Are you looking for engaging grammar ideas and activities and practice for your middle school English Language Arts students? Check out this blog post.

Time. This is what all teachers want. Time to teach. Time to plan. Time to collaborate. Time for (useful) professional development. Across the nation, schedules for teachers are inconsistent. Some districts give ELA teachers 40 minutes a day, others give 2 hours. Some teachers give loads of planning time, and others force teachers to cover classes during their only free time. This inconsistency is what leads to the students getting so many different types of education, some more valuable than ot

Flu season is upon us, so I wanted to compile some of my favorite free resources for last-minute sub plans. Everything I've chosen is 100% free and ready to print. These resources don't take a lot

by The Daring English Teacher One of my favorite units to teach in my classroom is rhetorical analysis because students learn the power, beauty, and effectiveness of language. When teaching rhetorical analysis, we teach our students to analyze how the author writes rather than simply looking at what the author writes. We teach our students to look at the author’s effectiveness. We teach our students to look at which strategies an author uses and why those particular strategies are so effective. Teaching our students about rhetorical analysis helps them not only in the classroom setting but also in the real world. Knowing how and why people, corporations, and advertisements can effectively convince and persuade people to take actions, purchase goods, or hold certain values and beliefs play a critical role in informed decision-making skills. And while it may sound like teaching rhetorical analysis might be a bit dry and mundane, that could not be further from the truth. Teaching rhetoric and rhetorical analysis can be both exciting and entertaining. Getting Started with Rhetorical Analysis When I introduce rhetorical analysis to my students for the first time, I always start with direct instruction and I use this rhetorical analysis unit to introduce the content. By introducing and teaching students about rhetorical analysis, rhetorical appeals, and rhetorical devices, they become familiar with the subject. Furthermore, providing students with examples helps them grasp the concept. Rhetorical Analysis with Sticky Notes Teaching Unit Once students have a basic understanding, I then teach modeled annotation and analysis. I teach students how to annotate text, and as we class, we annotate the same text together. To help students gain confidence in their annotation and rhetorical analysis skills, I first have students annotate with me as a whole class. Once they branch out, I have them annotate in pairs and share their annotations with another group and then with the class. By practicing annotations in this scaffolded way, students learn how to annotate the text and identify rhetorical devices and appeals in a manner that helps them build confidence in their skills. Annotating Text Made Easy When beginning to plan your rhetorical analysis unit, it is always good to use a wide variety of texts that represent a diverse group of people, and with teaching rhetoric and rhetorical analysis, there are so many speeches to choose from. Here is a list of my favorite speeches to analyze. Rhetorical Analysis Student Practice Once students have a basic understanding of rhetoric and rhetorical analysis, I move on to independent practice. By doing so, I can use small classroom assignments and activities as formative assessments to gauge student understanding. One way to move toward independence is to ask your students rhetorical analysis questions that get your students thinking critically. In a blog post, I've compiled these 15 rhetorical analysis questions to use when analyzing a text. Another way that you can have students move toward understanding and independence is by having them complete a rhetorical triangle analysis of your selected text. In doing so, students demonstrate their understanding of the text. You can download a free rhetorical organizer HERE! Click here to download a copy of this organizer. Engaging and Fun Rhetorical Analysis Activities Toward the end of my rhetorical analysis unit, I incorporate more fun and engaging activities that allow students to demonstrate their understanding. In a previous blog post, I share my favorite historical and political speeches that are excellent for a rhetorical analysis unit. COMMERCIALS When analyzing rhetoric, my students love watching commercials to see which appeals and devices companies use as marketing strategies. Since commercials are usually thirty seconds to a minute in length, this makes a great warm-up activity. I like to show a commercial right after the bell rings at the start of class, ask students to identify which devices and appeals they find, and explain why those devices and appeals are effective. GROUPS ANALYSIS POSTERS A couple of years ago I had my students complete collaborative rhetorical analysis poster projects. Each group of three to four students received a different political or historical speech to analyze. Students read, annotated, and analyzed the text. Then, they identified various appeals and strategies that the speaker used and wrote a summary of the speech. This project took two fifty-five-minute class periods to complete. I wrote more about this project on my website: Collaborative Rhetorical Analysis Poster Project. ARTISTIC PAPA SQUARES Another one of my favorite rhetorical analysis projects is the artistic PAPA square. PAPA is an acronym that stands for Purpose, Argument, Persona, and Audience. Using this acronym for rhetorical analysis, students create an artistic square that has two requirements: visually, it resembles the topic; and it also analyzes the text for its use of appeals and devices. Usually, I have my students complete this project for one of their sources during our big research unit. You can read more about this project and sign-up to receive a free assignment handout on my website: Artistic PAPA Square. Here are some more amazing resources and teaching tips for rhetorical analysis: Persuasion Techniques Bell Ringers by Nouvelle ELA Persuasive Essay Writing: Snowball Collaborative Activity by Presto Plans Real Life Persuasion Lessons and Activities by Room 213

