Are you looking for a stress-free first week of ELA activities for high school classroom? Look no further! Keep reading for ideas, tips, and lesson plans for the first week (and beyond)! #backtoschoolactivities #elateacher #highschoolela

Help your students become more empathetic and compassionate with these social emotional learning lessons and activity ideas that are perfect for back to school or for building classroom community any time of the year. Pull out a copy of Each Kindness by Jaqueline Woodson and your students will be re

This Doodle and Do resource is designed to help students understand 8 types of figurative language. First, students will complete highly engaging Doodle Notes about each type of figurative language. They'll doodle and sketch their notes on 5 different engaging doodle note pages. Students will learn about each type, review examples, and create examples of their own. Next, they’ll complete a fun writing activity for each type of figurative language. They’ll create silly similes with spinners, make metaphor matches, assemble personification cubes, participate in an alliteration tongue twister challenge, give sentences a hyperbole makeover, fill in onomatopoeia Wacky Libs, match and doodle idioms, and play oxymoron bingo. This mini-unit is not only effective in helping students understand different types of figurative language, it’s also super engaging and fun! This resource is completely customizable, too! First, the two types of doodle notes included (filled-in and guided notes versions) make it easy to differentiate instruction. Then, the six learning activities can be easily transformed into learning stations if you’d like. This way, you can create the very best learning experience for your students! This 8-day unit is not only effective in helping students understand figurative language, it’s also incredibly engaging and fun! Skills Developed: Students will… Develop an understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meaning Explain the meaning and note effectiveness of similes, metaphors, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, idiom and oxymoron Interpret figures of speech Write creatively using figurative language in response to writing prompts Work collaboratively and imaginatively About the “Doodle” Notes: First, students will learn all about figurative language and similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, alliteration, idiom and oxymoron by completing a set of doodle notes. Doodle notes are color-it-in, fill-it-in, and doodle-encouraging note sheets. They’re not only visually engaging, they’re also effective in helping students increase their focus and ability to recall information. Plus…they’re really fun! In this resource, there are 2 options of Doodle Notes: Option 1: All the notes are filled in. With this option students will color, embellish, and add doodles to the notes as you review the information with the class. Option 2: Some of the notes are filled in and students need to fill in the remainder of the notes (like guided notes). Students will work to fill in the notes as you teach the content. About the “Do” Activities After students complete their Doodle Notes it’s time for them to “Do” some fun activities. The activities are designed around lessons to help students practice recognizing, creating, analyzing, and writing figurative language. There are six activities in all: Simile: Students will be creating fun similes during this activity. First, they’ll create similes with “simile spinners.” Then, they’ll respond to a writing prompt and include a simile in their response. Metaphor: Students will be creating metaphors during this activity. First, they’ll brainstorm ideas based on teacher clues. Then, they’ll match the ideas to create and write creative and unique metaphors. Personification: Students will be writing 6 personification sentences during this activity. First, they’ll brainstorm verbs. Then, they’ll combine the verbs with nouns that they brainstorm to create examples of personification. Onomatopoeia: Students will be practicing onomatopoeia as they complete a Mad-Libs-inspired activity. Alliteration: Students will be writing sentences filled with alliteration. Then, they’ll challenge a partner to read their alliteration sentences without making any mistakes (tongue-twister-style). Hyperbole: Students will be giving simple sentences a makeover with hyperbole. They’ll create an interactive shape and then write six examples. Then, they’ll select two examples of hyperbole to integrate into writing prompts. Idiom: First students will complete an idiom matching activity. Then, they'll get creative as the doodle the literal meaning of 4 different idioms. Oxymoron: Students will create 6 original oxymorons. Then, they'll put their knowledge to the test during a super fun game of Oxymoron Bingo! Implementation Ideas: Easily turn the fun activities into learning stations! Teach as a figurative language unit – covering one type of figurative language a day! Break up and teach at different times throughout the year Combine with a poetry unit This detailed “Doodle and Do” resource includes: A detailed teacher overview of the resource 7 detailed lesson plans: Figurative Language, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Onomatopoeia, Alliteration, Hyperbole Doodle and Do cover page for students Set of Doodle Notes – all filled in (4 pages) Set of Doodle Notes – guided notes format (4 pages) Simile Spinners (2) Simile Writing Activity (2 pages) Metaphor Match-Up Activity (2 pages) Metaphor Match-Up Teacher Clues Personification noun and verb brainstorm Personification Cube template Onomatopoeia Wacky Libs – word clues Onomatopoeia Wacky Libs – “My Pet” passage Alliteration Challenge Hyperbole Makeover Interactive Shape Hyperbole Makeover Worksheet Hyperbole Writing Other Doodle and Do Resources… Langston Hughes – Poet and Poem Study --- Doodle Article and Interactive Poetry Analysis Flip Book Maya Angelou – Poet and Poem Study --- Doodle Article and Interactive Poetry Analysis Flip Boo 5 Reading Skills Mini-Units 5 Nonfiction Text Structure Mini-Units How to Study for a Test Doodle Notes and 5 Learning Stations Writing Responses with Text-Based Evidence Doodle Notes and 5 Learning Stations Doodle Book Review Any book! Or, you may also like… Figurative Language Unit 12 Writing Units Bundle - Writing instruction for an entire year! 101 Writing Prompts! Have you seen these Creative Writing Videos? Creative Writing Activity Alliteration Writing Activity Personification Writing Activity Following is Fun! Get the inside scoop on all store discounts, free products, and product launches. Just click the green “Follow Me” star under my store name on this page or click the green “Follow Me” star on my store homepage. Let’s Stay in Touch! Blog Pinterest Facebook Instagram *** Click HERE to receive the Brain Waves Instruction Newsletter filled with exclusive FREEBIES and Teaching Tips! Thanks! Brain Waves Instruction Doodle notes is a trademarked term used with permission. Please visit doodlenotes.org for more information.

