos of virtual and co-teaching arrangements.

Discussion Board options

Discussion boards are accessible for students and help to dispel the fear and anxiety of being "heard" when our technology decides to "act up."

As stated previously, discussion boards are easy to grade because the teacher can simply go back through and read through the class's discussion and grade comments accordingly.

There are a few ways to implement a "discussion board" online. Here are a few user-friendly options for you and your students!

1. Google Classroom- Recently, I had my students complete a graded discussion through Google Classroom. I added five different questions as five separate question assignments (each question got its own entry). I notated the different questions in the title for each entry as follows: Beowulf Discussion Question #1, Beowulf Discussion Question #2, etc. Then, students responded in the comments to each question.

2. Google Slides- You can create a Google Slideshow in which each student is assigned to slide and responds to the questions on his/her own slide. Then, students can go back through the slides from their peers and add comments to their classmates' responses.

3. Google Docs- For this option, you could create a table for each question in the discussion. Students can add a row with their name in one column and their response in the other column. This would be super easy to track for grading purposes.

4. Google Sheet- This is similar to the Google Doc rows. Each student gets a cell to type in. Here is what it could look like. This is also a great way to create a graffiti board or classroom collage of ideas.

5. Padlet - Padlet offers some different features that aren't possible through the Google platform options. Padlet allows the teacher (or students) to organize students' thoughts into categories! Students can even color code their thinking to help as well. Categorizing student responses can help students make connections between ideas.

Grading Online Discussion Boards

I grade online discussions the same way I would grade them if I had these students in- person. I instruct students to speak at least two times and that their grade will be assessed by their top two best comments (which implies that they should "speak" more than once in order to secure their odds of making a higher grade for the discussion). It looks a little something like this:

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How to Facilitate Online Discussion Boards - Bespoke ELA: Essay Writing Tips + Lesson Plans

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Online discussions can be helpful as a discussion strategy for virtual learning or in a co-seated classroom environment. But, how can we facilitate these discussions using the technology that we have available? Find out why discussion boards are a good idea to use with any sort of virtual learning as well as FIVE easy ways to implement them into your classes.

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This video shows you how to pace your class and develop strong classroom management!

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Pacing.

It's the most difficult thing to learn as a new teacher and the easiest thing to fall lax when we get a little too comfortable. in this episode, we share our best practices in pacing a class period. We'll also give you a peek into how solid pacing is also a foundational part of creating a strong classroom management system in your classroom.

If you're interested, here's the graphic that I discussed during the episode. It's 9X16, so download it and use it on your phone or iPad as a graphic and then lay your text right on top!

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To Pace A Class Period [S2 E39] - Brave New Teaching

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Pacing. It's the most difficult thing to learn as a new teacher and the easiest thing to fall lax when we get a little too comfortable. in this episode, we share our best practices in pacing a class period.

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These 12 ELA-focused podcasts will help you become a more creative and inspirational ELA teacher!

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As English teachers, we realize the value of life-long learning. If we can teach our ELA students critical thinking strategies and complex text skills, then we have given them the tools they need to become productive and happy life-long learners.

One reason podcasts are the perfect tool for teachers is because they provide life-long learning opportunities on the go. It's difficult to stay current on research and new strategies when your workload is already crammed full, but with podcasts, you listen on your commute to work or walk after school. Here is an English teacher podcast list to fill up your podcast queue:

Sometimes listening to an inspirational podcast on your after-school walk can help you erase a negative classroom day and create a positive outlook for better teaching day tomorrow. Here are some inspirational podcast episodes for teachers:

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I LOVE PODCASTS. I have a favorite list a mile long (DM me for personal recs), so narrowing down my list was a journey. After much consideration, I bring to you: Hidden Brain and specifically (though it hurts me because so many are must-listens) episode: BS JOBS.