Teaching English with songs is a great way to boost student engagement. Check out these 17 ideas for activities using music and songs!

Are you looking for engaging grammar ideas and activities and practice for your middle school English Language Arts students? Check out this blog post.

Back to school in your ELA classroom just got easier. Starting a brand new school year requires a ton of planning and organization. These freebies are a great way to ease the stress and start

Get an outline for teaching all the reading and writing standards in your Middle School ELA class.

By The Daring English Teacher Task cards might just be one of the most underrated and undervalued assets for middle school ELA and high school English teachers. Task cards are not only versatile and engaging, but they are also a great way to shake things up in the secondary ELA classroom. A task card is essentially its namesake - it is a card, usually about the size of a quarter sheet of paper, with some sort of task or question on it. Task cards come in sets that focus on a particular skill or standard. Using task cards in the middle school ELA or high school English classroom is an excellent way to practice new content and review before an assessment. For example, my parts of speech task cards resource includes two sets of 40 task cards for 80 task cards total. Since these task cards are all about the parts of speech, each task card contains a task that requires students to identify a part of speech. Task cards can be a secondary ELA teacher’s best friend because of their ease of use and versatility. Task Cards Ease of UseMost task cards come as complete sets with multiple cards per pack. Each set includes numerous tasks for students to complete. Once you complete a little bit of prep work before the first use, task cards are very simple to implement in the classroom. One of the best ways to prep task cards for their initial use is to print the card on bright white cardstock and then laminate the cards for longevity. I have several sets of task cards in my classroom that I’ve used for several years in a row now. I keep them all stored together so that there is very little prep required when it is time to use them next year. On task card days, there are two ways I facilitate my class. One way is to place my students into groups of four to five students and provide each group with an entire task card set. Using this method, students work collaboratively in the group as they complete each task, and they do not move around the classroom. Another way I like to organize task card day in my classroom is to have set stations placed throughout my classroom. When I use the station approach, I place several cards at each station. Student groups then rotate from station to station as they complete the tasks. However you plan to include task cards in your instruction, once you prep them, they are good to go for years to come. Task Card VersatilityTask cards also offer a lot of versatility in the classroom because of all of the different kinds of task cards and how many different ways you can incorporate them into the classroom. One way to use task cards in the classroom is to use them as one station in a stations activity. For example, one of my favorite ways to introduce a new novel to my students is by including the pre-reading set of task cards from my Response to Literature Task Cards set as part of a station activity. I use the pre-reading task cards for one of the stations and have several copies of the book displayed. For another station, I provide students with some brief contextual information and instruct my students to do some quick research to become acquainted with the historical and social context. For a final station, I have my students respond to some book-specific reflection questions, kind of like an elaborated anticipatory guide. Another way to use task cards in the classroom is to use them as a class warm-up or bell-ringer exercise. Rather than provide students with the entire set of task cards, simply provide table groups or rows with a few cards from the set. Again, this is a great way to focus on a particular skill throughout the week. For example, if you are working on pronoun-antecedent agreement, spending a week using these pronoun task cards as a bell-ringer activity is a great way to sprinkle in some grammar work into your lesson plans. Benefits of Using Task CardsUsing task cards in the classroom has a few benefits. First, task cards offer a break from the standard practice worksheet. So just because it is something new, students will be more engaged. Also, students benefit from the repetition of completing multiple related tasks in a brief amount of time. The increased engagement and repeated practice of the skills will help students with retention. Free Task Card Download To help you get started using task cards in your classroom, I've created this sentence combining task card starter kit as a free download. To use these sentence combining task cards in your classroom, print them out, cut them into four cards, and have your students begin working on them! These sentence combining task cards also work well with my sentence combining bell ringers. Types of Task CardsThere are so many different types of task cards that teachers can use in their classrooms. From analysis to skill-specific, there are task cards for all sorts of ELA-related activities. I mainly use three types of task cards in my classroom: generic analysis task cards, skill-specific task cards, and literature-based task cards. Generic Analysis Task CardsSome of my favorite task cards are the text analysis task cards: literary analysis, rhetorical analysis, and poetry analysis. I love these task cards because they can be used with any text, and they are a simple addition to the curriculum that helps students practice and build critical-thinking skills. Skill-Specific Task CardsAnother type of task cards is more skill-specific task cards. These skill-specific cards provide students with the practice they need to master a new skill. Some of my favorite skill-specific task cards are my parts of speech task cards and my coordinating conjunction task cards. Literature-Based Task CardsFinally, there are literature-based task cards. These literature task cards are ideal as an and-of-novel review and analysis type of activity. Each literature-based task card set includes six essay-level questions that will require students to reflect on the novel and use critical-thinking skills. Some of my literature task card sets include Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, and Animal Farm. Like task cards? Check out these links! How to Use Learning Stations in a High School Classroom by Room 213 Creative Reading Task Cards by Nouvelle ELA Poetry Task Cards by Tracee Orman Poetry Task Cards by Addie Williams

