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Teaching sentence structure is never an easy task. We often expect our students to come to us with this necessary knowledge for speaking and writing, but that isn’t always the case. Students may already be… Read More »How to Teach Sentence Structure

It’s that time of year again! That’s right: poetry time. You are ready to teach your students all about rhyme scheme, alliteration, symbolism, and personification… However, you need some poems to do that, and so… Read More »The Best Poems for Teaching Poetry to Middle Schoolers

Dystopian novels are the indisputable #1 draft picks of middle school libraries. Ever since Lois Lowry published The Giver, students have continued to absorb similar books at an exciting rate. With overarching themes of governmental control, environmental… Read More »20 Dystopian Novels You Need to Teach in Middle School Classrooms

Gothic short stories have always been a favorite with my students. From the mystery and suspense to the old creepy buildings, to the heightened emotions and the hints of the supernatural… there is just something… Read More »14 of My Favorite Short Stories for Teaching Gothic Literature

Edit: This post was created in 2021. While many offers have remained the same, some may have since been removed or changed. Below, I’ve curated links — arranged by category — to the best up-to-date… Read More »100+ of the Best Teacher Discounts and Teacher Appreciation Week Specials

What is a flipped classroom? A flipped classroom is a class that has “flipped” the organization of instruction and practice. Instead of following the traditional classroom model, in which teachers give direct instruction during class… Read More »The Flipped Classroom Model

To be great, one should “study the greats.” And so, to inspire greatness, one should “teach the greats.”  Works of literature are vital tools for improving a student’s language arts skills. They serve as models… Read More »Teaching Edgar Allan Poe

Formative assessment definition The assessment for learning Monitors student learning The term Formative Assessment refers to a wide range of tools/methods/strategies that educators use to assess students during the educational process. Educators use formative assessments… Read More »Formative and Summative Assessments: What’s the Difference?

For decades the short story has been a hallmark of the middle school Language Arts classroom. Short stories are so versatile that they can be taught as a whole unit, used to review a skill,… Read More »Best Short Stories for Middle Schoolers

Since the spread of coronavirus escalated in 2020, the requirement and desire to “work from home” has become less and less of an anomaly. Undoubtedly, the pandemic has mandated many teachers and educators go digital… Read More »Using Digital Escape Rooms To Teach ELA