The reason this episode will make you a better ELA teacher is because it will prompt you to value what you do SO MUCH MORE. The episode is hilarious, and you will probably recognize some BS jobs within your own school system (cough, ______ cough). But don't worry, this episode will validate your irreplaceable purpose and ensure you that your job as a teacher is one of the least BS jobs in the world. In addition to this boost of confidence, this episode may also spark ideas for understanding what motivates students and what leads them to a fulfilling career. If you want to learn more about how you can use podcasts like Hidden Brain as a teaching tool, this post will guide you: Why You Should Be Using Podcasts In Secondary ELA

Staci from Donut Lovin' Teacher, has been taking more time to learn about and practice self-care. She recommends listening to the Perfectly Imperfect Podcast, a series full of candid conversation about self-love and growing into one's identity. The episode titled "Do You Like Me? Seeking External Validation" may sound like a question you've overheard your students ask each other in class, but Staci guarantees this episode will make you think about how you can better focus on your worth as an individual (and teacher) without needing the approval of others. The perfect listen for an afternoon stroll, the reflective co-hosts may even make you start to think about the kinds of feedback you give students in your ELA classroom! Click here to read about some ways you can encourage self-love in the classroom.

Podcasts provide a platform that text-based articles can't. Through tone, emotion, and diverse voices, listeners can immerse themselves in important conversations that will improve their teaching beyond pedagogical practices.

For example, Tanesha from Love Tanesha is committed to evolving her teaching practice by providing students access to rich and diverse texts and topics - in a variety of forms. Teaching Tolerance provides educators with frameworks designed to guide teachers in creating an anti-bias and equitable learning experience for students.

One framework is on Digital Literacy. Tanesha leans heavily on the podcast series as a tool to gain insight on the strategies teachers are leveraging to teach "hard topics" in their classrooms, and to grow her own development. One episode, The Digital Literacy Universe, engages educators in a spirited (and informational filled) conversation about the responsibilities associated with providing students access to digital media. Additionally, the episode provides practical considerations for teachers when using digital literacy in their classrooms. Secondary ELA teachers have the unique privilege of being able to engage learners with complex texts and sources. This podcast allows teachers to digest the pros and cons of the digital literacy world.

As English teachers, our content is so closely tied to history; however, instead of teaching historical content, we have the unique opportunity to share the stories behind history and the different perspectives of the people who lived it. Emily Aierstok of Read it. Write it. Learn it. recommends the podcast titled "Miss Buchanan's Period Of Adjustment" from Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History series. This podcast shares the stories behind the history of a major Supreme Court case, Brown vs.the Board of Education, and the lasting effects on education in America today. After listening to this podcast, you will rethink history as you know it and have a deeper, richer understanding of our profession and the inequities that still exist today. Share with students as a way to study the different perspectives and points of view presented.

Shana Ramin from Hello, Teacher Lady is a fellow English teacher and podcast enthusiast. Though her list of favorite podcasts is also quite lengthy, she's currently making her way through the episode archives of Lexicon Valley.

Hosted by linguist John McWhorter, Lexicon Valley has hundreds of fascinating episodes on everything from the evolution of the word 'no' to the Internet's obsession with the exclamation point. But there's one episode that, according to Shana, is a must-listen for all English teachers: . In this important episode, McWhorter explores the history of the singular 'they' and explains why we were all taught it was wrong in the first place. It's an eye-opening episode and one you'll definitely want to keep in your back pocket.

Despite what our students might think, English teachers do, in fact, have a life outside of the classroom. Once you get into listening, you are sure to find lots of podcasts that relate to your interest and hobbies. Some of these lifestyle podcasts might even make your day job better too! Here are some examples:

As ELA teachers, we all know how easy it is to fall into the never-ending to-do list trap, the never-ending to-do list that actually makes us less productive. Thankfully, Jenna from Doc Cop Teaching found a solution that really works, and it only takes 34 minutes to learn! Productivity guru Chalene Johnson is best known for her high-energy exercise programs, but her passion is teaching productivity. In episode 227 of The Chalene Show Podcast, The Key to Getting Organized, Productive, Happy, and Healthy, Chalene shares her step-by-step approach to help you tackle those never-ending teacher to-do lists with purpose and focus. You'll pull out a piece of paper and pencil to work through her system and learn once and for all how to create a productive and happy classroom. As a bonus, this active listening podcast is an excellent one to share with your students!

