Prior to spring break in late March, I wrestled whether or not to do a whole novel study like the rest of the junior classes or take the plunge with book clubs and give students a choice in book study. My interest in book clubs dates back to my graduate school days at the University … Continue reading Adventures with American Lit Book Clubs, Part 1: Book Tasting
This is time of year when many educators look at the calendar and begin to feel panic (or fully embrace the panic?) as they realize how quickly the remainder of the school year is slipping away. I am most decidedly one of those teachers! I need to finish our unit of study by the third … Continue reading Engage All Students in Quick But Meaningful Review with Everyone Up!
Last week, four sections (two Honors Level and two CP) of my 11th ELA took on the challenge of deconstructing our reading of an excerpt of Thomas Paine's The Crisis, Number 1 as we explore examples of persuasive texts across time periods and around themes of resilience and resistance. Our primary essential questions included: How … Continue reading Tackling Complex Texts with Think Tank Groups, Silent Gallery Walks, Noticings, and Reflections
We are wading into our next unit and looking at a variety of essential questions across different time periods and genres in my 11th English Language Arts classes. To set us up for work we'll be doing with some selections from Thomas Paine in the next few days, last week we began with our latest … Continue reading Notebook Time: From Individual Writing to Think Tank Collaboration and Sharing
Like many of you, I have found Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" to be a challenging text for students in terms of both content and vocabulary. Most 11th grade teachers find this be an especially tedious text to teach; several of you on Twitter shared it has been a struggle … Continue reading Notebook Invitations, Annotation Statements, and Sketchnoting for Introducing and Navigating Challenging Nonfiction
Way back in the day of my graduate school days at the University of Georgia, I took a Folk Literature class with Dr. Linda DeGroff as part of my coursework (sadly, Dr. DeGroff passed away last year). It was in this course I was introduced to the joys of Reader's Theatre. You can find … Continue reading Reader’s Theatre for Introducing Informational Content: It’s Not Just for K-5!