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.

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

Learn why one-pagers are one of my go-to activities for breaking down complex topics and texts. Understand what they are, why you and your students will love them, and how to implement them in your ELA classroom. I even have the advice to help you tackle the biggest obstacle you’ll encounter with this activity.

Fables are an important part of English Language Arts instruction. The genre, which often includes animals that act like humans and moral lessons, is perfect for targeted lessons in reading, writing, listening, speaking, and analyzing. Classic and modern fables are both entertaining and approachable. Fables also shed light on other cultures, characterization, and moral lessons. Most importantly, they're just plain fun to teach! Here are 6 easy ways to teach fables in your classroom... I LOVE giving students a chance to write their very own fable. I recommend starting with mentor texts so that students can become experts on the genre. Then, through targeted writing instruction, students can write their own story that includes a moral, animal characters, story elements, and illustrations. As students develop their stories, you can even have them "pitch" their stories to their peers acting as storybook editors. Once students have written a strong fable, take these lessons to the next level and let students create a children's book filled with illustrations. You could even have them share their fables with younger students. Check out this ready-to-teach Fable Writing Unit! Don't you just love lessons that meet a ton of instructional standards at once? Well, this fable unit does just that! It’s a 7-day unit designed around Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” and in it students read three different versions of the fable. After building background on each form, they have the opportunity to critically read and respond to the fable in prose, verse, and drama form. Through small group work, independent studies, and class discussions students will not only understand and appreciate the elements of a fable and each form of literature, but they’ll also develop a deep understanding of each text. Learn more about this unit here. Of course, fables are wonderful to read in the classroom. But, why just read a fable when you can also connect, investigate, write, and draw? I created this Foldable Fables resource with Art with Jenny K. to combine reading, writing, and illustrating. This resource is super engaging because students create an accordion-style booklet filled with their learning and creativity. It's fun and educational! The seven learning activities help students connect deeply to their reading. Check out the super engaging Foldable Fable here! I've found that fables are wonderful to add to learning stations focused on reading comprehension skills. For instance, in this sequencing centers resource, students investigate "Fox and the Goat" at one of the learning stations. At the station, they're tasked to read the fable and then put the fable in the correct sequence with an interactive shape. Since fables are often short and focused they're the perfect addition to reading comprehension learning stations! Fables lend themselves perfectly to plays. I've found that students respond really well to opportunities to perform short skits and plays in the classroom. In this theme mini-unit, students get to act out "The Four Oxen and a Lion." As a small group, they practice reading out loud, acting, and investigating theme. It's fun for students to get into different characters as they act out a fable! I'm a big fan of reading out loud to students. Often, I would read stories to students as they completed their daily warm-ups. My read alouds included novels, poems, short stories, and of course, fables. You might mix-up your own read alouds with fables from around the world or modern fables. Here are a few collections of fables that you might want to add to your classroom library... --- Aesop's Fables: The Classic Edition --- Buddhist Stories for Kids --- Filipino Children's Favorite Stories ------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you've found some simple ways to teach fables in your classroom! Fables really are wonderful literature treasures for teaching reading, writing, investigating, performing, and more! Thanks for stopping by! Mary Beth P.S. My friend, Art with Jenny K., has another idea for adding fables to the classroom. Check out her post here. *This post contains affiliate links.

