Exploring the world of literature is like to setting off on a daring journey (hence my name, The Daring English Teacher) through diverse human experiences, and at the heart of every compelling story lies a theme—a beacon illuminating the profound truths and timeless lessons woven into the fabric of storytelling. And even more elusive than determining a story's theme is teaching theme in the secondary ELA classroom.
Are you looking for ELA extension activities? Here are 25 ideas for classroom activities for teaching literature.
Literary criticism is challenging for students. But using familiar lyrics from Taylor Swift can help demystify complex literary lenses!
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
Teaching American literature: An outline of units of study and engaging activities for a high school American literature course
I LOVE POETRY! I love to read it, write it, and teach it, and above all, I want my students to love it too! In order for them to love it, ho...
Make finding theme relevant and engaging for your secondary ELA students with I'm Shook! Powerful Themes in Literature worksheets. Four worksheets help your students to explore and reflect on the development of theme. Students start by differentiating between motif, main idea, and theme in a picture. Then, students identify the motif, main idea, and theme of the poem "If I should die" by Emily Dickinson. Last, students analyze how four lines of Claude McKay's poem "America" contribute to the development of the theme. After examining theme, students reflect on their learning. Grading is easy with a full answer key and provided rubric. This 100% editable activity can easily be printed or shared through Google Classroom. Includes: Four page editable worksheet and reflection page Rubric Answer key Are your students struggling to understand the development of mood in literature? Check out my "It's a Whole Mood" worksheet to help your students master standard RL3. Do your students confuse literary point of view and perspective? Check out "What's the Tea? A Lesson on Point of View & Perspective" and help your students to master standard RL 6.
The right guest speaker can get even the most grumpy teenagers to sit up straighter, lean in, and maybe put in a little more effort into your class. The best part? Many presenters will come to your class for free, will require low/ no prep on your part, and will lend their credibility to what you're currently teaching. Especially in the older grades, it's still important to invite any of these six types of speakers to your classroom, where they can add inspiration beyond what even the most talented teachers can do alone. Writing with me today is Danielle from Nouvelle ELA. (PS: You might like Danielle's companion post, Set Up & Host a Classroom Author Chat.) Speaker #1: Businesspeople and Leaders Sara: When done right, these presentations do more than just give a “Career Day” feel, in which they simply summarize their jobs or fields. Bring in adults who can talk about ELA skills specifically, highlighting how they use speaking, reading, and/or writing at work. Conveniently, I have friends and family with careers that relate to the topics I teach, so I asked them to Skype or visit us. For example, one of my best friends spoke about editing when she worked for a publishing company; my father (a businessman) talked about workplace writing; and my mother (then the mayor of my hometown) presented about speechwriting and public speaking skills while we were prepping to give our own mock TED talks. Their authentic stories, pictures, and advice resonated way more deeply than if I had taught the topic solo. Speaker #2: Author Visits (In-Person and Skype) Sara: I’ve either led or assisted with all of the author visits in the past six years to varying extents, and they don’t HAVE to be complex or expensive experiences. In fact, sometimes it’s best to keep it simple, not over-schedule the day, and build in time for the author to be authentic with students. For example, our author usually eats lunch with my creative writing team, so that she can hear about their work and give writing advice in a relaxed setting. Some authors come fully prepared to occupy every minute with a presentation, and for others, all they wanted was students to come prepared with questions. For example, Linda Gerber did a fantastic forensics talk to explain how she puts science into her YA mysteries, and Jennifer Maschari led an awesome creative writing activity about constellations that connected to her novel. Both were pleasant to plan with and came prepared to teach. Danielle: Like