When it comes to teaching characterization, there are a few go-to lessons we all know. Of course, we know direct and indirect characterization. We might even know STEAL, speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, and looks. This blog post isn’t going to review those strategies. Instead, this ...
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4 Student-Centered Discussion Strategies Your High Schoolers Will Love
Have you ever asked a question to your class only to be met with silence? Have you ever found yourself answering your own questions? Or, have you ever written “discuss” on your lesson plan when you know it’ll turn into a lecture? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this article is for ...
The Ten Best Picture Books to Teach Literary Devices In Secondary ELA
I first wrote about using picture books to teach literary analysis skills to my secondary English students several years ago. In fact, it was my very first session at Keeping the Wonder Workshop back in 2018. I even wrote my own picture book The Magic of Wonder filled with literary, poetic, and ...
Pre-K Works!: Why You Should Be a Child Care Voter
This post is sponsored by Children Matter Action Fund. As always, all opinions are of my own. As a high school English teacher, I’m passionate about literacy beginning at the earliest ages, pre-k being an extremely important milestone. Pre-k, for example, helps improve language learning. In fact, ...
How and Why to Teach Students to Conduct Scholarly Research
In the past, I taught the traditional research paper with several goals for my students. They learned how to find sources, determine their credibility, compile them, and report their findings. These are clearly all good skills; however, after conducting research in grad schools, I found this basic ...
How to Teach a Synthesis Essay to Boost Students’ Writing Skills
The first time I encountered the synthesis essay was when I started teaching AP English Language and Composition. At the time, I figured it was simply an alternate form of a research paper that could be written quickly. Students don’t have the time to conduct research and report their findings in ...
