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
Our state exam and the AP® Language exam both require students to write argument essays. I find that students need all the practice they can get in making an argument which is why teaching argument through bell ringers is an idle way to get lots of experience. What is Argumentative
When students enter my AP Literature classroom, most of them are coming from AP English Language where they have had very little exposure to poetry. It’s just not part of the course. This means at best, they had poetry over a year ago. But let’s face it, lots of English
One thing that I have observed in recent years is that my students are definitely vocabulary deficient. We all know that the way to improve vocabulary is through reading and exposure to words. But the reality of the current student is that they don’t read. The solution? Teaching them word
One of my favorite units in my college courses was the one where we explored the original versions of fairy tales. And, when I have done this in my high school English classes using fairy tale poems, it is always a hit. 5 Ways Incorporate Fairy Tale Poems in High
The goals for formative assessments are that they are 1. quick and 2. easy to grade which is why today I am sharing 7 formative assessments that you can do in your high school classroom in ten minutes or less. Using Bell Ringers and Exit Tickets for Formative Assessments Both
You want to do a quick check for understanding or a reading check or skill check, but you don’t want it to take the whole class or even half the class. That’s why you need these five formative assessment strategies. What are Formative Assessments? I generally think of a formative
It’s almost May, which means those of us who teach AP® English are wrapping up in preparation for the exams. It doesn’t matter whether that is the AP® English Literature exam or the AP® English Language exam, our core courses are winding down. And for many people, this also signals
The moment our students walk in the classroom, we need to make sure that they get to work. The quicker they get to work, the more effective our use of class time can be. My favorite bell ringer ideas are “Of the Week” bell ringers. What is a Bell Ringer
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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