Sara, I love bringing authors into my classroom! Last year, my students Skyped with Suzanne Young and Betsy Cornwell. Suzanne Young, author of The Program Series and Hotel Ruby, visited with us during our Dystopian Lit Circles. Even students who hadn’t read her book were able to ask questions and listen to her talk about her writing life (and theirs!), her favorite books, and of course, her favorite TV series. Betsy Cornwell, author of Mechanica and Tides, Skyped with my enrichment class and my struggling readers were able to voice some of their theories for the Mechanica world. Students listed these visits as some of the “best lessons” on their end-of-year surveys. Speaker #3: Role Models for Presentations Danielle: Sara and I both LOVE teaching public speaking in our classroom, and we know that it can be challenging to get students on board. They’re nervous, or they don’t believe it’s useful. A great way to help them overcome nerves is to bring in some role models. Before my students give How-to Speeches, I have a few teachers from other subject areas come in and give an example speech. We’ve had the Health teacher demonstrate the Heimlich Maneuver (her student volunteer was a big hit!), the Basketball coach teach us a drill, and a Science teacher demonstrate a magic trick. This sort of thing helps build a sense of confidence and motivation before beginning speeches, and it’s even better when you can bring those speakers back to be audience members for student presentations. Speaker #4: Guest Judges Sara: When I was teaching in a high school, I led a choice writing unit in which students could attempt any genre of writing they wanted (within reason), and I brought in guest judges from the community to give feedback on student writing. Those juniors put way more effort into their drafts knowing that actual authors, politicians, and businesspeople would be critiquing their work. Danielle: Students love it when they get to show off, and bringing in guest judges is a great way to “up the ante”. I routinely bring in other teachers and older students in the school to judge classroom activities or to enjoy presentations. When we set up the room last year for our Gallery Walk for their Night projects, students invited their favorite math and Spanish teacher to come give feedback on their projects. They were so excited to share their projects, and they listened intently as they received feedback from these mentors. Speaker #5: Librarians Sara: I give a pretty good book talk, but librarians put me to shame when I invite them in to talk about titles. When I was having trouble getting my eighth graders to read enough nonfiction, my school librarian put together a collection to present to them, and it completely turned the tide of their ‘tudes against nonfiction. Likewise, our local public librarians will not only do visits (especially if it promotes their summer reading program), but they take pride in helping teachers curate lists of books for specific unit purposes. Danielle: I’ve been so lucky to have excellent librarians who can be guest speakers AND guest teachers. One of our librarians always helps me introduce students to plagiarism with an engaging presentation she’s got. She also loves conferencing with students about their research papers, and having this special audience really inspires them to work harder and smarter. Lastly, we have a librarian who has a theatre background, so she helps me bring drama into my ELA classroom. Speaker #6: Videos Sara: Yes, this counts! Don’t discredit the value of the RIGHT video for the RIGHT purpose. In addition to TED talks (which I’m obsessed with), I’ve also used a video of President Obama’s speechwriters talking about the process they used to collaboratively write and edit his State of the Union address. Danielle: During our Poetry Unit, we always look to seasoned Slam Poets to show us the way as we craft our own poems. We “invite” Sarah Kay, Marshall Davis Jones, and others to our classroom via YouTube. Like Sara, I’m also a huge fan of using TED talks throughout the year, both in order to teach content and as models for public speaking. I bring in Akala to talk about Hip Hop & Shakespeare, and I use Arianna Huffington’s speech on sleep as a model of an informational, yet engaging speech. These guest speakers allow us to widen the world of our classrooms, and teach our students more than we ever could alone. Guest speakers in secondary ELA also provide fresh perspectives and a change of scenery and pace, and are basically an awesome addition to any curriculum. Do you have more ideas? Tell us in the comments!