Pretty much everything that The Lazy Genius shares in her podcast is teacher-drool-worthy. Amanda Cardenas from Mud and Ink Teaching absolutely loves Kindra's approach to life because it so closely resembles her teaching motto: be a genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don't. Simple. This episode on building a stash of freezer meals is pure Lazy Genius glory: it's a highly organized and brilliant system all built to help you be lazy during the week! The Lazy Genius podcast will help all English teachers organize their hectic lives and make sense of the chaos in a way that is manageable and fun.
Amanda also would love for you to check out The Brave New Teacher podcast series when it launches on April 2, 2020! Amanda and Marie Morris of The Caffeinated Classroomco-host this tongue-in-cheek look at life in the classroom and dig into the issues that ELA teachers care about most. It's the only podcast for English teachers out there so far, and being part of their community will help you change the status quo at your school. Head over to our website for more information and to be notified when the first episode drops!

Though extremely thought-provoking, inspirational, and helpful, none of the podcasts listed above are explicitly designed for teachers. Therefore, I'm going to end this podcast recommendation list with a number of episodes that are produced specifically for educators. If you are ready for high-quality PD in your earbuds, start here:

When you are tasked with teaching reading, writing, language, and speaking/listening standards, it can feel impossible to cram everything in and teach every skill. As ELA teachers, it's easy for our instructional time to feel rushed, leaving us stressed out at the end of the day. Abby from Write on With Miss G knows this feeling all too well, which is what inspired her to adopt podcaster Angela Watson's motto of "fewer things, better." Abby was previously guilty of over-planning lessons and stressing herself out trying to implement "all of the things." After reflecting and listening to this eye-opening episode from Watson's Truth for Teachers (and maybe every single other episode) podcast, she worked hard to simplify her pedagogy to make room for the most impactful strategies. If you're guilty of spending hours lesson planning and feeling frazzled during your class periods, then this episode is worth a listen!

Tired of spending all your nights and weekends buried by grading? For years, one of the most common topics floating around in English teacher conversations has been that of streamlining grading and feedback.

Working with various teachers across grade levels and subject areas as an instructional coach, Melissa from Reading and Writing Haven loves listening to podcasts about teaching, especially ones that challenge her thinking.

Recently, she came across Episode 121 on Angela Watson's well-known Truth for Teachers podcast, featuring an insightful productivity roundtable discussion. If you'd like to reclaim your time at home while making instruction and feedback more meaningful, listen in to this conversation. You'll find fresh ideas regarding streamlining assessment, making class time more purposeful, and maximizing grading time.

As teachers, we always strive to find the best ways for our students to learn and retain the information and content we teach them.

As a high school English teacher, Christina, The Daring English Teacher, is always looking for new teaching strategies to incorporate into her high school English classroom. One of her favorite podcasts to listen to is The Cult of Pedagogy.

Jennifer Gonzalez is a mastermind at sharing research-based educational strategies that are proven to work. In her podcast episode entitled Six Powerful Learning Strategies you MUST Share with your Students, she shares six powerful, proven educational strategies that work. This podcast episode is a must-read for every teacher!

To help you include one of these strategies, dual coding, in your classroom, you can read about how The Daring English Teacher incorporates one-pagers in the classroom.

Staci Lamb from The Engaging Station usually finds herself listening to crime podcasts, but when she needs some teaching inspiration, she turns to theThe 10 Minute Teacher Podcast. The episodes are short enough to listen to an entire one on your way to work or to the store, and with almost 600 episodes, you're guaranteed to find something that relates specifically to your ELA classroom.

One episode Staci recently listened to is called "5 Ways to Improve Relevance in Our Classrooms Now." In this episode, one of their top suggestions is to capitalize on the trends and events happening in their world. For example, last year when everyone was eating Tide Pods (okay, not everyone), Staci created an entire mini-unit in which kids had to write an essay about why we should not eat Tide Pods. Check out those free lessonshere, and then be sure to check out that Podcast episode to get even more ideas!

