Middle schoolers don’t often come to class eager to discuss global warming, but when you hand them a vivid image and ask them, “What’s going on in this picture?”—well, you just might surprise yourself. Recently, I had the chance to work with an incredible group of middle school students, most of whom are second-language learners. […]
Reading Strategies
Empowering Your Students Through Summarizing: A Lesson with “Thank You, Ma’am”
Hello, dedicated educators! Today, we’ll walk through a practical lesson on summarizing using Langston Hughes’ classic short story, “Thank You, Ma’am.” Summarizing is an essential skill that helps students distill a text to its core components, promoting comprehension and retention. Why Summarizing Matters Summarizing requires readers to engage deeply with the text, evaluate information, and […]
Lesson Plan: A Close Read of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
A lesson plan outline to teach close reading of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin.
Transforming Reading Comprehension with Annotation Cue Cards: A Step-by-Step Guide for Teachers
Ever had your students annotate a text only to get a half-hearted effort and the inevitable, “Is this enough, Miss?” It’s a common challenge in classrooms, but don’t despair! Here’s how I turned this around with annotation cue cards, and how you can too. The Challenge: Superficial Annotations In an 8th-grade class I was working […]
A Close Reading Lesson for Stronger Reading Comprehension
Starting the school year with a focus on kindness and the power of words sets the stage for a compassionate and thoughtful classroom environment. In my recent lesson with a fifth-grade class, we delved into the story “Feathers” through a close reading, weaving in lessons on vocabulary, comprehension, and the profound impact of our words. […]
Boosting Classroom Engagement with Text Sets
Using text sets in the classroom can significantly enhance student interest, vocabulary, and background knowledge. Text sets are collections of related texts organized around a specific topic or line of inquiry. Here’s how to effectively implement them in your teaching strategy: 1. Anchor Text Begin with a rich, complex grade-level text as the anchor. This […]
Retain New Information Longer
Teaching for Understanding “If I had a nickel …” is the overused phrase I fight the temptation to say out loud when teachers tell me that they just taught something and their students don’t remember. What actually comes out is usually along the lines of “don’t take it personally. Your students are not out to […]
Finding Theme in Fictional Texts
Prerequisite Learning The first step to finding an implicit theme in a fictional text is for students to gain a solid understanding of story elements. The students should be able to discuss the characters, setting, problem, and solution. Truth is, fictional stories are more about who is affected by what is happening than about what […]