Empower your students with the skills to analyze literature through engaging song analysis discussions, student activities, and presentations! With this comprehensive resource, all you need to do is select a song and let my template, tasks, and teacher resources pages handle the rest! Drawing inspiration from Nancy Dean's acclaimed work, " Voice Lessons ," these Song Lessons activities leverage the power of popular music genres such as country, rock, pop, and folk to illuminate the impact of literary devices in literature. This resource effectively employs 5 key literary devices—Details, Diction, Imagery, Point of View, and Tone—to facilitate insightful discussions and in-depth analysis. Immerse your students in a dynamic learning experience where they explore the synergy between music and literature. This resource equips you with the tools and frameworks to seamlessly integrate these activities into your curriculum. Foster critical thinking and literary analysis while tapping into the universal language of music. Included with this resource download: - An introduction with lesson planning advice and the definitions of 5 literary devices (Detail, Diction, Imagery, Point of View, and Tone) - A song lessons template file. This file includes a fill-in-the-blank song lesson activity and 4 teacher resources pages that include "template-ready" literary devices terms and 50 (!) sample analysis questions. You'll be able to create a song analysis lesson for any song in minutes! - 5 Create Your Own Song Lesson Assignments that allows students to share their favorite music while also demonstrating their understanding of 5 different literary devices. Each assignment worksheet includes a rubric tied to 2 ELA Common Core standards - A Song Analysis Presentation assignment that invites students to share their favorite music with their classmates while keeping an academic focus. This presentation project is tied to 3 ELA Common Core standards Although this resource can be fitted for any secondary Language Arts classroom, it has been carefully designed to work best in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. The included resources are subtly but specifically tied to Common Core ELA Standards for Speaking and Listening (2, 4, and 5), Reading Literature (1, 2, 4, and 6), and Writing (4). This resource is provided in print-ready, bookmarked, and adjustable PDF files and a PowerPoint template file. This resource contains 22 pages and 1 editable template tile Create Your Own Song Analysis Activities
Romeo and Juliet is one of those classic pieces of literature I think everyone has read. Even students who haven’t read the Shakespeare play have probably
10 ideas for planning engaging novel units: creative, engaging lesson ideas for your next whole-class novel unit
Help the learning process with these simple strategies for making studennt thinking visible. Perfect for middle and high school English classes.
“But this book is so old!” Sound familiar? Never fear! Here are some foolproof ways to keep the classics fresh for the modern-day student.
After reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio, students worked in small collaborative groups to create character posters about each of the characte...
In today’s society, it is important that students can use their critical thinking skills in their everyday lives. The perfect place for students to learn how and to practice critical reading, writing, arguing, and even listening is the high school English classroom. Here are 10 critical high school English lessons and skills that teachers should be teaching their students!
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!
In this engaging activity, students make inferences and draw conclusions by analyzing a variety of text message conversations. Students are required to cite evidence for each answer. Digital & Printable Options: This product now includes a Google Slides option as well as a printable PDF. This product also includes a page that has two blank […]
How to facilitate successful Socratic Seminars in the secondary ELA
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
An English teacher’s life is packed, and for the most part on top of that, we are doing more than just teaching English. For me, I’m the yearbook adviser, the graduation coordinator, senior class sponsor, member of the leadership committee, etc. I’m sure your situation is similar. So, when I can cut down on what […]
What is Literature? In this activity students explore this question by looking at not only novels and poems, but also songs, photos, and advertisements.
By Presto Plans Understanding and identifying theme is a higher-order skill that often leaves many students scratching their heads. In fact, many teachers are struggling along side their students trying to find ways help them understand this challenging concept. It is no easy task to get students to make text connections and think inferentially, but hopefully these tips, examples, and resources will help you along the way. Don’t Jump In Too Early One mistake that many teachers make is jumping into identifying and analyzing the theme too early after reading a text. Before you ask students, “What is the theme?” they first need to have a solid grasp of the more literal story elements of the text (plot, setting, characters etc.). Not only that, but identifying and analyzing theme is a skill that requires explicit teaching and practice. While it can be tempting to want to dive into discussing the deeper meaning or purpose of a reading, that should be reserved for a later date when students have a solid grasp on the text they are reading as well as on the meaning of theme. Clearly Define Theme Before students can analyze theme, they need to have a deep understanding of the meaning of the term. Ask your students for a definition of theme, and you will probably hear one or