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Do you teach literary theory in your ELA classes? Do you find it a challenge for you or for students? Have you thought about using a core text for different theories? One core text to rule them all… if I was a big Lord of the Rings fan this would be an even more poignant …
“That was so much fun; I didn’t even realize we were learning!” When I hear a student say this, it makes my teacher heart so happy. Reading and writing instruction is a critical part of education. We want our students to be engaged and invested. When they are excited about a topic or lesson, …
When we think of centers, we think of elementary. But what if there was a way to adapt centers to middle school and high school? What would it look like? How would it be organized? Those are questions I was asking myself last year when I taught ELA. I was thinking about how I could …
At the beginning of the year, do you get so excited about sharing books you love that you forget to take the time needed to get to know your students as readers? I know when I first started teaching, I made assumptions about what my students knew about books and what I thought they should …
Isabel from @creationssigneisabel thinks Newsela is an AMAZING resource for ELA teachers. It gives teachers access to tons of non-fiction texts you could use for English, Science, or Social Studies. Also, for each text, you have the option of changing the text level, making it easily accessible to even the most struggling reader in your …
Poetry is fun and there is a way to make it fun. Have you ever heard of a Poetry Party? Basically, students memorize a poem that they will then present to their classmates. How is that fun you ask? Well, students can be as creative as they want with their presentations and you might be …
Adding a classroom library to my classroom was one of my best strategies I’ve used to promote literacy and connect with students about the books I was reading. It doesn’t matter how big or small your classroom library is! Even a few books on a shelf is incredibly powerful to foster a community of readers. …
Welcome to the inaugural post from ELA Matters, a collaborative blog focused on all matters of English Language Arts! We are a group of middle and high school educators working together to share our ideas and expertise with the secondary ELA world. Below you’ll find a list of our top 5 favorite reading strategies for …
