Filler Activities for ELA (blog post) What can you do with five extra minutes in secondary ELA? Here are a few ideas to engage students until the bell.
Want to ensure that you teach EVERY standard every year? We are here to help and give you the inside scoop into our year long plans!
As teachers begin planning for back to school, I see an abundance of creative classrooms filling my Instagram and Pinterest feeds. I love seeing how other
Back to school in your ELA classroom just got easier. Starting a brand new school year requires a ton of planning and organization. These freebies are a great way to ease the stress and start
As some of you may know, we are moving from a 45-minute block of ELA time to a 90-minute block. I cannot tell you how excited I am for this to happen. To actually have more time to dig in, to hav…
Book reports and summaries are a thing of the past. Engage your middle and high school students with five book report alternatives that will leave them asking for more and, most importantly, building vital reading and analysis skills along the way. 1. Assign one pagers at the end of a novel. One pagers are engaging, allow for creativity, and lead to higher level thinking and analysis. Assigning a one pager is easy and works for any novel. Follow these simple guidelines: • Make it standards base
Unsure of how to teach inference? These fun and engaging inferencing activities for middle school will excite your students!
As teachers begin planning for back to school, I see an abundance of creative classrooms filling my Instagram and Pinterest feeds. I love seeing how other
Creative lesson plans are important in secondary ELA because they challenge students to go beyond the obvious and think outside the box. Creative lessons plans are also highly engaging for struggling and gifted students. This list of activities encourages creative thinking and growth mindset all
Get organized with a daily and weekly ELA plan so that you feel confident and prepared. Planning the structure of a class period varies by unit. Start here!
Here are 15 engaging and creative TV episodes to use in ELA to teach genre, narrative techniques, characterization, and more. (Blog post)
Looking for rigorous, standard-aligned resources? Read about The Sparkly Notebook's new standard-by-standard product line!
It's time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school.
Hello, ELA! This resource is a unique way to get your students warmed up at the beginning of your ELA block. Each month contains 4-5 weeks of ELA bell work, which will have a theme around the season, national holidays, or events associated with that particular month. The morning work is focused on ELA 7th Grade Common Core Standards. Each day has a thematic structure to cover language standards as well as enhance vocabulary and comprehension skills. Save money by purchasing the year long BUNDLE!ELA Daily Review 7th Grade {Bundle} Each week follows a predictable and engaging structure: Meaningful Monday: Monday is focused on making meaning. Tasks will focus on synonyms, antonyms, vocabulary words, context clues, and making meaning in a short amount of text. Some tasks may require students to make meaning in the text (inference, message, adages, proverbs, etc.) or build vocabulary skills. Text Structure Tuesday: Tuesdays will have a paragraph that requires students to identify the text structure, signal words, main idea, author's perspective, or vocabulary, or any other question types related to the Craft and Structure standards. Wordy Wednesday: Wednesday is all about working with words. Tasks include working with shades of meaning, homophones, spelling, prefixes, suffixes, roots, and other word skills. Throwback Thursday:Thursday is all about grammar usage and conventions. Figurative Friday: Figurative Friday tasks include working with various types of figurative language including similes, metaphors, idioms, poems, alliteration, structures of poems and more! 🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.I hope this resource works for you! Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions, comments, or feedback. -Jessica This ELA + Math Morning Work is available for the following grade levels: ELA + Math Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade ELA Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade ELA Weekly Assessments 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade Math Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade Let’s connect! The Literacy Loft Blog The Literacy Loft on Instagram The Literacy Loft on Pinterest The Literacy Loft on Facebook Email: [email protected]
Get an outline for teaching all the reading and writing standards in your Middle School ELA class.
The first day of school doesn't have to be boring! This blog post explains what to do for the best first day of school!
Wondering how to structure your middle school language arts daily schedule? Here's the planning template I developed to find my ideal stride!
Wondering how to sequence grammar instruction? You'll want this list that scaffolds grammar lessons so that one skill builds upon the next.
Scheduling small group instruction can be a HUGE challenge for teachers. With so much to include in a day, this post offers scheduling ideas.
Hey Friends!! It's been a minute!Let me just start by saying that I've had such a great summer. I had intended to do a lot of work, but I just couldn't. I needed a little
Are you looking for some new ideas to offer as an ELA elective class at your school? Click through to get ten new and creative ideas that you can offer as an ELA elective.
If your students are requesting some lighter literature, check out some of the funny short stories for high schoolers I've rounded up.
The first day of school doesn't have to be boring! This blog post explains what to do for the best first day of school!
