When thinking about ideas for teaching research skills, teachers can easily become overwhelmed. That’s mainly because our standards list so many requirements for students to master! If your school requires a major research paper, you might need to start off with some smaller practice pieces. Do your students know how to paraphrase? Can they judge if a website is credible? Do they know how to compose an open-ended question? How…
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5 “Musts” to Motivate Student Writers
Do your students get excited about writing? I’m thinking that, generally, the answer is not a resounding YES! And who would blame them, with all the emphasis on that scripted writing for state tests. While teaching the formulaic essay is unavoidable, hopefully, we are allowing our kids practice with many types of writing. Journal entries, scripts/written conversations, business, friendly, and thank-you letters, and all types of poems are great options…
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10 Quick Assessment Ideas for Literature
I love literature, especially sharing stories aloud in class. On some occasions, I just want students to enjoy the read, without being saddled with a deep analysis, essay assignment, and the like. Quick assessments get students thinking and discussing the literature without a heavy workload, yet teachers get valuable snapshots of their learning. How to Use the 10 Quick Assessment Ideas You can assign one or two quick assessment ideas…
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6 Best Tutorial Videos for Remote Teaching
Distance learning is now a method all teachers need to be comfortable with. In our ever-changing world, you could switch from teaching in your classroom to teaching online in a heartbeat! If technology is your thing, that’s probably no big deal. But what about new teachers, or those who aren’t super-techy? Luckily, there are many awesome tutorial videos for remote teaching to be found on YouTube that will help!…
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5 ELA Emergency Lesson Plan Ideas for Distance Learning
Have you thought about preparing emergency lesson plans in the event of your school closing? If you’ve been informed of a closing, chances are you’re being asked to provide home instruction materials. Some schools call it distance or remote learning, or virtual teaching. And if you teach in the north, maybe you’ve been asked to create a “blizzard bag” for snow days. But whatever the term, you’ll need some…
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5 BEST Videos for Teaching Theme
If there’s one literary element that baffles students, it’s theme. But why should teaching theme be difficult? It’s just the message, right? But then again, theme is also referred to as the central idea of the text (thanks, Common Core). And, of course, theme itself must not be confused with theme “topics.” Well, it’s YouTube to the rescue with these 5 videos for teaching theme that will help students better…
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Using Mentor Sentences to Improve Student Writing
We all want to find ways to improve our students’ writing, but sometimes it’s hard to know just where to begin. When we get our eyes on that first batch of assignments, we see weaknesses everywhere! Fortunately, we don’t have to go back to square one and re-teach all the basics in order to see writing growth. Have you tried using mentor sentences in your instruction? These models, excerpted…
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How to Conquer Your Teacher Observation Fears
You’re opening morning email at school and there it is: your teacher observation has been scheduled. Instantly, an uneasy feeling takes over. With all you have to do to keep classes running smoothly day to day, a formal observation is the last thing you want to deal with. Sometimes, that allotted date is anything but optimal! And it’s hard to think about what the perfect lesson should look like when…
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