Teach BeTween the Lines
English Teacher Life - A Blog for Secondary ELA Teachers to connect over our unique content. English teacher inspiration, ideas, lesson ideas, and free ELA resources!
The What
I love using paired passages in my classroom. Whenever I ask students to read a longer text, a book or a memoir, for example, I bring in multiple paired passages to meet multiple power standards within that unit. I might bring in poetry to my To Kill a Mockingbird unit, or nonfiction to pair with my short story unit. I can add in a one or two-day lesson to have students compare similar themes shared with a variety of mediums.
Read more
When I teach a whole class novel, one of my favorite ways to get students to chat about that book is through a book chat notebook. Through this notebook, students will conduct silent discussions with students from my other class periods.
Read more
Regardless of our years of experience in the classroom, we have all likely experienced the student who finishes that book you assigned and proceeds to slam it down on the desk in a flourish of drama, shouting loudly to the rest of the class that they have finally finished. This is generally associated with as much distraction inducing noise as humanly possible, with an eye roll so severe that you fear their eyeballs may pop right from their heads.
Read more
I, desperately, needed an idea that would get my kids up and moving, talking and collaborating, and, most importantly, one that would spark interest in the text itself. Then, I found- The Gallery Walk.
Read more
Use these 6 strategies to build confident and successful writers in your classroom!
Read more