For many students writing can be intimidating and overwhelming. That's why it's essential to provide students with a variety of writing activities to make learning meaningful and rewarding. Here are a few of my favorite ways to make writing engaging for reluctant writers in your classroom. TIMED WRITING ACTIVITIES Timed writing activities challenge students to race the clock as they write as much as they can during a fixed time period. Students are encouraged to “just write.” There is no pressure for perfection. In fact, the only parameter is that they need to write for the entire time. The fun nature of timed writing activities help students develop confidence as they experiment with the writing craft. Here are a few challenges to try...*** In 5 minutes...make a list of 25 things you can do with a hula hoop. *** In 10 minutes...write a fan letter to your idol persuading them to send you an autograph. *** In 15 minutes...create a new kind of toy for toddlers that entertains busy toddlers. CLICK HERE for 15 more! WRITING HANDBOOK (with examples and prompts) Another way to support reluctant writers is to teach short, targeted mini-lessons to help build students' writing skills. When students are provided with more support and examples of writing, their own writing improves. As their skills develop, so does their confidence. When developing writing mini-lessons, I like to include:*** A specific topic like audience, voice, or word choice. *** Written examples of the skill for students to analyze. *** A writing prompt for students to practice the skill. Find 26 writing mini-lessons HERE. CREATIVE WRITING LESSONS Reluctant writers benefit greatly from creative writing lessons. Not only are creative writing lessons highly engaging, they're also a lot less intimidating than formal writing genres. Also, creative writing lends itself to sharing. When students share their writing they build a community of writers and develop their skills as they listen to each others' writing. Here are some of my favorite FREE creative writing lessons:*** Spooky Story Writing *** Myth Writing Lesson *** Limerick Writing Lesson ENGAGING WRITING UNITS An essential part of writing instruction is guiding students through the writing process as they create different genres of writing. In my experience, the ideal writing unit is 2 weeks in duration and includes step-by-step instruction for each aspect of the writing process. To make longer writing units appealing to reluctant writers, the key is to make the topics engaging. For instance, here are some engaging topics for different styles of writing... *** Descriptive Writing - Imaginary Pet Sketch (mystery animal) *** Persuasive Writing - Write a roller coaster advertisement *** Informative Writing - Create a historical news article WRITING MINI-LESSONS One of the best ways to help reluctant writers build their skills and confidence is with targeted writing instruction. I love mini-lessons that can be easily incorporated into writing workshop, writing units, writing centers, or everyday writing instruction. When developing writing mini-lessons, I try to make sure they are... *** Quick and targeted *** Fun and engaging *** Filled with practice Check out my 10 favorite writing lessons HERE. CHOICES Teachers have long known that choices are the key for engaging reluctant learners. The same holds true for writers. One of the easiest ways to motivate students is to give them choices when responding to writing. Grab this free choice board filled with writing prompts here. WRITING PROMPTS Reluctant writers need lots of opportunities to write. The more they write, the easier it will get. The easier it gets, the more success they'll feel as they write. There are lots of ways to use writing prompts in the classroom... *** Warm-up activity *** Homework assignment *** Learning station task Grab a FREE set of 20 fun writing prompts HERE. ---------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you've found a few ideas for helping your reluctant writers transition into confident writers! Thanks for stopping by, Mary Beth P.S. Check out this blog post filled with 3 secrets to fantastic writing instruction.

