You ever get out of a teacher-in-service (or what teachers like to call them: A tremendous waste of tax-payer money) feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and wanting to ram your 1992 Saturn SL4 into the nearest brick wall on the … [Read more...]
Small Group Lesson Plans for the Common Core
March 5, 2015 By Leave a Comment
The day was winding down. I had borrowed a lesson plan from Mr. Worksheetgive who had borrowed a lesson from Mrs. Makelitboring and it was not going well. Casualties were mounting: 16 students had suffered concussions after … [Read more...]
Introductory Literary Analysis Assignment Using Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
February 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment
This Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde literary analysis assignment will work for any piece of literature. I just happened to use it most recently with Jekyll and Hyde, so that's where all my examples come from. It … [Read more...]
Critical Analysis Paragraph Assignment: How to Write a Rhetorical Precis
October 28, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Here's a simple writing assignment that covers some of the more difficult Common Core Standards and helps young scholars learn how to analyze non-fiction. This is a lot of standards for a small assignments. RI.9-10.1 … [Read more...]
Lesson of the Day: Add a Scene to “Walter Mitty”
September 10, 2014 By Leave a Comment
In honor of finally receiving my online/blended learning certificate from the Clark County School District, I thought I'd give you all an online/blended learning lesson using "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," GoogleDocs, and … [Read more...]
Lessons of the Day: How to Write a Paragraph
August 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment
You swore in your sadness/wrath that you would help your students learn the valuable skill of paragraph writing. Now's the time to make good on that promise. You'll find excellent lesson plans on paragraph writing linked at … [Read more...]
Lesson of the Day: Literary Terms Quizzes for Romeo and Juliet
August 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment
While you were lounging by the pool this summer, I was writing Romeo and Juliet quizzes while lounging by the pool. These Romeo and Juliet literary terms quizzes can be found on the miracle we call the Internet. They're … [Read more...]
Lesson of the Day: Proofreading and Editing
June 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I like Nathaniel Hawthorne. I really do. But for some reason, I posted two Nathaniel Hawthorne short story study guides and gave credit to Edgar Allan Poe for writing them. Thanks to savvy readers, those errors were brought … [Read more...]
Another Quick ELA Common Core Writing Assignment
June 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment
As I write, I'm basking in the joy that is the beginning of summer vacation, but that's not gonna stop me from helping out my pathetic poor colleagues who are teaching summer school. Of course, you may have come across this … [Read more...]
Lesson of the Day: The Great Depression and Of Mice and Men Research
April 2, 2014 By Leave a Comment
For an English teacher, there are few things more annoying and soul-breaking than assigning and working on and grading research papers written by 9th graders. I say this only because I was once rushed to the hospital with … [Read more...]