Lastly, Lauralee from Language Arts Classroom has always taught tweens and teens, but she learns so much from primary teachers. In the Not So Wimpy Teacher's podcast, Why Bother With Test Prep, Jamie covers the wide range of emotions that teachers feel about testing and test prep. Not only does she provide organizational tips, but she also provides methods for reviewing that are applicable to the secondary classroom. Part of being a teacher is constantly learning, and Jamie's podcast has ideas for all teachers. In her podcast, she stresses that when students are moving and doing, they are more likely to learn. Sometimes, secondary teachers struggle to incorporate movement into their classroom, and that podcast has great tips.

I hope that this podcast recommendation list for ELA teachers has inspired you to add new episodes to your queue. Be sure to tag us and tell us your thoughts on the content! For even more English teacher podcast recommendations, see the podcasts I've been featured on here: Ashley Bible Featured On
If you find this list helpful, please share it with your friends!

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12 Podcast episodes that will make you a better ELA teacher - Building Book Love

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As English teachers, we realize the value of life-long learning. If we can teach our ELA students critical thinking strategies and complex text skills, then we have given them the tools they need to become productive and happy life-long learners. One reason podcasts are the perfect tool for teachers is because they provide life-long learning opportunities on the go.

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Need some help inspiring your students to write? These TED Talk Videos will do the trick!

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Have you ever used videos to inspire your students to write? Here are some TED talks for young writers you'll be able to use at different moments in your curriculum.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I love the Writer's Workshop model! Each day includes a focusing mini-lesson, time to write and ponder, and time to share or conference. Videos can be an excellent opportunity for students to choose a concept they'll focus on in their writing that day.

TED Talks for Young Writers

Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor didn't grow up reading science fiction. As a child, she says, it didn't appeal to her. She wasn't able to 'see' herself in the characters. But now, by writing Afro-futuristic science fiction, she creates new worlds inspired by her childhood trips to Africa. In this talk, she reads excerpts from her 'Binti' series, and her novel 'Lagoon'. Although grounded in West African symbolism and mythology her stories imagine a future Africa, they open (as she calls them) "strange doors". Because of this, they will connect with readers excluded from the traditional Sci-fi canon (written predominately by white men). This talk would be great to pair with Black Panther, or Children of Blood and Bone.

"As a reporter and as a foreigner, I've learned that neutrality, silence and fear aren't the best options - not in journalism, nor in life. Neutrality is often an excuse we journalists use to hide from our true responsibility. What is that responsibility? It is to question and to challenge those in positions of power. That's what journalism is for... But neutrality won't necessarily lead me to the truth."

In his talk Jorge Ramos shares how he left Mexico after being censored for his report criticizing the president. He came to America for the freedom to follow his passion, journalism. This talk centers on the idea of speaking truth to power, but it's also a touching view of the immigrant experience. This video applies to journalism, politics, and social justice. Ramos' talk will undoubtedly inspire your students to act. They could even write letters to local elected officials! Mayor, city councilors, school superintendent, county commissioners, etc. Students could argue for a cause that is important to them. They could ask a question. Or they could offer potential solutions to a problem their area is facing.

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In this talk, Erin McKean, a lexicographer explores what makes a word 'real', and posits that the rules of grammar and usage were made to be broken. She outlines six commonly used methods for inventing new words and gives humorous and engaging examples for each one. This could kick-start a fun, quick creative writing assignment; have students create and define their own new word.

This video summarizes the two schools of thought on grammar, prescriptivism and descriptivism. Prescriptivism is the belief that established we should follow linguistic rules, and descriptivism is the belief that language should grow and change with its speakers. Calude outlines the pros and cons of each position. It also explores differences between written and spoken grammar.

Focusing mainly on Elvish, created by Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien, this talk muses on what makes a 'conlang' or constructed language 'real'. With engaging animation and appearances from Dothraki, Na'vi, and Klingon this talk will keep students interested, especially any who might be aspiring fantasy writers.