This past school year I started incorporating mini flip books into my instruction, and I absolutely love how they have transformed the way I teach and review

Happy Saturday, Friends!! Have you had spring break yet?!?! Here in NJ, we have not!! And, we've got another four weeks until it gets here!! Can you even!?!? I know that by the time it

If you’ve never conducted a fishbowl discussion in your classroom, you and your students are missing out. Similar to a Socratic Seminar, fishbowl discussions

To receive free and awesome lesson plans in your email all year long, click here! If you’d like to pay with a PO, request a quote here!

Need tips for managing station work in middle school? Learn secrets that will ensure success for you and your students! TeachingELAwithJoy.com

Manage your middle schoolers during speech therapy with my 10 best strategies for behavior management to encourage and motivate!

Jumpstart your literary analysis instruction with these engaging and effective activities and mini lessons for middle and high school ELA!

Activities, free resources, and ideas to teach how to write a thesis statement in middle school and high school English Language Arts!

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,

Teaching the writing process? Try involving students kinesthetically. Play Doh can work for big kids, too! My high school students absolutely love this writing analogy that walks them through each stage of the writing process as if they were sculptors crafting a masterpiece. Differentiate your instr

Teaching Shakespeare can be a rewarding experience, and incorporating creativity into your approach can make the material more engaging for students. Here are seven creative ways to begin a unit on William Shakespeare or a unit that studies his literature... 1. Create a scavenger hunt with facts related to Shakespeare's life, works, and the Elizabethan era. Hide or hang the facts around the classroom or school. Then, have students hunt for the facts. As they find each fact, have them add the information to their notes as they build background on Shakespeare. This activity gets students up and moving while providing them a historical base for their Shakespeare studies. Need ready-made facts? Find them here! 2. Have students choose a character from one of Shakespeare's plays and write a modern-day monologue for that character. This activity allows students to connect with the characters on a personal level and showcase their understanding of the language and themes. 3. Make learning about Shakespeare especially engaging with a doodle poster. Have students fill the poster with facts about William Shakespeare. Then, have students glue the pages together to make an extra-long infographic. As students color in their doodle poster, they'll be exposed to facts one more time. This activity makes building background creative and fun. Grab a ready-made doodle poster HERE. 4. Ask students to imagine that Shakespeare and his characters had social media profiles. They can create Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, or Twitter feeds for characters like Romeo, Juliet, or Hamlet. This activity encourages creativity and helps students relate Shakespearean themes to contemporary communication. 5. Give students a chance to investigate one of Shakespeare's sonnet. You can assign a sonnet or have students choose one of their own. Then, guide them through analyzing the poem with a Doodle Poem Analysis one-pager. This guide makes analyzing the poem approachable and creative. It's also a great way to get students to share their poem analysis with others. You can download the FREE Doodle Poetry Analysis HERE. 6. Use a simple craft like this "Will's Quill" activity to get students learning about Shakespeare. First, have them research facts about Shakespeare. They should also find a quote that they like from Shakespeare. Students will add their work to feather shapes. Then, they'll cut out and glue the feathers together to make a quill just like one William Shakespeare would have used. Find everything you need to do this activity HERE. 7. Devote a day to immerse students in the Elizabethan era. Encourage them to come dressed in costumes from that time, play Renaissance music, and even serve Elizabethan-inspired snacks. This thematic approach can set the stage for a deeper exploration of Shakespeare's works. ----------------------------------------------------------- These ideas are designed to make learning about Shakespeare fun and relatable. Taking the time to make Shakespeare approachable can be a great way to foster a lifelong appreciation for his work. I hope you give some of these ideas a try. (And don't forget get to save a TON of TIME with the William Shakespeare Doodle and Do resource!) Thanks for stopping by, Mary Beth P.S. Find more ways to make learning fun here.

