Mystery remains one of the strongest selling genres in book sales today, so introducing your students to this genre through literature circles is an easy way to add some meaningful learning opportunities into your classroom and help to create lifelong readers. Adding a genre-based choice reading unit to your ELA classroom increases engagement and gives students a chance to explore this popular ... Read More about How to Run Mystery Genre-Based Literature Circles in Secondary English Language Arts
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How Do I Grade Choice Reading? Equitable Grading Practices in the ELA Classroom
Note: This blog is a guest post written by educator Allyssa Graham, a National Board Certified high school teacher from New York. Follow Allyssa for more teaching tips and strategies on her Instagram @teachingintheflx. Several years ago, I began incorporating required choice reading into my ELA classroom. I had read numerous books by Penny Kittle, Kelly Gallagher, and Donalyn Miller to ... Read More about How Do I Grade Choice Reading? Equitable Grading Practices in the ELA Classroom
Help Your Students Write a Novel in 30 Days… For Real!
Are you looking for a fresh and fun way to challenge your students while helping them develop their writing skills? Have you ever wondered if it's possible for your class to write an entire novel in just 30 days? The answer is, YES! As a teacher, it’s so exciting when your students get truly engaged with a project that requires potential creativity. But how do you turn the thought of writing a ... Read More about Help Your Students Write a Novel in 30 Days… For Real!
“Why Do We Read?” An Introductory Lesson Plan for Secondary ELA Students
As students head back to school, ELA teachers everywhere are considering how they are going to begin the school year, so I wanted to walk you through one of my favorite lesson plans entitled, "Why do we read?" As an educator, there are few things as exciting and rewarding as introducing a young person to the wonders of great literature. But before you take your secondary ELA students any ... Read More about “Why Do We Read?” An Introductory Lesson Plan for Secondary ELA Students
Creative Assessments for Your Choice Reading Program
As an English teacher, do you ever find yourself in the same creative rut when it comes to assessing your students during a choice reading unit? You know that the focus should be on their engagement with what they are reading and not merely understanding plot points, but how can you assess something so abstract as critical thinking skills? I don’t have all of the answers, but I believe there is a ... Read More about Creative Assessments for Your Choice Reading Program
How to Use a Character Autopsy Activity in Your Secondary English Language Arts Classroom
Using a character autopsy can be an engaging activity that explores the moments, motives, and traits of characters in literature. This meaningful exercise challenges students to analyze and investigate the inner workings of characters so they can better understand their place in a story. This is also an easy way to incorporate the Reading: Literature standard number three (RL3) into your ... Read More about How to Use a Character Autopsy Activity in Your Secondary English Language Arts Classroom