Category: Uncategorized

4 Essentials Skills For Reading Shakespeare

Every high school student will read a Shakespeare play at some point. And how teachers approach Shakespeare initially will make or break that relationship with the Bard. Think about Romeo and Juliet. The play opens with a fight scene in which a lot of the action is implied, there are a bunch

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5 Reasons You Should Be Teaching More Plays

How many of your students have gone to see a play? I’m guessing many of them have seen a school production. Some might have seen a professional production (and by the way, when I ask my students musicals don’t count.) But the reality is students are much more likely to

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student designed rubrics

The Power of Student Designed Rubrics

When students design their own assessments, they get a tremendous amount of ownership over their learning. They can utilize their own interests and passions to demonstrate their understanding of concepts. Engagement goes up, and they develop some really creative ideas. For example, I have had students do final projects on

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Find Yourself Fridays

Find Yourself Fridays: Character Education in the Classroom

This year I’ve incorporated what I call Find Yourself Fridays. I’m giving my students something inspirational to read or watch. Sometimes it’s something quick, sometimes it takes up a good chunk of the period. But that’s ok. I have to remember I’m hear not just to teach students about literature

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point of view

A Creative Way to Learn About Point of View

  In the first episode of Bates Motel, Norman Bates and his mother hide a body in their hotel room. A couple of police officers come by unannounced, just looking things over. As you might expect the tension in the scene comes from whether or not the policemen will uncover the body.

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moving from knowing to doing

What Should Students Know How to Do in Language Arts?

I know Othello really well. I have taught it for the past fifteen years and can recite entire passages from memory. I have read extensively about it – everything from scholarly articles to blog posts – and have seen at least three different movie versions of it and a stage production. I

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