This post explains how teachers can use an academic version of the highly engaging Spoons game to review concepts. Free games included!

Now that the 2017-2018 school year has come to a close, I am spending some time reflecting on my practice as an educator. While there were some lows of the

(teacherspayteachers.com) If your students are like mine, they struggle with powers of 10. With this fast-paced game, students have fun practicing and mastering this tricky concept. Simply form your students into two teams and project this exciting game! The student who says the correct answer first gets the point.

Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author. So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support. Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone. Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Pinterest Facebook Instagram TpT Store

Hey there, fellow English teacher! I want to share what my secondary English curriculum for the first six weeks of school looks like.

Looking for Wordle classroom ideas? Incorporate Wordle into your classroom with this activities, ideas, and templates.

Find strategies for teaching ELA academic vocabulary with graphic organizers for students, a word wall, and engaging games from mixed-upfiles.com

Teach characterization using short films to engage students and aid in analysis skills. Pixar films, commercials, and cartoons create a fun lesson.

Read about eleven different ways to meaningfully incorporate art in ELA class. Keep the focus on students' learning, not their artistic abilities.

Paragraph writing is a big challenge for many students. This post includes a step-by-step method to help your students write great paragraphs in no time.

Frog and Toad Are Friends - Lesson Plan

Need Wonder activities for your classroom or home school Wonder teaching resources? We have Wonder lesson plans, Wonder worksheets, and more ideas for book projects, kindness activities for middle school, and diversity lessons to make a great study unit for students using both the novel by RJ Palacio and teaching with movies (including the popular precepts project!).

With the end of the school year around the corner, it’s time to start planning out the final few weeks. Here is a look at some teaching resources that will

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

Find a list of resources for teaching Main Idea and Main Topic in your classroom including activities, practice material, and read alouds.

Engage your students in great lessons using these videos for teaching figurative language! Check out the Top 5 here and save time searching!

Are you looking for ELA extension activities? Here are 25 ideas for classroom activities for teaching literature.

One of the most challenging things for a (new) teacher is planning and pacing the curriculum. After all, there are so many different standards to teach,

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!

Movement in the classroom is beneficial for many reasons. First and foremost, getting up to move in the classroom might help anxious students relieve stress.

Whether you are already using close reading strategies in your own upper elementary classroom or not, you’ll love using free close reading passages like The History of the Chocolate Chip Cookie! By using a purposeful, high interest set of close reading passages with proven reading comprehension strategies, your students will enjoy a greater level of reading success. Here is everything included in your FREE close reading passages download: The History of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Reading Passage (2 Differentiated Levels) 5 Days of Close Reading Activities Text Dependent Questions Written Response Teacher Guide Annotation Guide Printable Version Interactive Google Classroom

5 creative first day of school activities for high school English so you can ditch the syllabus and start getting to know your students!

Check out these 7 activities to use with the novel Charlotte's Web including spider web synonyms, how to draw a pig, spider web art, and more.

