As high school English teachers, I don’t think we spend enough time looking at how poets develop characters. Yet the College Board suggests its importance as it lays out the essential skills for AP Literature. In Poetry Unit 1 (Unit 2 of the year), they suggest that teachers include the
When you thought of becoming a high school English teacher, you probably had this vision of students sitting around, diving into deep literary discussion which they then turned into a fantastic literary analysis essay. But the reality is some of our students are still asking the question: “What is a
Characterization is one of the most basic skills we teach students about reading. And it is a darn important one. It is actually a life skill as students will at some point transfer these understandings to film, TV and actual people. This is why it is so important for them
One of my favorite units to do in AP Literature is a Hybrid Book Club Unit based around the theme of coming of age. Seniors love exploring this topic through songs, short stories, poetry and choice novels. Here is a list of AP Literature books about coming of age that
Literature Circles, sometimes called Lit Circles or Book Clubs, can be a powerful motivator in the classroom. They allow students choice in their reading and the opportunity to read and discuss on a smaller scale. But honestly, literature circles can also become stale once students have done them a few
Do your high school student struggle with vocabulary acquisition? How often have you looked at your high school English students and realized that a major issue they have with reading, writing and test taking stems from a lack of vocabulary? My students have this problem too. That is why this
Choosing the right book club themes for your high school English literature circles can be the difference between a good experience and a great experience. Any time we give our students choice, we generally get more buy in, but when we tie the theme of our literature circles to high
Fall is the perfect time to incorporate a short story unit into any high school class. So today I am sharing 11 short stories for fall that are also perfect for high school English classes. Why use Short Stories in the Fall? Starting the school year with a short story
This year, I am teaching a course I haven’t taught in about fifteen years. So as I considered how I to plan for this class, I have given a lot of thought to the essential questions for lesson plans that I create for this course. What is the Essential Question
As we start to think about going back to school, it is also time to think about the routines we want to establish in our English and ELA classrooms. And those routines should definitely include a regular routine for warm ups and closures. So this week, I have brought together
I help AP Literature and High School English teachers create engaging classrooms so that students will be prepared college and beyond.
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