4.9kviews Spring is upon us, even here in Michigan. With sunshine peeking in through classroom windows, your students are no doubt asking to have class… Read More »18 Strategies to Scaffold Readers Before They’re Released into the Wild
4.3kviews Okay, English majors: Who else feels guilty when we have to rush through a literary masterpiece in order to meet the end-of-the-year time crunch? In… Read More »Annoy an English Major. Get Your Students to Understand Shakespeare in Half the Time.
5.3kviews Unfortunately, it probably won’t take much to imagine this scene: You’ve just returned test results, and the sad student voices begin to whine. “I knew everything… Read More »How to Download and do a Brain Dump
4.3kviewsMaybe your school has an undesirable course that all your department members try to avoid. Grammar for Writing? Ugh. Economics? Eek. Well, for some crazy reason,… Read More »Scaffolding Towards AP Lit with Literary Analysis
1.5kviewsLast week, I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to tour the beautiful state of Michigan—from Parma, down in the Southeast, to Mackinac Island, up off the North shore… Read More »Literacy Roadtrip 2014: nErD Camp & Michigan Reading Association Summer Conference
5.3kviews Unfortunately, I think it’s—dare I say—“trendy” to only talk about choice reading right now. Whether this pendulum-swinging trend is caused by something extreme, like some… Read More »Crush the Next English Dept Debate: 9 Reasons for Both Whole-Class Novels + Choice Reading
2.1kviews Teachers know that most adolescents lack motivation to read, both academically and recreationally, yet we can see how crucial it is for students to develop… Read More »Why We Never Get Anywhere in English Dept: The Fight between Whole-Class Novels and Choice-Only Reading
2.2kviewsOur Social Studies PLC has been talking a lot lately about academic vocabulary. For me, the research guru on this one is a no brainer: I… Read More »Breaking Down Academic Vocabulary
6.1kviewsEntering the Conversation Most of ya’ll know my friend and colleague Dave Stuart over at Teaching the Core. A few weeks ago, Stu shared ways… Read More »Getting Real with Argumentative Writing
2.5kviewsIf you’re looking for a quick and easy way to spark conversation in your classroom around books, I love using Table Topics Cubes: Book Club Edition.… Read More »Tip for Sparking Conversation on Reading: Table Topic Cards