Gretchen Schroeder finds her students’ enthusiasm for writing short stories flags quickly without some instruction and guidance.
Gretchen Schroeder analyzes the use of writing notebooks in her classroom, focusing on what’s confusing or frustrating for students. She makes some small changes that yield big results.
If you want stronger poetry from students, a good starting point might be to explore how to write a powerful simile. Gretchen Schroeder explains how she helps her high school students play with and create better similes.
Gretchen Schroeder finds helping her students see the value in rereading poems is all about helping them pay close attention to imagery.
Gretchen Schroeder finds just telling her high school class to include textual evidence when making points and arming them with sticky notes leaves many students bewildered. She regroups and comes up with activities to scaffold their understanding of what makes for valid evidence.
Gretchen Schroeder’s high school students are surprised to see a deck of cards on their supply list. The cards are a tool for teaching the vocabulary of tone in creative ways.
Gretchen Schroeder reflects on why some of her students have developed a fear of reading by the time they reach high school.
Gretchen Schroeder finds new routines in her high school workshop means letting go of old expectations.
Gretchen Schroeder struggles to understand the meaning and value of her teaching when two former students overdose and die in separate incidents, and another is indicted on murder charges. These events lead to deep reflection on how teachers can move beyond feelings of sadness, apathy, and envy.
Katherine Sokolowski had a dream — her whole community reading and celebrating the same book. She explains how she helped coordinate, organize, and purchase hundreds of books for a community-wide reading of Wonder.
Gretchen Schroeder uses online videos as resources to teach her high school students to appreciate spoken-word poetry and write their own.
Gretchen Schroeder shares a quick exercise she’s developed for her high school students to hone grammar and editing skills using online video resources and individual Chromebooks.
Gretchen Schroeder adapts the popular "Article of the Week" activity with podcasts as an alternative in her high school classroom, and shares some of her favorite podcasts to use with students.
Gretchen Schroeder focuses solely on revision to introductions in her high school classroom with three fun activities to teach students new possibilities for beginnings.
Gretchen Schroeder finds that any vocabulary routine eventually gets stale in her high school classroom. She shares a couple of favorite options for reinvigorating word learning.
Gretchen Schroeder is frustrated when a novel that has worked well for many years doesn’t appeal to her current high school students. Letting go of it is hard.
Gretchen Schroeder develops a unit on humor writing that engages and delights her high school students.
Gretchen Schroeder winnows many competing demands at the start of the year down to five clear objectives in her high school classroom.
Gretchen Schroeder shares some conversation fixes for when talk goes awry in her high school classroom.
Gretchen Schroeder finds creative ways to pique interest in poetry in her high school classroom.
Ruth Ayres shares some of her favorite mentors and mentor texts for developing good writing processes and habits.
Gretchen Schroeder finds that tweets are a terrific quick assessment tool for analyzing student understanding of everything from nonfiction texts to character development in classic literature.
Gretchen Schroeder uses the format of the Amazing Race television show to help her high school students master materials for final exams and get moving throughout the school for a fun break.
Gretchen Schroeder makes a case for teaching the sonnet to teenagers in the age of texts and Twitter.
Gretchen Schroeder looks for new ways to help high school students learn words.
Gretchen Schroeder has three strategies for slowing down with her high school students and savoring literacy learning.
Gretchen Schroeder finds the article of the week activity is an excellent vehicle for learning about content literacy gaps in student background knowledge and how to fill them.
Gretchen Schroeder finds one mentor text has many uses as her high school students explore memoir writing.
Kim Campbell suggests activities and prompts to energize narrative writing with teens.
Gretchen Schroeder melds famous artwork with literacy instruction in her high school classroom.
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