more of the following responses: While the main idea, topic, and moral do relate in some ways to theme, they are not correct. Before I define theme for my students, I differentiate between these terms using Little Red Riding Hood as an example: I teach my students that the theme is a significant idea/statement that the story is making about society, human nature, or the human condition. Theme focuses on the deeper meaning or message that the reader is meant to consider, and it is often a statement that people can apply to their own lives or world in some way. Too often I hear people use a one-word topic to label a theme. For example, someone might say the theme of a text is freedom, power, family, love etc. Make sure your students know that a theme can never be just one word. These words are topics that are important to the text, but it does not become a theme until a statement is made about the topic! Start Simple and Scaffold Start with a simple children’s book or film to help your students practice identifying theme (Disney movies or Dr. Seuss books tend to work well). Once students are familiar with the plot, use the following scaffolded approach below to help them develop a thematic statement: 1. Have students develop a list of topics that are examined in the reading/film and choose one. For example, some common topics in literature are family, loyalty, identity, ambition, guilt, fear, power, sacrifice, love, trust, ignorance, freedom etc. 2. Have students write a specific sentence about what the author thinks about the topic you chose. (For example, “The author thinks that… power is a corrupting force”). 3. Remove “The author thinks that” from your sentence and rewrite any necessary parts to form a thematic statement! (For example, “Power is a corrupting force”). Click HERE for a free organizer to help students write a thematic statement using this approach. After students are familiar with the process with a simple text or film, it will more easily translate when they apply it to a poem short story, novel, or play they are reading in class. Prove It To Me Have students put their thematic statement to the test to make sure that it can be supported with direct evidence from the text. If it can’t be supported, ask them to go back and start the process of identifying another theme. Practice Makes Perfect Here are a couple fun activities to help students practice writing thematic statements: Thematic Journals Have 10-15 small booklets with universal theme topics written on the front of each (Courage, Fear, Friendship, Family, Power, Innocence, Justice, Love, Loyalty, Revenge, Pride, Beauty, Fate, Freedom, Prejudice etc.). If students are reading an independent novel that relates to one of the topics in someway, have them respond with a journal about how the theme of their novel relates to this topic. I ask students to complete at least 2 entries per semester. On the inside cover of each booklet, have the following prompting questions to help students get started: 1. What does the author of the novel you are reading think about this topic? 2. What message do you think the author wants you to consider about this topic? 3. How do you relate personally to the theme of the novel? 4. How does the theme of the novel relate to the world or to humanity in general? 5. Does the theme of this novel remind you of the theme of something else you have read/watched? Students can also read what others have written before them and discuss how their reading relates. Hashtag the Theme Have students differentiate between topic and theme by having them write a thematic statement in the form of a social media post (140 characters or less) with a relevant topic hashtag. This looks great on display in your classroom and allows students to see a variety of examples of how a topic can turn into a thematic statement. Download this free activity/display HERE. There Is No Right Answer Take a bit of the pressure off your students by telling them that there is no right answer when it comes to identifying theme. Interpretation is based on the readers’ prior experiences and knowledge. As long as their thematic statement can be supported by evidence, it is correct! Want more ideas for teaching theme? Click below to check out these other ideas from The Secondary English Coffee Shop bloggers. Main Idea vs Theme from Presto Plans Theme Focus Lesson for Any Novel from The SuperHERO Teacher Discovering Theme Learning Stations from Room 213 SaveSaveSaveSave
Romeo and Juliet is one of those classic pieces of literature I think everyone has read. Even students who haven’t read the Shakespeare play have probably
This resource includes activities for 33 short stories and poems. The goal of this reading literature journal is prepare students to recall, understand, apply, analyze, and evaluate a variety of texts while also using creative mini-projects to help encourage deeper thinking! This resource has everything you'll need to teach a short story or poem once a week for the ENTIRE school year. ZERO prep necessary! Answer keys for the short stories ARE INCLUDED in this resource. NOTE 2: This resource has been proofread by a professional editor. This resource has a DIGITAL component included as a way to incorporate distance learning! It is compatible with Google Slides and Google Classroom. This resource includes the following: -Teacher directions and answer keys -Generic rubric for all mini-projects -Activities for 33 short stories and poems that are appropriate for grades 6-8. -Questions for each story based on Bloom’s Taxonomy (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate). -Mini-projects or extension activities for each short story and poem. -Links to all 33 short stories and poems that can be found in full-text, for free. -Editable version so that you can adjust any questions as necessary for your students. -Cover pages for each