Dear Educators, This is a complete set. The five vocabulary quizzes cover the whole book. This differentiated package for When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead was written for traditional and inclusion classrooms. This Package Includes: 75 Pages 5 Quizzes 5 Modified quizzes 5 Study guides 5 Work sheets 5 Modified work sheets Detailed answer keys 5 Easel Assessments 10 Easel Activities Quizzes: Chapters 1 – 13 has 16 vocabulary words and 24 questions Chapters 14 – 26 has 16 vocabulary words and 24 questions Chapters 27 – 36 has 12 vocabulary words and 18 questions Chapters 37 – 47 has 12 vocabulary words and 20 questions Chapters 48 – 55 has 12 vocabulary words and 20 questions Part one ~ match each word with the correct definition Part two ~ Sentences with fill in the blank using the appropriate vocabulary word. Most sentences are quoted from the novel. A word box is included. These quizzes are easy to grade and the regular quiz can be printed on a single page, front to back. Modified Quizzes: Part one has the same number of questions but are broken down into two groups of eight or six Part two the sentences are the same as the examples on the modified work sheets Work Sheets: Vocabulary words Page and paragraph numbers where the words are found in the text Directions: 1. For each word, find the sentence in the book and write it on the line provided. 2. Based on how the word is used in the sentence, write what you believe the word means. 3. Look up each word in the dictionary and write the meaning that matches the meaning used in your book. Space to write the answers Easel Activity for all work sheets Modified Work Sheets: Vocabulary words Page and paragraph numbers where the words are found in the text Context clue sentence for each vocabulary word Directions: 1. Based on how the word is used in the sentence, write what you believe the word means. 2. Look up each word in the dictionary and write the meaning that matches the meaning used in your book. Space to write the answers Easel Activity for all work sheets The word modified only appears on the answer keys. Study Guides: Vocabulary words Page and paragraph numbers where the word is found in the novel Given out after students complete work sheets Designed so that students can cut out and match up to study or paste on index cards All definitions correspond to the use of the word in the text Detailed Answer Keys Study guides double as answer keys for work sheets Answer keys are copies of quizzes with the answers Easel Assessments: Chapters 1 – 13 has 16 vocabulary words and 24 questions Chapters 14 – 26 has 16 vocabulary words and 24 questions Chapters 27 – 36 has 12 vocabulary words and 18 questions Chapters 37 – 47 has 12 vocabulary words and 20 questions Chapters 48 – 55 has 12 vocabulary words and 20 questions Match each word with the correct definition Sentences with fill in the blank using the appropriate vocabulary word Multiple choice Easily assigned to students through Google Classroom or through a shareable link Easel Activities: 5 Work sheets 5 Modified work sheets Ready to assign, just one click! Easily assigned to students through Google Classroom or through a shareable link I’m sure you and your students will be happy to use this material in your classroom. If you have any requests about my work, please drop me a note.
Teaching theme will be engaging for your students with videos! Find the 5 Best Videos for Teaching Theme in your ELA classroom.
As a teacher, I am always on the hunt for the perfect tools at the cheapest prices for my ELA classroom. Taking care of our students and keeping our learning
Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom
Are you noticing some gaps in your curriculum? Are you looking for some new, creative ideas for how to fill these holes in your ELA curriculum? This post gives you 10 creative ideas for how to fill holes in your secondary ELA curriculum.
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 […]
Flu season is upon us, so I wanted to compile some of my favorite free resources for last-minute sub plans. Everything I've chosen is 100% free and ready to print. These resources don't take a lot
Ok, I get these Q’s frequently from teachers who reach out to me regarding setting up and running stations or centers (same thing, basically) in their middle school English / Language Arts / Reading / Writing classes: How do I make stations work so I can . . . >> teach my students while also
Hi, I'm Magy. I love reading and writing, and I love to teach reading and writing. Currently, I'm a K-8 Reading Specialist, but I've also taught in High
When I think about student writing, one of the most difficult concepts to teach is sentence fluency. Much of excelling at fluent writing revolves around students’ background with literacy. Certainly,...
Try this free, fun, and interactive middle school ELA games in your classroom to teach grammar and literacy ELA skills!
This blog post will introduce you to six simple, fun, and enriching project-based learning ideas for your English Language Arts classroom.
Build student confidence and reading endurance with these resources. Teaching short stories has never been more exciting or engaging! (blog post)
I began elementary school in the era of phonics. Looking back, I can honestly say that it seemed to work okay. Matching pictures with their word families in plaid workbooks... I learned to read, but
With the Common Core Standards in place, students are being asked more and more to use critical thinking skills to analyze literary and informational text. Inference is a prime example of a critical thinking skill used in classrooms today. Students are asked to read text and analyze it by
Much like students who spend more hours on the hook of an essay than they do the bulk of an essay, I often found myself with a case of English teacher writing block when it came to planning my first day of school activities. Though I have ten years (x two semesters each) of ... Read More about First Day of School Activities for High School and Middle School English
If books are a uniquely portable magic, then podcasts are the wizard in your pocket. When you find interesting podcasts for teens that they want to listen to, you will open up a whole new world of literacy for secondary students. Did you know that podcast listeners are 29% more likely to have a household ... Read More about Why You Should Be Using Podcasts in Secondary ELA
We have created a big list of palindromes and divided them into several categories such as words, sentences, funny, longest, names, places, songs, and more. Enjoy!
