Get organized with a daily and weekly ELA plan so that you feel confident and prepared. Planning the structure of a class period varies by unit. Start here!
Get an outline for teaching all the reading and writing standards in your Middle School ELA class.
Supercharge your morning work with I Heart Literacy! Each page features a fun theme so your students will not only be practicing reading and ELA skills, but will also be learning about a curriculum-based topic. A wide variety of Common Core skills are addressed. Try these five free pages for free! Happy Teaching! Rachel Lynette ... Read More about Morning Work ELA and Reading Freebie!
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, […]
Motivate students with independent reading by adding engaging reading sprints...turn the traditional reading log upside down!
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.
Grab your copy of FREE ELA Curriculum Maps grades 6th-8th and save yourself a year's worth of planning! Digital maps with a planner, calendar, and more!
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.
This post explains how teachers can use an academic version of the highly engaging Spoons game to review concepts. Free games included!
Independent reading is a great way to help students build a love of reading! These 5 strategies help hold students accountable!
Trying to improve reading fluency in high school can be frustrating. Here are some effective approaches educators can use in the classroom.
As students head back to school, ELA teachers everywhere are considering how they are going to begin the school year, so I wanted to walk you through one of my favorite lesson plans entitled, “Why do we read?” As an educator, there are few things as exciting and rewarding as introducing a young person to […]
I receive a lot of questions about how I run my literacy block. At my school, our schedule is blocked out, but I have freedom to arrange my own blocks (if that makes sense). So my literacy block is 9:40 – 11:15, and this is what I’ve decided to do with it: We start right ... Read More about My Literacy Block
Ready to create learning stations? They require a purposeful and strategic design in order for the experience to be meaningful. Start here!
Get an outline for teaching all the reading and writing standards in your Middle School ELA class.
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.
If you have been following our blog, you might have seen our post about our favorite teacher hack, earlier finisher packets! If you missed it, don’t worry, I will sum it up real quick for you. Essentially, despite teaching different grade, Emmy and I realized we were both having the same Issue. Kid
Are you classroom teacher looking for engaging ways to teach your students to comprehend stories? Read this post for primary ideas on how to get children to learn to visualize and build reading comprehension.
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
Do you use a yearly pacing guide? It is so handy to have a map of how you plan to fit the various standards into your academic year. Things WILL change, but it nice to have some idea of where you'd like to be with your instruction. I think that it makes lesson
If you have been following our blog, you might have seen our post about our favorite teacher hack, earlier finisher packets! If you missed it, don’t worry, I will sum it up real quick for you. Essentially, despite teaching different grade, Emmy and I realized we were both having the same Issue. Kid
Planning to tutor over the summer? Here are tips for quick and easy planning! Hi there! It's Sarah! I've been tutoring kiddos for the last year and have developed a routine that makes my planning easy and my session flow smoothly. All of the kiddos I tutor are grades K-2 and in need of a boost in their reading skills...fluency, comprehension, and phonics. Warm-up I like to start with some reading that is simple or familiar. I'll either have the kiddo re-read a text from the previous session or read fluency sentences. I have my kiddos keep a composition notebook with past passages to go back and re-read. I use lots of guided reader books to find the just right text for my kiddos to read. These are also great books to leave for kiddos to practice between sessions. Fluency sentence strips from The Moffatt Girls are a GREAT help to boost fluency and confidence! They are also super easy to leave for practice between sessions. Fluency Reading Practice My kiddos have all had good sight word recognition and really need fluency work. I switch between leveled readers and text passages. I usually have kiddos read the text themselves first. After reading, we go back through the text and find words that were tricky and read them. Next, I have the kiddo read through the text with me or by themselves if they are confident. Using a leveled reader Using fluency passages and recording words read per minute (the kiddos love to see their growth!) Find these fluency passages HERE! Using text evidence passages. Grab these passages HERE! Comprehension After some fluency practice with the selected text, I move into comprehension work. In our district, kiddos need to do a written response comprehension question as part of their reading assessment. I have my kiddos practice a written response question with every text and in every session. Comprehension with level reader I use these question stems to develop questions based on the text. Grab the question stems HERE! Completed written response, kiddos write in their composition journal Comprehension with text evidence passages. Grab these passages HERE! Here I use a reading passage with several comprehension tasks for a 2nd grade kiddo. Find these reading passage + comprehension packets HERE! Phonics After the reading and comprehension tasks are complete, I work on some phonics task with my kiddos. One of my favorite tasks