I find that teaching theme is one of the most challenging tasks I do during the year. Theme in literature is a very abstract idea which means it is hard for students to grasp. Yet if you are an AP® Literature teacher it is one of the most important concepts
An understanding of author’s craft is vital to a student’s ability to analyze text. But the problem is, what do students really know about craft in writing? Or even the concept of craft in general. The Short Short Fiction Boot Camp that I use at the beginning of the year
We all want our students to do well on the AP® exams. And helping them to do well on the AP® Lit essay also known as the AP® Lit FRQ is paramount to that achievement. As an AP® teacher for almost 20 years, I feel like the AP® literature essay
A few years back, I was reading a short short story with my English 11s that relied heavily on inference. We got to the end of the story and there should have been a reaction. 🦗 🦗 🦗. Nothing. Not a single reaction and I realized that they didn’t get
I had been teaching high school English for 4 years when 9/11 happened. So now, it is 20+ years later, and I am teaching high school students who were born years after the tragic events of that day. I remember working through 9/11 lesson plans with one of my mentor
One of my favorite teaching techniques for high school English has to be using short short stories. Sometimes these are called Flash Fiction. Other times they are called Micro Fiction. No matter what you call them, a short short story is one that you can read in under 10 minutes
Engagement is always the goal in high school English classes. We want our students to participate fully in reading and writing in our classes. This is really important when when we thinking about literature discussion. These discussion tend to be reflective of how successfully students have read and help lead
Do you want a short story unit packed full of activities to study characterization, structure, tone, writing literary analysis and more? Short Stories about Coming of Age with a focus on the loss of innocence is a great way to engage your high school English students in all of this
I recently saw a comedian on Instagram talking about the difference between a nerd, a geek and a dweeb. He used a Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences. And it turns out I am full on in the nerd category. It’s true: one of the things that brings
My students were struggling with have deep discussion in their spring book clubs. The problem may just be that they’re seniors and they are “sooooo over school.” But I felt like there was more to it. So I introduced them to a Literary Analysis Discussion Deck. These discussion questions for
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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