This post contains a list of fun and engaging lesson plans, creative writing, activities, and fun stuff for Valentine's Day in middle school and high school English Language Arts. These options include analyzing poetry and songs to writing love letters to characters to editing epic Valentine's Day
With final exam season right around the corner, many teachers are thinking about what they plan to do. While some schools might be a little more relaxed and
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a ghostly story that commonly shows up in classrooms around Halloween. There are a lot of ways to work with the text in the classroom. It’s poss…
Be prepared for the Back-to-School season with this editable secondary English classroom syllabus. This resource is included in a back-to-school bundle! Secondary ELA Back-to-School Bundle This classroom syllabus is designed for secondary ELA classrooms and is color-coded to make it easy for you to edit. Simply change all of the red text with policies and information that is appropriate for your classroom. This syllabus contains several categories: - Course/Contact Information - Course Description - Course Materials - Grading - Final Exam - Discipline and Conduct - Course Outline - Attendance - Class Policies - Class Rules
Wintertime is a hard season to prepare for because students are either already checked out for Winter Break or they're starting back up slowly after returning
With final exam season right around the corner, many teachers are thinking about what they plan to do. While some schools might be a little more relaxed and
On Halloween, a suspenseful scary story is all it takes to captivate your middle and high students and get them invested in their reading.
It’s that time of year when we get to tap into the high-interest season of Halloween and use it to our advantage as writing teachers! Halloween means Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic stories, mysteries, and all things secondary students LOVE! It’s a great time to use the season to our advantage to target e
It's time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school.
With final exam season right around the corner, many teachers are thinking about what they plan to do. While some schools might be a little more relaxed and
Whether you’re looking forward to celebrating your favorite holiday or simply looking forward to the upcoming winter break, there’s no better way to
Read through this blog post to find seven ways you can incorporate a sprinkle of holiday fun into your ELA curriculum. These ideas will help make December more fun and engaging for your students AND for you.
Incorporate Thanksgiving writing activities into middle school and high school ELA classes meaningfully. Here are 9 ideas to give you creative inspiration.
Try these engaging & rigorous Halloween school activities for your Secondary ELA classroom to practice reading skills and boost creativity.
This year I'm replacing O. Henry with David Sedaris podcasts. Why? Because in years past I pulled out "The Gift of the Magi" and most of my students have already read it - a few times. If you've had similar experiences or just want to mix it up for own sanity, read on for a few ...
*A DIGITAL OPTION HAS BEEN INCLUDED FOR GOOGLE SLIDES AND FORMS/GOOGLE CLASSROOM* Be sure to re-download! There are directions and links inside the pdf. Hello, ELA! This resource is a unique way to get your students warmed up at the beginning of your ELA block.Each month contains 4-5 weeks of ELA bell work, which will have a theme around the season, national holidays, or events associated with that particular month. The morning work is focused on ELA 6th Grade Common Core Standards. Each day has a thematic structure to cover language standards as well as enhance vocabulary and comprehension skills.Save money by purchasing the year long BUNDLE!ELA Daily Review 6th Grade {Growing Bundle}Each week follows a predictable and engaging structure: Meaningful Monday: Monday is focused on making meaning. Tasks will focus on synonyms, antonyms, vocabulary words, context clues, and making meaning in a short amount of text. Some tasks may require students to make meaning in the text (inference, message, adages, proverbs, etc.) or build vocabulary skills.Text Structure Tuesday: Tuesdays will have a paragraph that requires students to identify the text structure, signal words, main idea, author's perspective, or vocabulary, or any other question types related to the Craft and Structure standards. Wordy Wednesday: Wednesday is all about working with words. Tasks include working with shades of meaning, homophones, spelling, prefixes, suffixes, roots, and other word skills.Throwback Thursday: Thursday is all about grammar usage and conventions. Figurative Friday: Figurative Friday tasks include working with various types of figurative language including similes, metaphors, idioms, poems, alliteration, structures of poems and more! This ELA + Math Morning Work is available for the following grade levels: ELA + Math Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade ELA Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade ELA Weekly Assessments 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade Math Bundles 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.Let’s connect! The Literacy Loft Blog The Literacy Loft on Instagram The Literacy Loft on Pinterest The Literacy Loft on Facebook I hope this resource works for you! Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions, comments, or feedback. - Jessica
These ELA podcast pairings will help you design engaging text sets for you middle school and high school English classroom!
