Encapsulate Your Learning: Time Capsules in the ELA Classroom
In December 2021, historians in Richmond, Virginia, uncovered not one, but two, time capsules that had been embedded in the base of a Confederate statue.…
Writing into Summer: End-of-Year Menu Boards
This time of year, it seems one question is at the forefront of everyone’s mind: What are we going to do with our students after…
High Interest Books for Teens
We all know that students need to read more. But if we’re being honest, we know that many teens are not reading the works we…
Fun & Functional: Developing Learning Activities That are Both Meaningful and Engaging
Like many educators, I strive to develop learning activities that are both meaningful and engaging. No matter how important an instructional task may be, the…
Strong Writers Make Strong Readers
One of the central premises of the upcoming Writing Wednesday series is that by engaging students in meaningful creative writing tasks, we can improve not…
Student Choice for Summative Tasks
If you’ve been working in education for any period of time, you likely already know that “student choice” has become a favorite approach among educators…
Being Wrong in all the Right Ways
When I began my journey towards Writing Wednesdays, my educational goal seemed fairly simple: to develop a year’s worth of standards-aligned creative writing lessons that…
A Time to Reflect
As many of us begin making the transition back to school after Winter Break, we often reflect on the school year so far, considering what…
Capture the Moment
Each school year, ELA teachers are tasked with covering a lot of diverse content in a relatively short amount of time. No longer just about instructing…
Writing Revelations: Why Writing Wednesdays are Good for Everyone
In my school district, November is affectionately known as “No School November.” Between election day, a teacher workday, and three recognized holidays, we end up…