How can I talk about writing without talking about writer's block? Many people have trouble meeting deadlines at work, but in this amusing talk Tim Urban, founder of the blog Wait, But Why? examines how procrastination can sneak into every aspect of our lives. Urban's gentle teasing manner and comical drawings take the feelings of shame out of the conversation. This talk will inspire students to seize the day, without making them feel guilty.

Using examples of fantasy worlds like Lord of the Rings and sci-fi worlds like The Matrix, Kate Messner narrates (over whimsical animation) some basic ground-work for how to create a fictional world. Watching this talk is a great starting place for students to create their own fictional world by answering the questions she asks in the video. " What rules are in place here? Who has power, and who doesn't? What does this society value most? What do they eat? What kind of technology exists?" (We want to point out that this video incorrectly refers to the filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski as "the Wachowski brothers")

Your students will love learning about writing from one of the most celebrated authors of kid-lit and YA. In her talk, Woodson recalls how the many long hours of her childhood spent reading, slowly, have informed her writing style. Too often we push kids to read more, with a metric based on page count and grade level. Woodson urges the listener to understand more.

"As a child, I knew that stories were meant to be savored, that stories wanted to be slow, and that some author had spent months, maybe years, writing them. And my job as the reader - especially as the reader who wanted to one day become a writer - was to respect that narrative."

This short talk gives a helpful outline of the 'Hero's Journey'. Outlined by Joseph Campbell in this video also provides modern examples like Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. This talk would be excellent in a unit on heroes and myths and might be helpful at getting students to recognize themes in fiction. You could even have your students pick their favorite book or movie and see how well it follows the 'Hero's Journey' template outlined in this video. (Speaking of heros and myths, you might want to check out this blog post on including superheros when teaching American Lit.)

" At no point did I think superheroes would become such a huge part of my life. As a kid, I looked at them, and I saw everything I wasn't."

In her two graphic novels, America 1: The Life & Times of America Chavez, and America 2: Fast and Fuertona, Gabby Rivera has brought the superhero narrative to a new audience. America Chavez is Marvel's first lesbian, Latina superhero, and Rivera is the perfect author to write her story. I think this talk is great for young writers because Rivera gives so much insight into her inspirations and the choices she made for America's character.

Fitzgerald, a writer and former Twitter employee, looks at how the internet has created a new medium for storytelling. Similar to the way that radio created the serial format for fiction. Using specific Twitter accounts as examples he shows how 'microblogging' has opened up a new world of creativity. Of course, most students understand and conquer the 240 character limit. But using it to create a poem or a short story might be a new and exciting challenge. This could even be a semester-long project! With students writing one 'tweet' per week and putting them into their final form at the end.

Need something else? You can find ALL my recommendation lists for inclusive classroom materials here. Poems, novels, TV episodes, short stories, and so much more!

As a child in Africa, Adichie was an avid reader and a budding writer. She says, "I wrote exactly the kind of stories I was reading. All my characters were white and blue-eyed, they played in the snow, they ate apples... this despite the fact that I lived in Nigeria. I had never been outside Nigeria. We didn't have snow, we ate mangoes." In this incredible and moving talk she shares many more examples of how she has fallen prey to thinking only of what she calls 'the single story' and how she is often negatively stereotyped due to the 'single story' worldview of others. In addition to creative writing, this talk would make an excellent addition to any unit on world literature, social studies, journalism, or anthropology.

In this talk, Gilbert explores our notions of the "creative process". How we talk about it, and especially how we talk about failure. She pushes back on the notion that art *must* come from pain and self-destruction, a message that is so important for students to hear.

Gilbert describes how the ancient Greeks and Romans viewed creativity as something that came from an outside source, rather than from inside the artist. In fact, the word 'genius' originally referred to a "magical divine entity" that lived in an artists' studio and helped them with their work. She argues that when our cultural viewpoint shifted to make 'genius' something that came from within, it put even more pressure on the artist. She also gives a window into her own creative process, as well as those of other writers. Anyone who puts pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) has experienced the dreaded 'writers block' and know the pain of being 'stuck'. This talk will help students keep those feelings of desperation and worthlessness at bay.

