Dystopian literature is by far my favorite genre. I'll dabble in other genres, but always find myself right back into this genre. When I ...

Main idea. Students do it as soon as they start reading. My son in Kindergarten has even dabbled in it. It gets increasingly more complex...

Find ways to read-aloud in middle school!

Loads of resources for you to make your classroom accepting and anti-racist!

As I write this post, we are doing remote learning. I know the end of the school year is full of celebrations and activities; many of us ...

Teach graphic novels as a UNIT!

Try debates instead of an essay!

Here are some resources to help you if your school is closed due to the coronavirus!

Students write break up and love letters to books!

The dreaded test prep. We all think about it. We all know we have to do SOMEthing...we can't just ignore the fact that students will have to

A few years back, close reading became a big buzz in the E.L.A. realm. I had tons of workshops on it and still have files full of informatio

Book clubs are an important component of reading workshop. It gives students an opportunity to be social in a world where face-to-face in...

Middle schoolers have done personal narrative writing for years. Time to change it up!

Use YouTube and Google search to your advantage!

Want students to write well? You need to write, too!

Using DIGITAL interactive notebooks saves tons of time, allows flexibility, and creates lots of organization!

Many teachers who embark into the world of Reading and Writing Workshop beg to question: how do you get in vocabulary and grammar instruc...

Yes, you can assess students if they are ONLY using free choice reading for instruction and lessons!

Learn about what a real teacher does in her first week of school in middle school E.L.A.

Donalyn Miller created this challenge and explains it in her book. This is how I approach it with my 6th graders.