My children love to toss water balloons, and I couldn’t help but think that combining a favorite pastime with word learning would make for an awesome vocabulary review...
Review reading comprehension strategies with my Mother's Day-inspired compare and contrast lesson. Although this compare and contrast lesson was inspired by Mother's Day, I...
In honor of Shakespeare’s birthday on April 23rd have students create Shakespeare-like insults*, but with vocabulary words! This silly Shakespeare lesson plan will not only...
After 13+ years teaching high school English, I've concluded that ACT and SAT test-taking strategies are more successful when educators make pre-assessments and...
In this article, you'll discover how to use text-dependent questions to engage students in close reading. I share text-dependent questions and passage I use from the book, ...
One of my favorite vocabulary activities is Present Vocabulary with Prezi. I quickly learned that combining technology with vocabulary instruction captures the attention of...
In this post, readers will form a true understanding of how to successfully integrate all of the important aspects of direct vocabulary instruction into their classroom...
It can be a struggle to keep students interested in learning about the more technical side of language. One way that teachers can enhance grammar instruction is by creating...
Use the 2018 Winter Olympics to engage students in a series of nonfiction reading strategy lessons! Use the lessons and printables below to teach (or review) nonfiction...
Quality vocabulary instruction is a goal for all teachers at the beginning of the school year, but it can quickly become lost in the midst of all the other instruction and...
Two of my favorite books to read in December are The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg and The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth. I love to use these books not only...
If you have visited my blog before you know that I try to incorporate my students' current interests into my lesson plans. I believe students learn best and retain the...