is doing a word family word splash. I select a word from our text. I like how this tasks shows kiddos that if they can spell a work like bat, they can also spell cat, mat, sat, etc. Writing short sentences with words from the Word Family Splash Word building and sounding out Extras I like to use phonics poems as an additional fluency tool. The kiddos glue them into their composition notebook so they can go back and re-read between sessions, continuing to build fluency with familiar texts. These phonics poems are from Susan Jones. I use our Literacy Bags in between reading tasks. Literacy Bags break up the rigorous reading and fluency practice we do for much of the session. You can find Literacy Bags HERE! I'm working with a few Kindergartners who need sight word practice. I use the K version of our Differentiated Reading Fluency passages. In K, the passages start as reading letters, then sight words fluently. It perfect support for my K kiddos! You can grab these HERE! Additionally, our Print a Standard packs have been a great support for targeting specific skills students need to work on. Each pack contains tasks for one standard and has several activities for that standard, so there are a lot of opportunities to help the student learn, practice, and master standards based skills. You can grab Print a Standard packs for ELA AND MATH HERE! Connecting with students and parents on a more personal level is the best part of tutoring. I love giving kiddos instant feedback and celebrating their successes! I also love that I can give them more choices to foster a love of reading. In the picture above, I'm showing several text selections. The kiddos I'm working with is able to choose the book he'll read with me for the session. I also love being able to help parents foster learning at home. I've found most all of my parents did not really know about their kiddo's reading level or reading abilities. This makes it difficult for parents to find the best "just right" books for reading at home. After I work with a kiddo, I leave the text piece we worked on for that session (a passage or a book) so the kiddo can re-read it with parents. I leave their composition notebooks with phonics poems for the kiddos to go back a re-read. I also leave the fluency sentence strips for practice between sessions.
Try this free, fun, and interactive middle school ELA games in your classroom to teach grammar and literacy ELA skills!
Increase student engagement and reading comprehension with this simple strategy!
Trying to find a meaningful vocabulary teaching approach? Find fresh, powerful, and inspiring ideas to revolutionize the way you teach words!
Wondering how to engage students in meaningful learning? This ultimate list of active learning strategies is a great reference to use while lesson planning.
As adults, we often walk into a bookstore with a certain genre we are ready to peruse the aisles for in order to find our next read. Would your students be able to do the
As teachers begin planning for back to school, I see an abundance of creative classrooms filling my Instagram and Pinterest feeds. I love seeing how other
Wondering how to structure your middle school language arts daily schedule? Here's the planning template I developed to find my ideal stride!
I giggled to myself as I created the title to this blog post! If you are new to my blog, I'll have you know that this is the THIRD time I've written an "ELA in
This is a visual for how students work their way up the Reading Ladder. Kindergarten is working within the levels 1 and 2 throughout the year. When working with your child, please focus on these skills so that they have a solid reading foundation. Success is earned and needs to be worked for. Thank you to Katelyn's Learning Studio for this amazing resource.
Independent reading is a great way to help students build a love of reading! These 5 strategies help hold students accountable!
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
I have always assigned nightly reading. Why? I don't assign nightly reading because I want to give students "reading homework." I don't assign nightly reading
As a teacher, I am always on the hunt for the perfect tools at the cheapest prices for my ELA classroom. Taking care of our students and keeping our learning
This blog post explores innovative and engaging lesson plans for any novel unit... ranging from task cards to book instagram pages to a novel podcast project. Student choice is key here, and students can find something they would like to complete in order to convey their reading, comprehension, and
Teaching students how to annotate text can be an intimidating task. Likewise, for our students, annotating text can be equally as daunting, especially if they don’t have a process of their own that works or steps to follow. However, teaching text annotation can be a simple and straightforward task if you follow these five steps.
Some days you just need a break from the monotony! Preparing for exams, transitioning to a new unit, days when half your students are gone for a basketball tour
If you are looking for some high-interest activities, try using animated shorts to teach inference. Free handouts focus on student learning.
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.
Hey Friends!! It's been a minute!Let me just start by saying that I've had such a great summer. I had intended to do a lot of work, but I just couldn't. I needed a little
Have your lessons have lost their spark? Are you searching for some creative inspiration? This #2ndaryELA Twitter chat was all about out of the box teaching ideas in the ELA classroom. Middle school and high school English Language Arts teachers discussed interesting fiction and nonfiction pairings. Teachers also shared creative activity and projects that are both fun and rigorous. Read through the chat for ideas to implement in your own classroom.
