Every painstaking movement of the second hand on the round 1970s style clock in the front of the classroom deepened the soul-destroying angst in Mr. Nocontext's being. Mr. Jobkiller, the school's new principal, had come to … [Read more...]
Lesson of the Day: The Greatest Creative Writing Lesson Plan Ever?!?!
March 24, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I had just finished my "8 Simple Writing Lesson Plans" Teacher Guide when I came upon this gem of an Internet lesson plan: The greatest creative writing activity ever!!! I was skeptical. After all, everything on the … [Read more...]
8 Easy Common Core Writing Lesson Plans
March 16, 2015 By Leave a Comment
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...]