Have you been wanting to try stations in your Secondary ELA classroom but aren't sure where to start? Read through this quick post where we share 8 station ideas and how to use them with your ELA students.

1-2-3 Come Travel Around The World With Me! Woo Hoo! Having spent over 200 hours researching & creating, plus a small fortune on graphics designing things, I’m so excited to post this jumbo “labor of love”, "Travels Around The World" packet, which features the awesome talents of 38 clip artists! This super-fun packet is extremely versatile, as everything stands alone, so you can mix & match creating a unit that is tailored specifically for your class, or use pieces and parts with lessons you already have implemented. I think my students, favorite part of our Travels Around the World is making the cereal box suitcase, which can be done in class or for homework. The sky's the limit of how you want to design them. We add 2 file folders to make a drop down interactive "briefcase" of sorts, which includes a pocket for their passports, tickets and boarding passes. The extra files are a great way to keep everything neat & organized and provide space for them to glue on a variety of activities that we do. My kiddos absolutely LOVE collecting the "suitcase stamps/stickers" to decorate with. They get a few to start out, then receive more as we travel to the various countries. Others I use as a motivational & behavior modification incentive, which is very successful. Another huge hit is making a passport. There are 4 options, including a passport specifically for "Christmas Around The World" traveling, as well as a huge variety of passport stamps, which they also enjoy collecting. The train tickets and plane, bus, & boat boarding passes. are also a huge hit. Via a letter, students are invited to come travel with the gingerbread man, who makes a speedy tour guide. "Gin" keeps them apprised of places they should visit by sending postcards. I had an absolute blast designing these from real photographs & stamps from those countries. There are 3 from each country, as well as "color me" postcards, so that students can practice "point of view" writing in a fun way. A set of gingerbread-themed posters announce where children will be traveling and how they will get there. The 6 countries included in this packet are: USA, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, Italy & Germany. I've included a variety of maps, which come in color to use as posters, plus black & white for students. They come labeled & unlabeled, so you can use them as an assessment tool as well. My personal favorite activity, is the "Snap & Scrap" journal, with a Christmas-themed page, as well as a generic counterpart. I've included several pages of interesting information about how each country celebrates Christmas, should you want to do the "Christmas Around the World" theme. The "snap" part, is a camera craft featuring a lens "booklet", with pictures specific to that country. You can opt to do just the camera(s), or hinge them with a piece of tape to the "scrap" page, so that it flips over to reveal the information underneath. Each country also comes with factual information, which is incorporated in the "Fan Of Fun Facts For _________" craftivity. The title is a double play on words, for the craft opens like a fan, and students quickly become "fans" of these super-interesting facts. Later, check comprehension by playing "Name That Country?" by reading a fact and having students tell what country it came from. "I Spy A Country" is another game you can play to help reinforce map skills. Teachers jot down 3-5 clues on the poster, then students write down their dated-answer on their worksheet. X number of correct answers and they receive a "super spy" stamp for their suitcase. I've also packed in a lot of travel-themed writing prompts, such as making an itinerary, which provides a vocabulary building opportunity. Students can also do a "Sightseeing Check It Out Then Check It Off" list, flag booklet, and travel journal. There are several options for the travel journals as well, from a "color me" text it page, to a cut & glue class-made book. They are different