High school literature essential questions can shape whatever stories you teach. Organize a class discussion with these ideas. Many of us English literature teachers love to read and teach language…
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Mastering How to Build a Grammar Lesson: Author Tips
How to Build a Grammar Lesson: This post aims to help you from start to finish with sequencing grammar. My first book, The English Grammar Workbook, was published in 2018.…
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Learn How to Teach Sentence Structure Effectively
Looking for helpful support for how to teach sentence structure? In this post, I’ll share ideas for teaching sentence structure with simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. Since I have…
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10 Alternatives to the Grammar Worksheet
‘10 Alternatives to the Grammar Worksheet’ is part four of a ten-part series covering grammar in middle school and high school English classes. Read part one, part two and part three. Update, 2022: After…
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Vocabulary for High School Students
Creating meaningful vocabulary for high school students. Hmmmm—and teaching vocabulary, in engaging ways?? Tall orders. Word walls, mentor sentences, and repetition: It’s tough, and I believe it’s because older learners…
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Public Speaking Activities for Secondary Students
Read on for six public speaking activities. Then, sign up for a free download of the activities that you can hopefully use in diverse ways, even as public speaking games. …
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Teaching the Writing Process by Writing With Your Students
Teaching the writing process? I model the process for my students— errors, mistakes, frustrations, and all. We all want young writers to understand steps of the writing process and to…
Introducing Ecocriticism with Films
Introducing ecocriticism with films allows for easy layering of materials. Ecocriticism is one of my favorite literary analysis tools. (I am quite partial to socioeconomic and gender as well.) The…
Second Nine Weeks of American Literature
What are you teaching the second nine weeks of American literature? School is in swing. We built communities. Routines and procedures? Established. Now comes an important part of the school…
Five Ways To Use Task Cards in the Language Arts Classroom
Use task cards in the language arts classroom? They are my go-to tool for practice of important skills. Older students enjoy movement and a switch of pace with activities. Task…
Connecting the Dots with Bespoke ELA
Bespoke ELA: Innovative Lessons to Spark Student Engagement is a new professional development book, specifically for secondary English teachers. I was fortunate enough to sit down (virtually) with the author,…
Innovative Strategies for Teaching Historical Fiction
Teaching historical fiction allows for reading and writing opportunities. Readers love historical fiction. Students devour my classroom library selection of this genre. Sometimes, a student will read every historical fiction…
Fall 2025 First Chapter Friday Picks
Fall 2025 First Chapter Friday picks are here! In an effort to organize myself and to encourage other teachers to read aloud every Friday with their older students, I have…
Real Support for Teaching The Great Gatsby
Real support for teaching The Great Gatsby is here—no fluff! Once in awhile, teaching a book shocks me. This American classic is over a hundred years old, and students still…
The Science of Reading in High School ELA
What do you need to know about the Science of Reading in high school ELA? I (Lauralee) want proficient readers, and I know my audience does too. Literacy instruction, phonological…
ELA Test Prep Resources
Ah, ELA test prep resources. Let’s help our students, shall we? No standardized test is perfect, and one test is not capable of explaining everything about a student. Still, colleges…
Engaging Coming of Age Activities for High School ELA
The benefits of coming of age activities for high school ELA are plentiful! You’ve probably taught a coming of age novel, from Dear Martin to The Hate You Give, to…