Read about 6 ways to differentiate your writing instruction meaningfully - for any genre #highschoolela #differentiation

Save time and eliminate extra work with this no-prep, printable webquest featuring worksheets to engage your middle school, junior high, or high school U.S. history or science students in exploring the remarkable lives of the Wright Brothers, extraordinary inventors. This 10-page printable webquest includes 50 questions to help students discover more about the Wright Brothers. Depending on your class time and your individual students, you might... assign students to find all the answers. divide the questions and let students teach each other as they discover the answers. You could also... direct students to the Wright Brothers quotations at the end of the resource and ask them to use critical thinking to determine how they would fill in the missing words; then compare and contrast what they composed to the completed quotation. ask students to choose one of the quotations and then explain orally or in written form why they agree or disagree with it. If you need an activity for early finishers or for extra credit, ask students to create a biographical timeline, sketch, or multimedia presentation that features... all important parts of the Wright brothers’ lives. ten (or another number) events in the Wright brothers’ lives they think are most important. When students complete the webquest, ask them to reflect on what they learned and... identify an event in the Wright brothers’ lives they would like to know more about and explain why it interests them. explain how local, national, or international events in the Wright brothers’ lives lifetime may have influenced them or their work; alternately, choose a specific event from the life of one of the Wright brothers and discuss how it might have shaped him. consider what they learned about the Wright brothers’ beliefs, values, or philosophy; then compare and contrast these with their beliefs, values, or philosophy. write a letter or email to one of the Wright brothers asking questions about his life or work. In the included answer key is additional information for answers to many questions. If you choose, use this additional information to form questions for extra credit. Click here for your copy of this handy resource for your history or science classes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Earning TPT Credits To learn about new Class Act Press resources, discounts, and freebies, just follow me. Find my picture at the top right of any page in my store. To the right of the picture is a star with “Follow Me” beside it. Click on the star, and I’ll send you customized updates about this store. Do you want credit for future TPT purchases? Just provide feedback for items you purchase. Click on the “provide feedback” button next to your purchases, rate the product, and leave a short comment. (You need to do both to earn credits.) You receive 1 TPT credit for each dollar you spend, and you can spend it just like cash on future Teachers Pay Teachers purchases. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here are other Class Act Press webquests your students can enjoy: Lewis and Clark Expedition: 10 Little-Known Facts: Webquest 10 Things You Didn't Know About William Shakespeare: Webquest 7 Things You Might Not Know About the Women’s Suffrage Movement: Webquest 7 Black Heroes of the American Revolution: Webquest 10 Things You May Not Know About Winston Churchill: Webquest Christopher Columbus: Webquest The Six Wives of Henry VIII: Webquest Jamestown Colony: Webquest 8 Tales of Pearl Harbor Heroics: Webquest The Black Plague: The Worst Pandemic in History: Webquest Underground Railroad: 8 Key Contributors: Webquest 11 Little-Known Facts About George Washington: Webquest WWI: 8 Battlefield Poets: Webquest WWI: 6 American Heroes: Webquest WWII: 5 Famous WWII Covert Operations: Webquest The Oregon Trail: Webquest Sacajawea: Webquest Alexander Graham Bell: Webquest Thomas Alva Edison: Webquest George Washington Carver: Webquest Leonardo da Vinci: Webquest Eli Whitney: Webquest Robert Fulton: Webquest

For students, MLA format can feel like another rigid set of rules for writing with reasons unknown. For teachers, it can be tear-your-hair-out frustrating to

Some of my favorite days in the classroom happen when I facilitate a breakout room activity. Breakout room days are always fast-paced, invigorating, and a

It’s likely you’ve heard of bell ringers or have even incorporated some form of them into your own classroom routine. It’s also likely you completed them as a

I use this form to keep track of students who are not turning in their work. I also love this form because it forces students to think about why they don't have an assignment rather than just not turning anything in.

