Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am reading a list of picture books this summer, looking for ones to include in my junior high classroom library. What I am looking for …
On ELL integration and inclusive practices by Sarah Dollah-Said
From Train Wreck to Triumph! My Experience Teaching ELL Students in a General Education Classroom….We. Can. Do. It. by Sarah Dollah-Said I have been a teacher for over a decade now. I’m totally aging myself, but in that decade I have seen trends in education go …
“Democracy” in ELA: What do 8th graders have to say?
I took this picture on the beach of Gulf Shores, Alabama as I waded in and out of the waves trying to get nice pic. We had just driven south from Chicago through towns displaying the Confederate flag, and, in light of recent Supreme …
Draw Your Story: Visual Thinking Strategies in Writing
The blank page is daunting for any writer. Talking in front of peers in middle school might be even more so. A picture, however, can do the talking for us, and once it does, the writing comes. Take a look at my drawing. Yes, look, please. …
Interview on Talks with Teachers: What’s the story of Ethical ELA?
An interview about at the ideas that started Ethical ELA.
Writing Fiction with Hemingway
There’s no time for fiction in English classes these days. Argument and argumentative essays were all the rage last year, and I don’t see that movement slowing down. Did you notice the nonfiction teacher books and resources being passed around your school and the new …
Ethical ELA’s Birthday: Top Posts
From reading comic books to celebrating teacher friends, from reading logs to reading Shakespeare, from portfolio assessments to throwing out grades, we are uncovering what English teachers do for our students, schools, and humanity. Thank you.
Teaching LGBQT Themes with “Twelfth Night”
Teachers often try to hook students by finding books that “they can relate to” and what that usually translates to is books that deal with the same issues or kinds of people that teenagers encounter in their daily lives. But I often try to search out books that kids can’t relate to, at least not entirely. I want to expose them to lives that are nothing like theirs.
Review: Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts
Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts by Susan Cain My rating: 3 of 5 stars I read Susan Cain’s Quiet a few summers ago. I actually listened to it during really long walks over summer break, contemplating how I, as an introvert, fit in …
Review: The Honest Truth
The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart My rating: 4 of 5 stars This one is definitely for middle school. While teachers don’t have to worry about drugs, sex, or language with this one, they do have to consider potential trigger warnings because the main character …