The Joys of Teaching Literature

Interpreting the meaning of a frame or shot in a movie is just like interpreting a metaphor or symbol.  This week, I'll talk about how I pair film and literature.  

It can be really fun to let students go online and choose their own adventure.  An open-ended conversation about anything and everything will inspire students to solve the world's problems.  Sometime…

Writing a research paper doesn't need to be a stressful experience.  I'll go over the eight things I do in class to guide my students through the writing process.  

This year, I'll do something I call "The Hope Project".  It gives my students the opportunity to make sense of the year and look forward.  

If we walk into our class excited and ready to go, our students will too.  I'll go over some things I've learned about how to be positive.  

Teaching topic by topic instead of chapter by chapter makes life easier on you and your students.  Whole-novel activities allow students to track the development of a topic through the entire story. …

When students learn about race and culture, they learn about everything.  I'll talk about teaching an elective called Racial Literacy and go over four easy ways to talk about race in your ELA classro…

My students worked in groups to create a short film in just one week.  I'll take you through ten tips to help your students avoid common mistakes.  

We should reflect on what works best in our classrooms more than once a year.  This week, I'll talk about how both students and teachers should reflect on how to grow and change habits on a regular b…

Short stories are a great way to introduce the various narrators students might encounter in novels.  I'll talk about free indirect discourse, first person narration, internal monologue and all that …

It's fiction, it's not real, but it is relevant.  I'll describe a writing assignment that forces students to think about how fiction connects to the world we live in.  

There are so many great teachers that share their creative ideas online, and this is one of the best ways teachers can improve and find new ways to inspire students. Visit my blog to find links to al…

The conclusion can be a game changer for our students who need a good reason to write.  The conclusion is what an education is all about, so let's rethink how we talk about the conclusion.  

My units on novels move from the large, external world of the character to the small, internal one (and then back again).  

Wouldn't it be nice if students could get just as excited to come to our classroom as they did for the big game?  Or if we had the same attitude toward mistakes, building skills, and teamwork?  This …

The first time I saw a rubric, I thought, yikes!  That doesn't look like a whole lot of fun.  So let's think about how we can simplify rubrics so they are easy to understand and useful.  

We learned to juggle education websites last year, so now it's time to get back to pencil and paper and think about how students stay engaged in real life.  I'll go over the seven simple ways student…

Lately, I've been trying to make things more exciting than usual to get my students excited about literature.  I'll go over five easy ways to inspire and motivate your young scholars.  

Interpreting poems about poetry can get students excited about a challenging literary form.  These six poems should help them use their imagination and embrace their confusion.  

Does that syllable get a stress?!  Prosody doesn't have to be hard, and it actually helps students appreciate the playfulness of poetry. This week, I'll go over how I teach prosody and rhythm.