Tired of the same old assessments? I might be able to help. Read on to get three reasons to use multi-genre projects with your secondary students. Multi-genre projects were introduced to me several years ago and, to be honest, I wasn't hooked on the idea at first. That was until I was finally … [Read more...] about 3 Reasons to Use Multi-Genre Projects
A Quick & Easy Skill-Building Activity for Analyzing Character
It's time to take a closer look at analyzing character in my classroom. We spent the first few weeks of reading workshop analyzing and experimenting with setting and point of view, and now I want my students to explore the ways that character is being developed in the novels they are … [Read more...] about A Quick & Easy Skill-Building Activity for Analyzing Character
Collaborative Poetry: “Where I am From” Poems
My twelfth grade class has been exploring the effect of word choice during our reading and writing workshop. They have written a number of journal entries that required them to experiment with diction, imagery and figurative language, and during my wanders and conferences, I've discovered a number … [Read more...] about Collaborative Poetry: “Where I am From” Poems
Lesson Plans for Reading and Writing Workshop
I'm excited to share this news with you. I've spent a lot of time this summer doing some detailed lesson planning to blend reading and writing workshop, complete with links to how all of the items in my bundles work together. My planning focused on how I would divide up my semester, weeks and … [Read more...] about Lesson Plans for Reading and Writing Workshop
Speaking and listening in your reading and writing workshop
If you follow this blog, you know that I'm a huge proponent of the workshop approach in my high school English class. For the past few years, I've used a combined reading and writing workshop with my tenth and twelfth graders, and it's been a constantly evolving process. Every semester I've tweaked … [Read more...] about Speaking and listening in your reading and writing workshop
Blending Reading & Writing Workshop: Inquiry Questions
What do you wonder? What are you passionate about? What would you like to learn? These questions are not ones found on tests. They are, however, the basis for inquiry-based learning where students are invited to be active, rather than passive learners. Inquiry allows students to explore and … [Read more...] about Blending Reading & Writing Workshop: Inquiry Questions
Teaching a novel with excerpts
It's a trend that I find disturbing: teaching a novel with excerpts and not expecting kids to read the whole thing. I don't say that to be condescending; trust me. I want to help because I think that by using excerpts we are robbing our students of the opportunity to learn to love reading. There … [Read more...] about Teaching a novel with excerpts
Blending Reading & Writing Workshop
I love the fact that my students can choose from a rich array of novels when it's time to read. Reader's and writer's workshop has been such a game changer in my classroom because the kids are so much more engaged in reading and writing than they ever were before. And, there are so many … [Read more...] about Blending Reading & Writing Workshop
6 ways to get students to actually read
We give our students quite a gift when we allow them to choose which books they will read. However, independent reading and readers' workshop can be difficult for a teacher to manage. Many believe it's easier to keep kids accountable when they do a full class novel because everyone is - quite … [Read more...] about 6 ways to get students to actually read
How to Teach The Process of Literary Analysis
Many secondary English teachers struggle with how to teach the process of literary analysis. Students often think they are analyzing a text when they are really just summarizing the plot. If we want students to write meaningful literary analysis, we need to explicitly teach the process and give them … [Read more...] about How to Teach The Process of Literary Analysis