My colleague just told me that April was National Poetry month. I thought she was playing an April Fool's joke on me, so I took a swing at her. She blocked the punch, jabbed me in the throat with a paper clip, whacked me on … [Read more...]
Myth Lesson Plans: The Hero’s Journey and Perseus
March 31, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Start off with something you can use in your classroom right now: Perseus's Hero's Journey HandoutThis is day 5 of The Odyssey lesson plans. For those who've been following the odyssey of The Odyssey Unit, you may be … [Read more...]
Collaborative Learning Activity for Busy Teachers
March 14, 2016 By Leave a Comment
I had the day planned out. Give my write a multiple choice quiz test review assignment and sit in the front of the room and grade papers. Then I heard the new administrator was prowling the halls looking for teachers to … [Read more...]
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” Analysis, Lesson Plan, and More
March 7, 2016 By 2 Comments
I just found out that on this date in 1923, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was published. I found out long ago that most people that aren't English teachers don't care about such things.Luckily, you're an English … [Read more...]
Universal Rubric for Literary Analysis
March 3, 2016 By Leave a Comment
I had collected the essays a few weeks prior. They lay on my desk...ungraded. The dark cloud of ungraded essays cast a shadow over my soul. I sat down at my desk. I "accidentally" nudged them toward the edge of my desk, just … [Read more...]
How Many of These 7 Suspense Short Stories Do You Teach?
February 8, 2016 By Leave a Comment
I was feeling pretty good about myself after having taught some great short stories with examples of foreshadowing. So good, in fact, that I took down all the pictures of the teachers of the year since 1993 that were hanging … [Read more...]
Short Story Lesson Plans: 5 More Short Stories for Teaching Irony
January 18, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Regular readers of this blog are aware of my fascination with Ender Wiggin, Lennie Smalls, and sports teams from the state of Ohio. What they may not be aware of is my fascination with irony. In fact, I once stayed up late … [Read more...]
An Update on the Monkey’s Paw Re-emergence
December 14, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis (all four of you (it used to be five, but my dad died)) know two things: (1) Don't mess with Ender Wiggin! (2) Don't mess with the monkey's … [Read more...]
How to Make Romeo and Juliet Easy to Understand and Teach: Scene Summaries and Dialectical Journals
November 16, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Before you read this incredibly engaging post, be sure to download the Romeo and Juliet Summary Charts with Dialectical Journal Charts.Two classrooms both alike in dignity.In fair Verona High School where is our … [Read more...]
Characterization Lesson Plan and Creative Writing Assignment: Add a Character
October 20, 2015 By Leave a Comment
It's one thing to teach characterization in short stories and other literary pieces. In fact, I have a nice characterization chart (at the top of the aforelinked page), which will help you teach direct and indirect … [Read more...]
