reading

Reading Like Writers: Effective Writing Starts with Effective Reading

Reading Like Writers:  Effective Writing Starts with Effective Reading

As reading and writing teachers, we’ve all witnessed the seeming decline of student writing ability over the past years. We find ourselves as teachers pondering what is happening to our youth as standards drop lower and lower. We can certainly place quite a bit of blame on technology as students read less than ever, so reading in our classes is incredibly important.

Book Shelfie Activity to Foster a Love of Reading

Book Shelfie Activity to Foster a Love of Reading

In today's fast-paced digital age, where screens have become a ubiquitous presence, fostering a love for reading among high school students might seem like a daunting task. As educators, it's our responsibility to ignite the spark of literary passion within them.

Close Reading Strategies for Success

Close Reading Strategies for Success

Close reading is a key component of any successful literacy program. It’s the practice of breaking down texts and analyzing them in order to better understand the author’s meaning and purpose.

High-interest Books for Reluctant Readers in Secondary ELA

High-interest Books for Reluctant Readers in Secondary ELA

Should we are should we not teach the classics? I can see both sides to the argument, but with my students that struggle, I defer to the side of practicality and place more importance on getting students to read anything… something… rather than… doing nothing.

That gets us to the point of this post: a list of high-interest books for middle school and high school ELA. These books are sure to get reluctant students to read!

6 Spooky and Engaging Halloween Activities & Lessons for Secondary ELA

6 Spooky and Engaging Halloween Activities & Lessons for Secondary ELA

Halloween is a season during the school year when we can really engage our students.  Secondary students love gothic, horror, and mystery, and Halloween gives us a reason to integrate these literary genres into our curriculums.  Halloween provides us an opportunity to target necessary skills with high-interest material.

Acronyms for Literary Analysis: A Comprehensive List of Strategies

Acronyms for Literary Analysis: A Comprehensive List of Strategies

When I set out to write the blog article for this week, I didn’t intend on writing about the various acronyms for literary analysis.  In fact, I didn’t realize there were quite so many acronyms out there...

The Three Levels of Reading: A Strategy for Complex Texts

The Three Levels of Reading:  A Strategy for Complex Texts

One of the most important skills we teach across all content areas, not just in English class, is how to comprehend complex texts.  It is probably the most crucial skill that we can teach in our classrooms because...