Fun and Games for Test Prep
Test Prep can be dry – why not make it a game with board game creation?
Differentiation and Mentor Texts
The argument that good readers make good writers has been around for as long as anyone can remember. Even as students, many of us probably found that as avid readers, we borrowed stylistic traits from the books we read and the authors we loved. The idea of mentor text has been around for a long …
Long Term Schemes of Work: Getting started for the New Year!
Before it’s time to officially unwind for summer, Jennifer Berry (@mrsjmberry) always makes sure the long-term schemes of work are complete for the up-and-coming school year. After nearly 15 years of teaching, Berry likes to start with the big picture to see how everything fits together leaving wiggle room for assignments, projects, and lessons depending …
Quickwrites and Grammar: Creative Writing and Sentence Structure
The very idea of grammar has students immediately turned off, right? There’s something about it that is dull and difficult and students don’t often see the importance or the benefit to understanding how a sentence works. We know as language-lovers that it’s crucial to correctly word a sentence in order to build better and more …
Cultural Poetry
Teaching poetry as a separate unit can be a great way to introduce students to different voices and cultures, but it also encourages creative thinking and inference skills which can be applied to a whole wealth of ELA stadards.