The Joys of Teaching Literature

Here are six activities to keep on your desk to mix things up when interpreting a novel with your students.

There are all kinds of things English teachers can do to prevent the use of AI, but the most important is to provide verbal feedback while they write.

Instead of unit and thematic-based units with essential questions, you could try media and genre-based units where students study and then create podcasts, poetry, video essays, short fiction, and personal essays.

I used two modern short stories to open up conversations about violence, technology, gossip, and surveillance. Students posted links to make connections to two different short stories.

Preparing to write an essay means finding as many quotes as possible to help answer a question, but it can be a fun activity with these five activities.

ELA teachers have a ton of work including grading essays, class notes, reading notes, and quizzes, not to mention lesson planning, emails, and meetings. Let's think about how to handle it all.

Students love to talk about how a character grows and changes because they also experience a lot of change in high school.

It seems like it's getting harder and harder to get students to speak in front of the entire class. Learn some strategies to make it easier for kids to share their thoughts.

Instead of listing literary techniques, students should focus on determining their purpose and function. I reduce it to three main purposes to make it easy.

Start the year with a personal narrative and your students will understand what makes a great story. Or maybe it will help them get into college.

Start this school year by having more fun and experiencing less stress. I have three main techniques to get you on your way.

All of your students may not be as obsessed with novels as you are. Free Literacy Blocks will rope in the kids who want to talk about modern topics.

End the year with a creative podcast project instead of a traditional essay.

Students want to find meaning in literature, and they can do it with the three P's of relevance: the personal, the political, and the philosophical.

Learn how to close read film like you close read a poem. Your students will love it and it's an important life skill.

Mini conferences gives your students time to research and write and get verbal feedback as they plan their next steps. Hear about my latest writing assignment.

Teachable moments should be part of our daily approach to teaching fiction, but what are they and how can we talk about them?

Novels don't have the same visual pizzaz as social media, so we have to find ways to convince students why they should read.  I'll go over five ways to introduce novels that should make the idea of reading for such a long time a lot less scary.  

Film adaptations are a great way to get students to imagine how a story could unfold in today's world.  I'll describe an assignment I give with Dubliners, by James Joyce.  

It's easy to keep students focused if they have guide that will lead them to a complete comprehension of the topic.  In this episode, I'll describe how I ask my students to take notes in class.  

Students wake up when they read a story about technology and the media.  They have plenty to say about how the media presents reality and in this episode, I'll talk about a small assignment I gave to get those conversations going.  

The epic battle of man vs. machine goes on and this time, it's the ELA teacher against AI.  Listen to my thoughts on what we can do about the robot that writes stuff.  

While it might be difficult to inspire students to love great novels, it's easier to ask them to think and write about things that are personally meaningful.  I'll go over different activities and projects that help make learning more personal for students.  

Dr. Reed started Walkabouts, an educational technology that teaches students while they exercise.  This is an interview that should raise the eyebrow of any teacher looking for a new way to transform their classroom.  

There are so many reasons to get stressed out at work, so here are a few ways to avoid burnout.  

Working outside school with students in sports and activities can be very rewarding but also demanding.  

Creative writing allows students to be free of all the rules and rubrics and now with modern technology, there are many ways students can express their view of the world.  

Help your students master the complex skill of close reading with these five easy steps.  

Teachers provide many opportunities for students to prepare for an essay or exam.  We must map out the process so it's not a mystery.  

Teaching literary techniques can be difficult, and intimidating to students, but there's a way to make it fun and easy.

There are many websites that feature poetry film and poets reading their poems in front of a live audience.  Students are more likely to get interested in poetry if they can see and hear it.  

The biggest challenge ELA teachers face year to year is how to get to students to not only read the novels we assign, but to love reading them.  Here are some tips to inspire students to love reading.

Starting the year strong is easy with a few straightforward, yet challenging poems.  

What makes a great novel?  What makes it great to teach?  What boxes should it check to make it into the curriculum? 

It's easy to get upset about plagiarism and cheating, and hard to find a way to reduce the desire to gain an unfair advantage.  I'll go over seven methods to discourage cheating in your class.  

Little distractions can add up to a lot of wasted classroom time.  Here are five little routines that will help you maximize learning time and eliminate time spent on stressful paperwork stuff.   

Free literacy blocks allow students to explore a topic or question of choice on a weekly basis for a set amount of time.  It's all about freedom, choice, and curiosity.  

Students love the creative process behind everything, not just literature.  Bringing the worlds of sports, science, visual art, and technology together with the world of literature can lead to exciting conversations.  

How does it feel to graduate?  What have you learned?  What is hope?  I complete the final assignment I give my seniors at the end of the year, and this is the short audio of my video essay for The Hope Project.  

Fiction exists outside the world of history and at the same time, often gives a more accurate account of reality than textbooks.  When we discuss a novel, when is it appropriate to bring in a discussion of culture and history?

It's nice to start fresh in the fall.  Here are five small things you can do that will help you truly love teaching.  

Interpreting the meaning of a frame or shot in a movie is just like interpreting a metaphor or symbol.  This week, I'll talk about how I pair film and literature.  

It can be really fun to let students go online and choose their own adventure.  An open-ended conversation about anything and everything will inspire students to solve the world's problems.  Sometimes, it's good to let students educate themselves.  

Writing a research paper doesn't need to be a stressful experience.  I'll go over the eight things I do in class to guide my students through the writing process.  

This year, I'll do something I call "The Hope Project".  It gives my students the opportunity to make sense of the year and look forward.  

If we walk into our class excited and ready to go, our students will too.  I'll go over some things I've learned about how to be positive.  

Teaching topic by topic instead of chapter by chapter makes life easier on you and your students.  Whole-novel activities allow students to track the development of a topic through the entire story.  

When students learn about race and culture, they learn about everything.  I'll talk about teaching an elective called Racial Literacy and go over four easy ways to talk about race in your ELA classroom.  

My students worked in groups to create a short film in just one week.  I'll take you through ten tips to help your students avoid common mistakes.