Teaching figurative language can be super engaging. I love weaving it into the school year and reminding students that English can be fun. Below are 7 activities that you can use any time in the school year to teach figurative language in your secondary ELA classroom. 1. Use direct instruction first Probably the easiest way to teach figurative language is to just jump right in teaching the terms explicitly. Strengthen student writing with old school notetaking and definition reviews, and of course, practice activities. Sometimes it’s best just to start with the basics, especially if you know your students don’t know the terms or are in serious need of a refresher.  If you’d like a premade resource of presentations and

Teaching plot may seem like a basic concept, but even our middle school and high school English Language Arts students can use a refresher and some engaging activities to help them think about plot in fresh ways. Students are never too old to review and make new applications to literary elements. Being grounded in these basics can help students study more complex aspects of literature. Below I outline six tips for teaching plot in the secondary ELA classroom. 1. Use animated shorts Make use of the plethora of Pixar shorts to review or reteach plot. The concise visual storytelling makes them perfect for practicing identifying plot points. Don’t feel like you need to be limited to Pixar – there are