Dec 09
This book is an important reminder of how the Enemy Aliens Act of 1798 was used to violently incarcerate thousands of American citizens during WWII. The book also talks about how we need to make sure that never happens again. Takei’s first-hand account of his experience is full of pain, joy, reflection, and optimism. Now, …
Nov 20
It’s actually the perfect book for any YA or adult reader, but I’m focusing here on my Language Arts population. What population is that? In a nutshell, any student who’s reluctant to read for any reason. Keep scrolling for a quick run-down of why Between Shades of Gray is at the top of my must-read …
Oct 13
This lesson plan is for the third chapter of Night by Elie Wiesel when Elie and his family are either killed or processed at Auschwitz. Even if your class is not reading the entire text, Chapter three can stand on its own and show the horrors of the concentration camps. **I suggest getting the audio …
Sep 01
Seriously – stories both you and your students will laugh out loud reading. Humor varies from person to person, so I have two very different essays in the hopes that you and your students will at least be able to connect to one. To make sure this is actually useful for everyone, I’m only including …
Jan 28
Fake receipts are a great way to change up your worksheets and increase engagement. I mostly use them for creative writing and comprehension assessments, but I’m sure you’ll come up with a few ideas as well. 1. Reading Comprehension Create fake receipts for various characters and have the students guess which character they belong to. …
Sep 24
Tape character traits and events to a wall and have students correctly match them to character posters hanging around the room. Leave them up for review throughout the novel
Jun 08
A good character map can determine whether or not a student “gets” a story. I have some students who are unable to picture a story in their head. Imagine trying to keep track of half a dozen characters and you can’t picture what they look like or visualize what they are doing. Some students are …
Jun 04
Reading “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl always leads to lively discussions in the classroom about the culpability of Mary Maloney. So of course I’m compelled to create a lesson where students battle out her guilt or innocence “Law and Order” style. The Perfect Episode You can’t just ask students to imitate “Law and …
May 15
Here are all my visuals I put together in PowerPoints and worksheets when teaching students about tragic heroes. Students need a familiar model to reference before taking on whatever complex text we are currently reading. My go-tos are The Lion King and Romeo and Juliet. The Lion King Of Noble Birth/Highly Respected I love these visuals to emphasize …
May 07
Isolating images to create your own clip art is a great way to professionally add interest and aid in comprehension when creating your worksheets. Here, I’ll show to do it in PowerPoint on my MacBook Air. I have no idea if this works the same with Windows, though I would assume it does. Drag an …