In an earlier blog post, I wrote about the benefits of assigning a collaborative writing assignment in the high school English and middle school ELA
The start of a new school year or new semester is the perfect time to establish new classroom routines! Whether it be a bell-ringer routine for the middle
Favorite Halloween lessons to engage middle and high school students #HalloweenLessons #MiddleSchoolTeacher #HighSchoolTeacher
With the beginning of the school year right the corner, it is time to start thinking about which lessons will be most valuable for our students. Starting the
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, it is time to think about infusing rigorous and academic content with the whimsy fun of February 14. Here’s a
Here are six essential back to school lessons I’ll be using in my classroom this back-to-school season.
Read through this blog post to find seven ways you can incorporate a sprinkle of holiday fun into your ELA curriculum. These ideas will help make December more fun and engaging for your students AND for you.
Read through this blog post to find seven ways you can incorporate a sprinkle of holiday fun into your ELA curriculum. These ideas will help make December more fun and engaging for your students AND for you.
Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom
Due to the variety of components in our curriculum, ELA teachers have lots of opportunities to teach gratitude in our classrooms during the Thanksgiving season, or any time.
There are lots of creative ways to facilitate reflection at the end of the school year. Integrating novelty into any lesson makes it more interesting, and the same concept applies to reflection questions. So I set out to create an interactive "Prompt Sticks" Reflection
Read through this blog post to find seven ways you can incorporate a sprinkle of holiday fun into your ELA curriculum. These ideas will help make December more fun and engaging for your students AND for you.
With the beginning of the school year right the corner, it is time to start thinking about which lessons will be most valuable for our students. Starting the
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, it is time to start planning engaging ELA Valentine's Day activities for your middle school and high school classroom. Here is a look at several Valentine’s Day activities for students.
Instead of ending the school year with essay writing, this bundle of high-interest and engaging digital writing activities is sure to motivate students and keep them engaged until the end of the school year. Students will enjoy the creative writing assignments, the reflective writing assignments, a
Looking for some ways to engage students in American literature? Check out tips for working with technology, rhetoric, and poetry!
With the beginning of the school year right the corner, it is time to start thinking about which lessons will be most valuable for our students. Starting the
Looking for some engaging lesson plans for the month of October? Middle and high school students can have some holiday fun without sacrificing learning. Here ar
Use this awesome autumn writing craft activity to engage your students in excellent creative writing this fall. It is suitable for any age group.
Teaching in the second quarter and toward the end of the first semester can be a bit tough. The novelty of the new school year has worn off, October is long,
Elementary students get to make cards and crafts and gifts for their parents and guardians during this time of year. Most mothers and fathers have a stash of these from their little darlings, but as their children grow older, the stash gets smaller. Older students can make cards too; they still love to cut and […]
Halloween is a fun time for all involved, including teachers! If you're stumped for ideas on how you can bring the Halloween spirit into your English Language Arts class, here are a few ideas to help you get started! A great way to establish a routine in any classroom is through the use of daily writing prompts/bell ringers. Not only are students practicing their writing daily, but they are also developing a standard in your class, which might also encourage students to arrive to class on time, prepared to write! You can easily incorporate the Halloween theme into an English class, by having your students respond to a Halloween themed prompt during the weeks leading up to the holiday! Here are five Halloween-themed writing prompts that you could use with your students: 1. Write a 10 line Halloween poem using the following words: black cat, pumpkin, dark, graveyard, death, witch, gloomy, haunted, clown, and spooky. 2. Of all of the costumes you have ever worn on Halloween, what costumes are among your favorite? What makes these costumes so memorable? Describe what the costumes looked like. 3. Write a 50-100 word story using the first line, "It was all fun and games until we saw something move in the Haunted house." 4. Write a recipe for a magic potion using five items you see around the classroom. In addition to the ingredients list, provide cooking directions and explain the purpose of the magic potion. 