enough so that you can do them all, or pick & choose what's appropriate for your kiddos. The beauty of this jumbo packet is that it's very versatile, so you can mix & match things to do individually, as a whole group, with a partner, in small groups, or for homework. The projects can also supplement other geography activities you already have implemented. Besides social studies, many items practice a variety of other standards like graphing, weather, telling time, comparing & contrasting & research, with a bit of math tossed in for good measure. There are also a variety of ways to use the packet. Teachers can give the information, or students can pick a country and research it independently. The "Travel Bucks" are a fun way for students to give their presentations, as they become "travel agents", who share highlights about their country, in the hopes that their fellow classmates will use their travel cash to buy a trip from them. Top sales certificates & suitcase brag tags add to the fun, and are a wonderful incentive. An easy-peasy writing prompt for any age, is the "ginger-gram", where students fill in the blanks with a country they would like to live in, as well as one they would not. Older students can explain why. Another simple writing activity is the "Travel Quilt" craft, which practices adjectives in a unique way. Even younger kiddos can do this, and completed projects make an awesome bulletin board. The "Peace is in our hands" craft, is also quick & easy, with lovely results making a terrific hallway display. This craftivity really helps children wrap their heads around the "big picture" of their "personal geography" and their cut out hand prints add that keepsake, finishing touch. I've included a poster for the center of your display, as well as a suitcase sticker kiddos can earn upon completion. Because my kiddos are learning about seasons, weather and appropriate clothing to wear, I designed the "Pack It Up" suitcase craftivity; where they color, cut & glue various clothes suitable for a particular country, to a "suitcase" page; while older students simply list the items they want to take. The suitcase opens to reveal several pages of the different things they packed for the various countries that they visited. Besides a “Christmas Around the World” theme, you can use this unit all year long, as I have matching generic counterparts. Start whenever you want, then in December, board the “Holiday Express” & add the activities of how these countries celebrate Christmas. Lessons are easily diversified for various classroom abilities & grade levels. Simply pick what’s appropriate for your kiddos. "Travel Tweets" are also an interesting way to get students enthusiastic about writing, as is the "Welcome To Our House" booklet, "Airport Adventures" and "Whooooo Do You Want To Travel With?" color-me worksheets. Besides black & white versions for students, I’ve included colorful templates, so you can quickly make samples to share. There are also graphs, Venn diagrams, posters, a song, and some worksheets, which can also be used as assessment tools. As you can see there's a ton of fun for you to choose from including some puzzles. These come in color for an independent center, as well as BW so kiddos can make their own, as they practice recognizing & sequencing numbers from 1-10, or skip counting by 10s to 100. Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to take a look. Travels Around The World. Today's featured FREEBIE comes from the packet and is a "Merry Christmas From Around The World" poster and coloring card, which includes an alphabetical list of how 28 countries say "Merry Christmas" , with 4 links to other websites with more countries. Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. My feet have hit the floor running, as there is much to do, and not enough time in the day to get it all done. But I will endeavor to slow my pace and enjoy the journey, making sweet memories, as we decorate our blessed home for Christmas. Wishing you and yours a special day. "Maybe Christmas" he thought, "doesn't come from a store." "Maybe Christmas perhaps, means a little bit more!" -Dr. Seuss From "The Grinch"