I finally nailed teaching symbolism! Using candy was both engaging and efficient - a major win that students remembered all year long!

Find engaging creative writing lesson plans for middle school students and read about why creative writing is important for middle school students.

Student rewards don't have to be expensive or complicated! Incentives for middle school students just have to be fun and consistent.

EDITABLE ELA Word Wall for Middle School As teachers, we are constantly referring to various terms in our content areas that we want students to know. I designed this word wall resource as a tool to display common ELA terminology in my middle school classroom. I am always looking for ways to make classroom décor mix with thoughtful teaching practices. Resource Features: Printable PDF files for 131 language arts and literature terms (full list below.) Many of the word cards feature relevant and engaging clip art to reinforce and visualize the concepts. Blank word wall cards (PDF and PowerPoint files) are included, so you can add your own word wall terms. Printable PDF file of matching bulletin board letters. The files are formatted to fit 2 words per 8.5 x 11 paper. This can be adjusted in your PDF view and print settings. Word cards can be printed in color or black and white. You could also print them as task cards by adjusting your print settings. Product Updates: This resource has had multiple updates and term additions since Version 1. Because of this, the 131 words are contained in 2 separate PDF files. Additional blank word wall cards and templates in both PDF and Powerpoint formats are included. Words are NOT sorted alphabetically, but they are loosely grouped that way. The best way to sort them alphabetically would be to print and laminate the individual cards and sort them manually. Follow these steps to make the most of these ELA Word Wall Cards: • Print and cut out the letters in the Word Wall Letters file or utilize your own pre-made letters. • Print out the Word Wall Cards. You can print in black and white or color. I chose to laminate my word wall cards because I am displaying them in a space where I want students to have access to them, but laminating is not necessary. • Display your word wall in a space where it is visible to students. I have eye-level cabinets that I utilize to display my ELA Word Wall. A complete list of vocabulary terms: VOCABULARY WORDS (PDF 1) alliteration, allusion, analysis, annotating, argumentative, bias, writing, biography, character trait, central idea, characterization, cite, claim, conflict, conventions, climax, dynamic character, credibility, drafting, drama, edit, evaluate, evidence, external conflict, fable, first person narrator, figurative language, foreshadowing, flashback, generalization, genre, hyperbole, idiom, imagery, implicit, indirect characterization, internal conflict, inference, informational text, informative writing, literary elements, irony, key details, metaphor, main idea, moral, motivation, mood, narrative writing, narrator, nuance, nonfiction, opinion, paraphrase, persuasive writing, plot, point of view, poetry, pun, primary sources, premise, publish, prewrite, resolution, purpose, revise, rhetoric, second person narrator, sentence types, setting, simile, speaker, stanza, standard citation, story elements, style, summarize, supporting details, synthesize, temporal words, text features, textual evidence, theme, transitions, third person, tone, validity, visualize, voice, writing genres ADDED VOCABULARY WORDS (PDF 2) onomatopoeia, personification, fiction, science fiction, realistic fiction, biography, autobiography, fantasy, graphic novel, fairy tale, folk tale, mystery, character, compare/contrast, chronological, cause and effect, connections, prediction, context clues, author's purpose, fact, narrative, memoir, rising action, falling action, exposition, counterclaim, rebuttal, explanation, hook, comedy, tragedy, novel, dialogue, monologue, oxymoron, repetition, rhyme, rhythm, synonyms, antonyms ************************************************************************************ This evergreen ELA tool is a resource you can use in dozens of different ways. It has become a classroom essential of mine, and with the editable templates, you can use it for years to come. You can find some examples of how I utilize this ELA word wall on my blog. I would love your feedback on this word wall resource. Did you know that by providing feedback you have the chance to earn points that will discount future Tpt purchases? Also, be sure to follow me so you are aware of new ELA products as soon as they are posted. Happy Teaching! Erin