Inspired by seeing the original Vermeer at age 19, Chevalier wrote the bestselling novel Girl With a Pearl Earring , a fictional account of the painter and his subject. In this talk she shares about what aspects of paintings draw her in and inspire her, giving examples of what she sees in specific paintings. In closing she reads a short story she wrote inspired by a Tudor era painting. I would pair this talk with a creative writing assignment in which students choose a painting to write their own story about. (We should be note that Chevalier alludes to sex and attraction in this talk, so teachers should read the transcript first to ensure it is appropriate for their class)

I love sharing the poems of Billy Collins with my students, and his dry wit makes him a very amusing speaker. The way he tackles, head on, the apprehension that many people feel to the phrase 'poetry reading' makes him a great choice for connecting with teens. In this video, he reads six of his poems, 5 of which accompany different styles of animation. It would be a great choice for a poetry unit, or National Poetry Month in April. Check out more posts about teaching poetry here.

I couldn't resist sharing another talk from John McWhorter in this list, I just love his lingustic insights! I think that students will be very receptive to this talk from the get-go because it's likely not what they expect from their ELA class; a celebration of texting. But I think this talk will be of particular interest to aspiring fiction writers. We've all had the experience of reading a novel and being frustrated with the dialogue. Maybe you've thrown up your hands and shouted "That is NOT how people talk!" Well, dialogue can be especially challenging for students. Especially if they are trying to follow all the grammer rules that they've been taught. McWhorter breaks down some of the differences between how we write and how we speak. This is vital for students to understand, and will help them create characters that feel and sound "real."

Using clips from films he has worked on, Toy Story and Wall-E, as well as classic movies, Stanton explores what makes us connect with a story. What makes us care about a character? What keeps us interested in their journey? Films are a great way to nurture an interest in storytelling among reluctant readers. After seeing this video, you could ask students to write a short story involving the characters of their favorite movie, or write an alternate ending to a well known film? (If you are showing this video in a classroom we recommend starting it at 1:19 to avoid some adult language in the opening joke.)

What are some other TED talks for young writers that you use in the classroom? Let me know in comments!

Happy teaching!

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Have you ever used videos to inspire your students to write? Here are some TED talks for young writers you'll be able to use at different moments in your curriculum. As I've mentioned before on this blog, I love the Writer's Workshop model !

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This blog gives some insightful tips and tricks to using videos as an engaging tool for student learning!

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I always try to find new ways to inspire my students. That is why I have chosen to include more video-based lessons in my curriculum. Since I started using TED talks, short videos and TV shows, they have literally transformed my ESL classes. My students pay more attention in class and their performance is a lot better because they are obviously more willing to complete classwork that is interesting and they can relate to. Although I do not use these authentic materials to simply entertain my students, but also to develop their critical thinking skills and engage them in the response process more efficiently. To avoid confusion, please note that I use the umbrella term "texts" when I am referring to videos, images or written texts.

I prefer using TED Talks because these speeches are not only enjoyable, but also educational. Before using any video in the classroom, it is important to formulate our educational intention clearly. Do we want to use the video to activate learners' schemata and introduce a new lesson? Do we want our learners to listen for specific information or just for global understanding? Do we want to use a video to introduce a new grammar concept? Do we wish to show a video to make our teens reflect on a specific issue by listening for detailed information? Setting the purpose for watching a video is a crucial step before planning any specific tasks we want our students to carry out before, while and after listening/viewing. We should remember that listening and reading should be both instructional and pleasurable, as Jeremy Harmer points out in his book The Practice of English Language Teaching. Our aim is to use videos purposefully as valuable teaching tools.