Wondering how to structure your middle school language arts daily schedule? Here's the planning template I developed to find my ideal stride!

Are you one of the many teachers who is struggling to teach summarizing? Summarizing can be a difficult skill for students to master. It requires strong reading comprehension since students need to be able to

This time capsule lesson plan, is a simple and quick activity for back to school. A fun lesson plan and easy activity for all grade levels!

Item description Would you like to have a collection of reading activities novel study for any novel? Is one of your goals to improve the reading skills of your students with novel studies activities? Would you be interested in exploring new and exciting perspectives of the novels while offering the flexibility of a novel study choice board?   If you found something that gave you all these benefits, would you want to get started with it right away?   Think about what a difference it will make when you start using this engaging novel studies choice board with novel reading tasks in your class! They include:   Instructions for using the novel study choice boards for middle school Black and white novel study choice board with 50 tasks Rainbow novel study choice board – 10 color strips with 5 activities each Thematic coloring novel study choice board – 6 novel studies themes: all about the novel activities character activities speaking and listening activities vocabulary activities artistic activities extensions Choice Board rubric and assessment – with 4 levels of mastery and Teacher’s comments   Sample Assignments: speaking activities like: oral report, dramatization vocabulary and riddles diaries and chronologies main character related activities   Because the novel study tasks come with clear instructions, you can encourage independent work in class which means that your students will be more confident in analyzing novels.   The three version of the novel study choice board are excellent for focusing on a variety of novel studies activities and approaches while you get to save a lot of time during preparation and class work.   The novel study activities are varied and thorough, so you can assign them as a great final project for any novel which means your students will be able to select what will go in their solid portfolio at the end of each novel.   Just imagine how you will feel when you start to get the benefits and results from this resource right in your class!   Are you afraid that this novel study choice board for middle school will not match the needs of your students? I understand exactly what you feel. Don’t worry! Just try it and if you find this resource not suitable for your class, just email me at [email protected] and I’ll get you a full refund.   Suzanne F. has tried the novel study activities in her class and said, “Thank you! I needed new ideas, I have had these kiddos for 2 years. This was just what I needed to give them something a little different from my menu.”   Why don’t you give it a try? Click on the “Add to cart” red button and you can use it right away!