of the months. You can use this resource in several ways. Here are 5 options: OPTION ONE: Give students their journal at the beginning of the school year or semester and assign one short story or poem per week. They will work through all 33 works by the end of the semester. OPTION TWO: Assign the different short stories or poems at your leisure. Instead of giving your students the entire journal, only pass out the activities as you see fit. OPTION THREE: Three words– EMERGENCY SUB PLANS!!! These are great for a quick lesson if you have to miss a day. OPTION FOUR: Use these activities as extra practice or reinforcement for struggling or advanced students. OPTION FIVE: If you are a proponent of homework OR a flipped classroom atmosphere– assign the stories and poems for homework and complete the activities during the class period. Activities for the following short stories and poems are included: The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl After Twenty Years by O. Henry The Lottery by Shirley Jackson The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin O Captain! My Captain! By Walt Whitman A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier Aunt Misery by Judith Ortiz Cofer Still I Rise by Maya Angelou Seventh Grade by Gary Soto The Treasure of Lemon Brown by Walter Dean Myers Hearts and Hands by O. Henry How to Eat a Poem by Eve Merriam Charles by Shirley Jackson Miss Awful by Arthur Cavanaugh This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost The Moustache by Robert Cormier The Landlady by Roald Dahl Oranges by Gary Soto The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury Mother to Son by Langston Hughes The Sniper by Liam O’Flaherty Each text includes comprehension questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy (recall, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate) and a mini-project that encourages students to think beyond the text. Check out what other teachers, just like you, are saying about this resource: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Absolutely LOVED everything about this resource. You can even use it for both in-person and virtual learners. There is ZERO prep involved, so more time can be actually spent on TEACHING!! Win-win!" -Anice B. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Excellent resource! Questions are easily adaptable for multiple levels of learners, and I really appreciate the inclusion of links to the literature pieces on the digital version. Nice variety of literature pieces as well. Thank you!" -Donna H. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I really love this resource! It makes it simple for me to post assignments and pass them out. The questions that go along with the stories are thought provoking, but not so detailed that students require assistance understanding what the question is asking." -Katie B. Please download the preview for more information. The preview provides images of the Reading Literature Journal in action. Connect with Me SuperHERO Teacher Blog Find me on Facebook Find me on Instagram Find me on Pinterest Find me on Snapchat: Superheroteach If you like this product, please leave feedback!
There are three kinds of teacher-decorators: those who were born for Pinterest, those who can’t, and all the ones in between (such as the broke, the tired, and the I-have-no-time-to-decorate). However, making a classroom appeal to middle and high school students doesn’t HAVE to involve serious crafting or expensive, time-intensive projects. Check out these tips from me and Bonnie from Presto Plans as you prepare your classroom for the fall (or at any time of year that you want to give it a boost!) You might also like Sara's more recent blog post, Inside My Farmhouse Classroom Makeover. 1. Have a color scheme (if you can) Sara: My principal gave each teacher the paint for one accent wall, so that shade of turquoise inspired the rest of my blue decor: milk crates, bulletin board borders, etc. It helped unify the room to make it look pulled-together instead of random. I've also learned about the importance of contrast. Even a full-blown rainbow color palette can look clean and cohesive (instead of cluttered) if you pair it with black or white to balance it out. Bonnie: If you are looking for inspiration for colors that look great together, check out this Pinterest board. There are lots of combinations that will help you choose colors when you are shopping for classroom materials. 2. Stick to a few favorite fonts Sara: Just like businesses create a brand, you are creating a classroom “look” or persona that you will be known for... or, at least a mood you will create. (Friendly? Professional? Fun? Minimalist?) Try to pick a few fonts that most of your labels, signs, and other wall-hangings will consistently use. For example, I used the Google font Crushed to make and laminate labels for my whiteboard (see below), along with mint-colored painter's tape. 3. Make your classroom library a focal point Bonnie: Your class library should draw students in and works well as the focal point for any English classroom. Here are a few things you can do to make your library stand out: Give bookshelves a makeover by rolling them a new coat of paint and/or taking the shelves out and attaching wallpaper or scrapbook paper to the back. Put a few floating shelves on the walls near your library area where you can feature particular novels recommended by students. Add comfortable, flexible seating near a library to make it more welcoming. These items can be more expensive, so shop around online or scour garage sales until you find seating that may work. Use old books as decorations! When a book is unusable, find a way to repurpose it. One easy way to do this is to cut out the pages and write a reading-inspired quote in black permanent marker on top of the page. Frame the page and put it