From the point of view of purpose, Harmer identifies several types of listening and reading:

1. identifying the topic

2. predicting and guessing

3. reading and listening for general understanding

4. reading and listening for specific information

5. reading and listening for detailed information

6. interpreting text

Planning is the second crucial step after choosing the purpose for any listening activity. When I design a lesson to go with a specific TED Talk or YouTube video, I always like to create a complex task because I want to guide my students through all the phases of the response process. These phases are: 1) prepare to listen/watch, 2) explore, 3) connect to and 4) go beyond/generalize (draw conclusions/reinvest understanding). To be thorough, I use a response to text planning sheet to make sure I properly plan my lessons. You can download a copy of this planner and use it for videos, TV show episodes, movies or texts. Click here to download: Response to Text/Video Planner.

Here are the steps I follow when I am planning listening activities to go with short YouTube videos or TED Talks:

1) PREPARE TO LISTEN/WATCH - AIM: ACTIVATING STUDENTS' SCHEMATA/PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND MAKING PREDICTIONS

First, I want my students to predict the topic. I usually use either a brainstorming activity such as an anticipation guide, one-minute challenge (Students need to come up with words they associate with a certain concept.), a K-W-L chart or a conversation leading us to an essential question (guiding question) learners will be able to answer once they have watched the video.

2) EXPLORE THE TEXT - AIM: LISTENING FOR GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING AND FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION

After predicting what the text/video will be about, I want my students to focus on content. The first time I play the video, learners need to listen for global understanding. The purpose of this first listening is to find the main topic or the issue the video is exploring. Once learners have found the main idea of the text, they watch the video for the second time to find the answers to the questions verifying comprehension. During this explore phase of the response process, the questions should elicit some specific information about the subject-matter to assess students' understanding. It is important to confirm and adjust learners' comprehension of the main points presented in the text before asking them to listen for more detailed information and connect to the text.

3) CONNECT TO THE TEXT - AIM: LISTENING FOR DETAILED INFORMATION

To challenge my learners more, I also want them to connect to the text. I always select content my teenage students can relate to. When listening for detailed information, learners should process information more in-depth and relate to the issue, for example, by agreeing or disagreeing with the information presented.

4) GO BEYOND/GENERALIZE - AIM: INTERPRETING TEXT/DRAWING CONCLUSIONS/MAKING JUDGMENTS

The last phase of any listening/viewing activity includes the generalize phase where students reinvest their understanding by making judgments and drawing conclusions based on what they already know and the new information they have acquired from the video. I love this part because it encourages learners to think critically, process information from the video and apply it to their reality. Not only do they establish personal connections between the text and their experience, but they also use what they know now in a new context.

Overall, my goal is to guide my students in questioning themselves how they may use the new pieces of information they learn from these videos in a new context, how they can transfer knowledge across disciplines and acquire new transferable skills that will be useful not only in school, but in their life, too.

The images below show the types of video response journal templates I prefer using to cover all the phases of the response process. My favourite type is the two-pager video response journal template because it is smaller in size than standard letter-sized worksheets, it is different from what learners are used to, and it is also more printer-friendly as you use only one sheet of paper.

However, you may also opt for a worksheet template like the one below:

On a last note, if you want to use videos to teach the response process to your ELL learners, I recommend you starting with Richard St. John's speech, The Importance of Focus, which might be a great listening activity during the first week of school. I use this TED Talk at the beginning of the school year not only to revise reading strategies (response process), but also to show my students the importance of setting goals (purpose) in life and working diligently toward success, whatever that success means to them. The ideas you can explore and discuss with your students using John's speech are the following: focusing on one thing, working hard, eliminating distractions, focusing on one's goals, having short-term focus and long-term focus, doing one's best, etc. This lesson highly appeals to my learners because it helps them set their minds for success and gives them the necessary boost to successfully get through their last year in high school.

In brief, we can exploit videos as texts to expose learners to authentic English as it is spoken outside the classroom. They are practical to increase learners' language proficiency, and they also represent a rich source of information we can use to explore important issues and motivate our learners.

I would love to hear from you. Please share how you use videos in your ESL class.

Happy teaching!

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How I Teach the Response Process Using Videos in My Secondary ESL Class

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I always try to find new ways to inspire my students. That is why I have chosen to include more video-based lessons in my curriculum. Since I started using TED talks, short videos and TV shows, they have literally transformed my ESL classes.