Writing Rubrics That Give You Back Your Weekends
The best rubrics save teachers time and give students that feedback they need to do better on the next assignment. Here’s how to create them.
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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
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
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
Getting Started with Student Created Assessments in ELA
My students are currently reading books that they have selected from a fairly lengthy list of titles that appear on the AP exam on Question 3. Student choice is powerful: when students are able to select the texts they want to read, they are more invested in what they are
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
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.
“What Is Literature?” A Fun Activity to Get Students Thinking
When my kids were younger I was amazed at how they learned what a dog was. If you or I were to try to define the word “dog” it would be hard to come up with something that didn’t include other animals, like, say, a cat. But somehow kids learn
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
Rethinking Annotation So Students Will Find it Meaningful
Most of my students don’t like to annotate, and it’s because teachers have made it that way. We’ve used annotation to turn reading into work – and unpleasant work at that. We all agree that annotation is a valuable skill, but too many of our students tell me that annotation