Pokemon Go was all the rage in 2016. Fortnite in 2017. You get where we are going with this! Getting back into the swing of things of a new school year can be tricky, but we can help! An easy way to connect with your students is to make your back-to-school lessons relevant and relatable. How can you do this? We have compiled a list of several ways that you can easily incorporate teen trends into your back-to-school lessons for the first few weeks (or anytime!) of the year. Most teens love music and connect with it on a personal level. You can bridge that connection by incorporating music into your daily routines. For example, play an upbeat song between bell work and discussion time to motivate your students. If you struggle to know what's popular with your students, just ask them! The beginning of the year is the perfect time to find out more about them and their music preferences. You can give them a writing prompt asking what their favorite songs are or be even more specific; ask them: Which song makes you want to get up and dance? Which song could you listen to over and over again and never grow tired of? Once you have compiled a list of their favorite songs, search the lyrics of a few. You can often find the best examples of figurative language in song lyrics. If the lyrics are appropriate, print them off and play the song in class and ask students to find examples of figurative devices. This activity can be done anytime, but it's for great back-to-school to review figurative language and to gauge your students' learning levels. Another way to incorporate music directly into learning is to compare popular music artists with writers or subjects you are reading. During poetry and Shakespeare units, I love challenging students to see if they can guess whether the line or phrase is from a song or a poem. I created an entire series with various poets and musicians that you can download here. I'll start out with a presentation and a student handout so the as whole can engage in the activity. It's so much fun to see their reactions when they swear there's no way the line came from an old poet, but it actually did! The next day, I'll display the bulletin board (below) so students can continue to interact with the lines of poetry and songs. One way to grab the attention of your students is to explore books that may have been released since school has been out and/or sharing some titles of books that will be released in the coming months! Talk about anticipation! :) Here are a few YA books that came out recently: Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi The Haunted by Danielle Vega We Walked the Sky by Lisa Fiedler Here are a few YA books that will be coming out soon: Frankly in Love by David Yoon The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh You can also see what your students are interested in by displaying these Genre Reading Cards around a few tables in your classroom (or in the library). Simply, set out the different genre cards, select a few books that fit within each genre, set a timer for 2-3 minutes and let your students explore the various titles. Follow-up with a brief discussion on their favorite books they may have already read (or discovered) through the stations. This is a quick and easy way to see what genres they are interested in or may be interested in exploring this school year. Whether it's the World Cup or the Super Bowl, chances are many of your students are fans of sports or are familiar with at least one sport. Using this FREE survey at the beginning of the year, ask your students which sports or teams are their favorite. (Click HERE to get an editable digital copy of the survey ready for distance learning!) Once you have an idea about their favorites, you can incorporate them into your lessons. For example, if you are writing a sample sentence for a grammar lesson, name-drop a player from one of their favorite teams. My students are usually divided between being either a Chicago Cubs or a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, so a sample sentence may be: "Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler sat down together to have pizza after the Cubs defeated the Cardinals last night." Every two years, you can integrate the Olympics into your lessons. Re-word the titles of your activities or assignments by using Olympic-themed names. Instead of calling it a class discussion or a "think-pair-share," call it the "Opening Ceremony" or "Passing the torch of knowledge." A quiz can be called a bobsled competition or a vault competition for gymnastics. Award the top three scores with gold, silver and bronze medals. If you teach multiple sections of the same class, have your classes compete for the overall winner. Awards points for the class with the fewest tardies, the highest scores on quizzes or assignments, and/or the liveliest discussions. Better yet, have your students create the areas for competitions and what they'd like to call them. They can even pick which country they would like to represent (or create their own country). Some students may not like traditional sports, but love video and online gaming. The popularity of videos such as Minecraft and Fortnite paired with the rise of schools adopting eSports as official extracurricular activities indicate that our students still love gaming. Instead of fighting it, try to embrace it by giving students opportunities to utilize both the skills they learn through games with academic skills. For example, I asked my students to recreate a scene from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. One group built Rome in Minecraft and reenacted one of the scenes live as the class watched. My head was swimming a bit, but it was pretty amazing to see what they created together and how they adapted it to the text. They learned more about the play from that one assignment and had so much fun doing it. This particular assignment may not work with other games, but if you allow your students the possibility of incorporating their favorite game into a project, you may be amazed at the ideas that they come up with. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things as a student was when we were able to follow-up a book with a movie. As a visual person, I always appreciated when I saw a book come to life after reading it (even though most people prefer the book over the movie). Watching the movie after reading the book can lead to a lot of fun class discussions. Here are a few fun prompts that you can use to follow-up after your are done reading and watching! What did you like better, the book or the movie? Why was the book better than the movie? Why was the movie better than the book? What did the book have that the movie didn't? What did the movie have that the book didn't? A great way to grab the attention of your students would be to plan a unit around an upcoming movie release based on a book. This might be an older book or perhaps, a newer one. Regardless, your students will think it's pretty cool that they are going to be able to watch a movie. I realize it's not possible for all classes to be able to watch a movie in a theatre, but it's a fun and quick field trip if you can make it work! Movie theatres usually give a discount on larger groups and I usually try to work in a price that includes popcorn and a drink for everyone, too. If you think money may be an issue for some students, it does not hurt to ask your administraton for some assistance. They will, almost always, find a way to make sure everyone in your class is able to participate. You can also plan a unit around a particular theme of a movie coming out (or already in stores), if you're looking to take a break from reading for a few weeks. Once students gain a better understanding or appreciation about a particular theme, you can show them a movie where they can explore that theme even more. This way, if taking your students to a movie theatre isn't an option, then show a movie in your classroom instead! Note: You can ask your students which movies they may be interested in watching at the start of the year, then surprise them with the themed unit based around that film! One of the easiest ways to incorporate both social media and pop culture all at once is incorporating current events into your classroom. You can do this on a local, national or international level. You can simply ask your students to start talking about what's happening in your town, in the world, or even more specifically, with their favorite movie actors, singers, bands, etc. What's the gossip with their favorite celebrities? Once your ideas have been shared and topics have been listed, you can use this list as a means for an impromptu writing activity, as an essay topic, etc. The possibilities are endless. If you're interested in checking out more ways on how you can incorporate pop culture into the classroom, click HERE. You might also be interested in: Soundtrack of my Life/Playlist of my Summer