So... summer break is here! My kids finished school yesterday and now we settling into our new "normal" for the next two months. Late nights playing outside, swimming, ice cream for dinner, picnics, the beach,

Ready for one of my favorite ways to teach students about writing, reading, creativity, and even kindness? It’s something that elementary teachers have known all along…it’s the picture book! The picture book is a powerful instructional tool that can work in any classroom…and I thought I’d share some examples of my favorites with you today. I’ve put the collection of books in a simple (and free) PDF with links that you can download by clicking this LINK. I’ve also paired each book with a ready-made unit that you can easily teach in your classroom too. Feel free to download the PDF at any time. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of my favorite picture books for any classroom. First, I’m sharing a book that is great for the beginning of the year as you’re building a positive classroom community. Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts taps into a child’s innate need to have what everyone else has. In this case, the main character longs for the “cool” shoes even though they are too expensive for his grandmother to purchase. After finding a pair that is much too small, the main character makes the ultimate sacrifice for a classmate. It’s a touching story that celebrates kindness and classmates…perfect for any time of year. (Click HERE to check out the book.) Picture books are also wonderful examples of creativity. Since learning to be creative has shown to be one of the most powerful skills for helping students thrive in life, it’s important to celebrate creativity in the classroom. These two books do just that… Not a Box by Antoinette Portis is fairly simple at first glance. A box shape is turned into everything expect a box – a robot, a hot air balloon, even a rocket ship. It’s a fun example of “thinking outside of the box,” just imagine all the creative lessons you could do as an extension to this story. (Click HERE to check out the book.) The Three Pigs by David Wiesner is another example of creativity. This time students see how a traditional story can be flipped on its head and come to life with a little imagination. This book is the perfect springboard for lessons about thinking in new and creative ways. (Click HERE to check out the book.) Picture books are wonderful for adding a little humor and whimsy into the classroom. You can keep these two books on your shelf for a rainy day and pull them out when students can use a laugh. And…as a major bonus, humor produces psychological and physiological benefits that help students learn. One of my favorite funny books is The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak. While there are no pictures in the book, there are plenty of silly words and crazy sentences that you, the reader, must read out loud. Students love how “powerless” you become against the words Novak makes you say. You’ll all be laughing together with this book! (Click HERE to check out the book.) Another funny book filled with voice (and a sweet message) is Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea. Not only is the book funny as the goat laments about the new Unicorn in town, it’s also cleverly written. There’s a lesson in this book along with a few laughs. (Click HERE to check out the book.) What about using picture books to teach critical ELA skills? That’s a genius idea. For instance, if you’d like to teach theme, try The EmptyPot by Demi. It’s one of my favorite stories because the reader learns its themes of honesty and integrity along with the main character that shows up to a gardening challenge with an empty pot. Not only is it a great way to teach theme, it’s a lovely way to showcase important character traits too. (Click HERE to check out the book.) The next time you’re putting together a writing unit, have students begin by reading mentor texts in the form of pictures books. It’s a super engaging and quick way for students to learn about the critical elements of the genre. I always started my memoir writing unit with a review of several picture books like The Baby Sister by Tomie dePaola. (Click HERE to check out the book.) Want to each about figurative language? It’s easy with picture books. Send students on a figurative language hunt in a book like WhiteSnow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt. The story has a poetic quality as it tells about the first snowfall of the year. (Click HERE to check out the book.) Alright, I could go on for days…but I better stop right here. I just love how picture books are a powerful way to help students learn about critical ELA topics and build character. Remember, you can check out a list of all my favorites in this FREE download. Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope some picture books make an appearance in your classroom! See you soon! Mary Beth *This post contains affiliate links.

Do your students struggle with citing and embedding quotations within their writing? This blog post will share creative, unique, and engaging activities will get your students practicing and applying these skills while having FUN!

Here are some cheap and free rewards ideas for your middle or high school classroom! High school and middle school students can be a challenging age group to motivate and reward. It can be difficult to find prizes that will appeal to them, and even more challenging to find ones that are affordable.

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