on your bookshelf! Sara: If your classroom library is small, nonexistent, or needs some attention, check out this blog post for more ideas about how to strengthen it. 4. Display student work Bonnie: Use student work as decor by making a framed gallery wall. All you have to do is pick up some inexpensive 8x10 frames (check your dollar store) and arrange them on your wall. When you get a piece of exceptional student work, add it into the frame! If you don’t want the hassle of buying and hanging frames, order a pack of mixed color picture mats and use them to frame student work on a bulletin board. Sara: Another way to get student work on display (while also practicing literary analysis!) is to have them complete this Quote Illustration and Analysis assignment; students use Canva (or any tool you wish) to make an inspirational or literary quote come to life. The results are stunning! 5. Use author-inspired decor Bonnie: Find ways to incorporate the authors you will be studying into your classroom decor. You can do this by featuring fun facts or by sharing quotes by the author. For example, I use an interactive Shakespeare Hashtag of the Week bulletin display that exposes students to one quote from a Shakespeare play each week. If you don’t want to make your own, you might even consider assigning an author to each student and having them develop a bulletin display with a biography, fun facts, and quotes that you can swap out weekly. Sara: Don't forget to interject moments of literary ALLUSION or author-inspired inside jokes as well, like my favorite light switch art... 6. Make your posters work together Sara: On at least one bulletin board or section of wall space, add some symmetry or consistency by hanging posters in a similar style (color, font, or other), or by displaying images that have a common theme. For example, check out these posters of stylized quotes to get some English class wisdom on your walls. Bonnie: If you are looking for some ideas of common themes you could use for posters, try some of these ideas that could work in any English classroom: funny grammar quotes or fails, literary terms or genres, author quotes, famous lines from literature, idiomatic expressions, or jokes using puns! To read more about my favorite bulletin board ideas for middle and high ELA, check out this blog post. "English is Weird" poster set 7. Make displays that are EASY to update Sara: Two of my favorite bulletin board spaces were ones that took VERY little effort in updating, so I didn't have the self-imposed pressure to redo the whole thing multiple times per year. For example, my Word Nerd Challenge is quick to update on a Monday morning because all I have to do is add this week's word to the list. (I made each word tile a magnet that can go on my whiteboard!) I also made low-prep Quote of the Week flipbooks of reading and writing quotes, which students often asked to flip FOR me. I used Command hooks and spiral binding to hang it on a cabinet. Do you have additional ideas? Tell us in the comments!
10 engaging, high-quality ideas and resources to refresh your Fahrenheit 451 activities in your secondary ELA classroom.
This post contains affiliate links. I should probably be embarrassed about how giddy I feel looking through this long list of free literature guides, but I’m not. 🙂 Most of them fall into three categories: Lit Guides, Book Units, or Study Guides. I know from experience that it takes a long time to sift through these to [...]
Fun and engaging grammar games for your secondary ELA classroom! These grammar games will get your students collaborating, moving, and discussing those critical sentence structure and grammar skills! Bring fun to grammar instruction!
Don't let your literature anthology dictate the short stories you read with your middle school and high school students. There are so many wonderful short stories out there, many of which can be used to teach a variety of literary elements and paired with other texts. Read on for 13 of my favorites, which literary terms and skills they lend themselves to teaching, plus suggested text pairings and activities.
Everything you need to know about Teaching a Novel in Spanish Class. Using comprehensible inout based readers in Spanish class.
Make literary point of view and perspective relevant and engaging for your secondary ELA students with What's the Tea? A Lesson on Point of View and Perspective. Four worksheets help your students to explore and reflect on the differences between literary point of view and perspective. Students start by analyzing the differences between literary point of view (first and third person) and perspective (the viewpoint or opinion of an individual). Next, students apply their learning to an analysis of two different literary excerpts. Students identify how first and third person point of view enhance a story. Then, they look at the differing points of view (perspective) between two characters. After examining point of view and perspective, students reflect on their learning. Grading is easy with a full answer key and provided rubric. This 100% editable activity can easily be printed or shared through Google Classroom. Includes: Four page editable worksheet and reflection page Rubric Answer key Are your students struggling to understand the development of mood in literature? Check out my "It's a Whole Mood" worksheet to help your students master standard RL3. Do your students need help identifying theme and analyzing its development? Check out my"I'm Shook: Powerful Themes in Literature" worksheets to engage your students in mastering standard RL 2.
If there is one skill that high school students struggle with the most, it is properly citing their quotes in either MLA or APA format. That is why it is one
Are you teaching high school students how to avoid plagiarism? Students often need this simple, easy lesson on how they...