With so many of my BIG KIDS struggling with fluency, I worked to make it a part of my daily work with students, a Tier 1 intervention that the majority of the class could benefit from. Reading fluency incorporates three main components: speed, accuracy, and prosody, which directly impact comprehension. While I have shared a great deal about incorporating 6-Minute Solutions, here are a few other ways I worked to make fluency fun for my 6th graders.

Are your students disinterested and tired of the traditional ways of learning characterization? Have you been searching for a really fun, student-centered, interactive way to eliminate their boredom? Well, look no further! I present to you a wonderful student-collaboration activity that will get your students involved and excited for a character analysis for any novel, […]

By The Daring English Teacher When teaching a novel, I love to mix things up and throw in a fun, creative, or collaborative activity that engages students as they analyze and interpret the novel’s theme, characters, symbols, or conflict. This allows me to enhance my students’ understanding of the novel, and it gives them a break from the day-to-day routine of reading and reviewing that often accompanies novel studies. Providing students with fun and engaging, yet still rigorous, activities enhances their understanding and fosters a love of reading. Here are three fun activities that you can easily incorporate into any novel study. This is one of my favorite, go-to collaborative activities. Collaborative posters are a great way to review key concepts, analyze symbols and motifs, and brainstorm for essays, and they require little planning. Before class starts, write one character, symbol, setting, motif, or element from the novel in pencil in the corner of each paper. When class begins, have students form groups of 2-4 students, and provide each group with one of the pieces of paper. Then, instruct your students to record the item, information, and quotes from the book on the poster. For this assignment, you can focus on the author’s use of symbols within the novel. You will select a variety of symbols in the novel and assign the symbols to different groups. It is okay if multiple groups are assigned the same symbol. Instruct each group to title their poster with the symbol, write as many details about the symbol as they can think about (this includes what it stands for), and record up to two different quotes illustrating how the author uses the symbol in the novel. I recently did this activity with my Romeo and Juliet unit, and it was a hit. The students were prepared for their essays, and they developed a deeper understanding for the play. Once students are done with the posters, display them throughout the classroom and have the students complete a gallery walk recording the information. This activity is great because it requires students to analyze their assigned topic, while at the same time reinforcing the importance of collaborative work. Even better, this activity gets students up and moving! As an alternative to making posters, this assignment also works very well with post-it notes. Simply provide your student groups with multiple post-it notes, and have the groups write information on the post-its. Then, have students post the notes on the board for the gallery walk. This option is especially beneficial when you want to have a gallery walk, but do not have the time for making posters in the classroom. You can also read about collaborative brainstorming ideas in this blog post. A fun and creative character analysis project you can complete in your classroom is a mock job fair in your classroom. To prepare for this activity, students either select or are assigned a character from the novel. They assume the role of this character and create a resume for this character listing strengths, accomplishments, and skills. To prepare for this activity, I usually teach students about resume writing, provide them with a list of power verbs, and give them a resume template. After students create their resumes, I host a mock job fair in my classroom for one day. During the mock job fair students are assigned to one of two groups, and the groups rotate between interviewer and interviewee. The students assigned to the interview role are given a set of interview questions to ask their candidate. As the candidate responds, the interviewer records the responses. After the interview is over, the students switch roles. This is one of my favorite activities for my Of Mice and Men unit because the students get to explore the characters on a deeper level. Once the activity is over, students write a brief argument piece about whether they would hire that character for the job. After I read an essential chapter with my students, I like to take a day or two to reflect on the reading, analyze what happened, and make sure that my students understand the importance of what they just read, and a creative comic strip assignment is ideal for this. One of the best times to assign this activity is right after a major conflict or at the peak of the story so that students can really analyze the novel's conflict. I like doing this activity with my students when we read Fahrenheit 451 because it helps them understand the conflict more. When assigning a comic strip assignment, make sure students focus on more than just drawing pictures by requiring them to include quotes from the novel as their dialogue. In addition to quotes, students should also write narration, cite their quotes in MLA format, and dedicate an entire box to the novel’s conflict. You can download this FREE, EXCLUSIVE resource to use in your classroom with your next novel study! For more fun, yet rigorous, activities that you can use with any novel study, check out my Novel Unit. This resource is 99 pages and is filled so many activities that you can use them throughout the year for multiple novel studies. From introductory activities to use before reading, to differentiated writing prompts with built-in scaffolding to use as you read, to post-reading cumulative assignments, and everything in between, this novel unit is my go-to resource when I'm in a pinch and need an activity. Click HERE to check out this resource. Here are some additional resources to help you teach the novel! The SuperHERO Teacher - Workbook for Any Novel Unit Study Grades 7-12 Addie Williams - Novel Study Package - Use with ANY NOVEL Presto Plans - Assignments for Any Novel or Short Story Secondary Sara - Chapter Study Guides: Student-Made Activity for ANY Novel

Hi Friends…. The past two weeks we have been working on Prefixes and Suffixes in our second-grade classroom! My kiddos were having such a good time brainstorming words with prefixes and then figuring out the meaning. They really had a strong grasp of the concept… I was pretty impressed. After our whole … Prefixes, Suffixes and a FREEBIE Just for YOU! Read More »