It is very possible that today’s podcast episode will completely contradict a major component of the way you teach literary analysis. In the episode, we reveal our third game-changing strategy for teaching Evidence-Based Writing, and we’re asking you to take…
I’m willing to bet that if you’re a teacher and you teach writing, you have heard the words: “I don’t know what to write.” I’m also willing to bet that prior to hearing these words, you provided a crystal clear…
This week, Jessica and I get to do what we love most – hunker down, in-person, with other teachers to help them enhance their writing instruction. We’ll be at a local school helping ELA teachers implement our writing program, Writing…
Taking the time to consider how to start each ELA class for the entire year has so many benefits. First, it helps streamline your lesson planning. Second, when you spend some time planning before the school year begins, it saves…
With summer approaching, we wanted to share the best end of the year activity for keeping students engaged. We’re all dreaming of those carefree summer days of sleeping in, binge-watching BRAVO shows, and laying out by the pool, (Who are…
Jessica here with you today to talk all about my The Westing Game Lesson Plans! Each year when I ask my students what the best assignment or unit was in Literature class, the majority of them identify our novel unit for The…
This is a quick and easy post that walks you closely through how I set up my Romeo and Juliet Bulletin Board for our reading of the play. Although I have my bulletin boards set up as three separate ones,…
Classroom transformations are everywhere in education right now, and rightfully so. They are incredibly fun and get students super engaged right from the moment they walk into your classroom! So when Romeo and Juliet’s wedding was approaching in our reading…
As teachers, we love taking a look into other teachers’ classrooms and peeking in at their bulletin boards, seating arrangements, libraries, all of it! And one thing we really love to take a look at are other teachers’ long range…
So I haven’t totally bought into the idea of flexible seating quite yet … I seem to see a lot of teachers struggle with various aspects of it (discipline, students being too chatty, lack of respect for furniture, and admins…
The one pager assignment has been around the teacher blogosphere for a while now. It seems like everyone uses them all the time! And I won’t lie, I’ve definitely used the one pager with my students – most recently as…
Hi there! We're two middle school ELA teachers with a mission to share ideas, tips, and tricks for effectively teaching reading and writing in the secondary classroom. We're so happy you stopped by!
Caitlin + Jessica