5. Imagine you are hosting a Halloween party. Identify three people (dead or alive) that you would invite to your party (aside from your friends and family). What makes these guests so special? Why do you think they would make a great guest at your Halloween party? Another way to bring the Halloween spirit into your middle and high school English classes could be through the use of spooky short stories and books during the month of October. I typically complete my short story unit around this time of the year anyway, so it works for me to incorporate these 'spooky' stories into my unit. Here are a few spooky short stories you could use during the month of October: • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irvine) • The Tell-Tale Heart (Edgar Allan Poe) • The Fall of the House of Usher (Edgar Allan Poe) • The Monkey's Paw (W. W. Jacobs) • The Landlady (Roald Dahl) • If Cornered, Scream (Patricia J. Thurmon) TIP: Turn the lights off and have creepy music playing in the background to help set the scene when reading short stories around the Halloween season (a shout out to The Daring English Teacher for the tip!) Here are a few spooky books you could use during the month of October: • World War Z (Max Brook) • Patient Zero (Jonathan Maberry) • The Reapers Are the Angels (Alden Bell) • The Walking Dead series (Robert Kirkman) • Feed (Mira Grant) • Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs) Click HERE for some FREE Halloween-themed bookmarks! If you are looking for a creative way to teach the elements of plot, as well as short story writing around the Halloween season, this Halloween Short Story Flip Book is not only fun to complete, but also a convenient size that can be stored in a desk, binder or interactive notebook for quick reference when writing. Follow the directions and prompts in the flip book and have your students successfully write a SPOOKY short story from start to finish! Begin your lesson with the short story elements handout included. The handout reviews 15 items necessary to any short story including the explanations and definitions for effective leads, dialogue, direct speech, protagonist, antagonist, mood, tone, literary devices, plot structure (diagram), exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. An answer key has been provided! Next, get writing! Once your students have a better understanding of what's required in the various elements of plot, they can begin to brainstorm their short story ideas using the step-by-step instructions in their six-tab story flip book! The final page in the flip book includes 100 Halloween-themed words. Add creativity to the short stories by having students randomly select characters and setting prompts (12 provided for each category). Simply, cut out the character and setting prompts, place face down on a table, and have students randomly select some Halloween-themed ideas to incorporate into their own stories. Finally, to ensure your students' tales are full of the details that are required in a short story, an additional full-page short story writing organizer has been included, as well as a character building handout, which will review and expand the elements plot and character again, but in more detail. Visuals are another way that Halloween can be incorporated into your daily writing routine. This type of writing gives students the opportunity to focus on the five senses, incorporating the Halloween theme into their writing using a picture prompt. Try this Descriptive Halloween Photo Activity for FREE! Use these fun Halloween-themed topics to practice public speaking and debate-style skills in your classroom! Get your students moving by hanging up four signs that indicate the following: strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree, disagree. Present the following topics and let the discussion begin! Students should be prepared to share their reasons for their opinion selection, so they should choose their decision wisely. Discussion topic #1: Are high school students too old for trick or treating? Discussion topic #2: Should schools be allowed to celebrate Halloween? Discussion topic #3: Are costumes necessary when trick or treating? Discussion topic #4: Should trick or treating be an all-day event? Discussion topic #5: Should non-sugary candy be mandatory on Halloween? If you're in the neighborhood for a quick and simple Halloween activity for your class, have students write their own two-line ghost story. While the writing itself may not take a long time, thinking of the clever idea may take a few minutes! Consider letting your students work in pairs or small groups. Once students write their two-line ghost story, they can share it with the class, then the stories can be displayed on a bulletin board. Find more examples of two-line ghost stories, HERE! Looking for more ideas to bring the Halloween spirit into an ELA classroom? Check out these activities and posts from other Secondary English Coffee Shop bloggers! Edgar Allan Poe Unit The Superhero Teacher Creative Mystery Story Addie Williams Halloween Sentence Combining Bell Ringers The Daring English Teacher Masque of the Red Death Symbolism and Allegory Nouvelle ELA Halloween Crumpled Pumpkin Writing Presto Plans Halloween Creative Writing & Learning Stations Room 213 Halloween Figurative Language Activities Stacey Lloyd October Writing Prompts Secondary Sara
Discover six creative Halloween ELA activities in this fun visual post. From writing prompts to poetry projects, a Poe escape room to a new choice reading display, you'll find something to add festive fun to your October teaching.
Six spooky Halloween ideas for secondary ELA to help you celebrate the holiday without sacrificing curriculum or rigor
