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Quick Vocabulary Practice and Assessment

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.

When a Book Doesn’t Work

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.

Humor Writing with Teens

Gretchen Schroeder develops a unit on humor writing that engages and delights her high school students.

My Five Objectives for the Start of the School Year

Gretchen Schroeder winnows many competing demands at the start of the year down to five clear objectives in her high school classroom.

Small Solutions for Big Problems with Classroom Discussions

Gretchen Schroeder shares some conversation fixes for when talk goes awry in her high school classroom.

Mentors for Process and Habits

Ruth Ayres shares some of her favorite mentors and mentor texts for developing good writing processes and habits.

Tweets in the High School Classroom

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.

Amazing Race

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.

Getting Teens Out of Reading Ruts: The Sampler

Carly Ullmer describes the activity she’s developed for getting her middle school readers out of reading ruts by sampling different authors and genres.

The Case for the Sonnet

Gretchen Schroeder makes a case for teaching the sonnet to teenagers in the age of texts and Twitter.

Vocabulary Instruction: Where to Start?

Gretchen Schroeder looks for new ways to help high school students learn words.

Slow Down

Gretchen Schroeder has three strategies for slowing down with her high school students and savoring literacy learning.

Extended Inquiry with Article of the Week

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.

Mentor Texts and Memoir Writing

Gretchen Schroeder finds one mentor text has many uses as her high school students explore memoir writing.

Invitations for Narrative Writing

Kim Campbell suggests activities and prompts to energize narrative writing with teens.

Reading Pictures in High School

Gretchen Schroeder melds famous artwork with literacy instruction in her high school classroom.

“Are We Gonna Watch the Movie?”

Gretchen Schroeder finds her high school students are always eager to see the movies related to the novels they are reading in class. Yet it rarely makes sense to show the entire film. She explains how to choose clips judiciously.

Core Memories and Gotcha Moments

Jennifer Schwanke explains why pop quizzes can be damaging to students by using a pop culture reference.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

Gretchen Schroeder finds the classic dinner party assignment is a fun way for her high school students to explore kindred spirits in literature late in the school year.

Group Composing

Gretchen Schroeder finds group composing is a fun way to build community, writing skills, and understanding of how arguments work with her high school students.

Teaching Search Skill Basics to Students

Bill Bass has advice for teaching web-based search skills to students.

Letter Writing with High School Students

Kim Campbell instills a love for a lost art in her high school students.

10 Ways to Publish Student Work

Erin Ocon compiles a list of the ways she publishes writing of her teen students.

Using Lord of the Flies to Teach Argument

Gretchen Schroeder has suggestions for using short texts and close reading to help students comprehend The Lord of the Flies.

How to Get a Book to Catch Fire

If your goal is to get teens more excited about independent reading, Gretchen Schroeder has suggestions to help.

Inform, Inspire, Instruct: Essays as Mentor Texts in High School

Kim Campbell shares her favorite nonfiction short texts to use with adolescents.

Rethinking Grammar Instruction in High School

What conventions can be taught in a way that sticks with older adolescents? Gretchen Schroeder slows down and focuses to improve her instruction.

Close Reading and Multiple Layers in Middle School

Christy Rush-Levine uses striking texts that inspire multiple readings by her middle school students.

Can Books Harm Children? Support and Censorship

Shari Frost asks a provocative question: Can books harm children? She explores practical ways for teachers to walk the fine line between support and censorship in matching books to students.

Giving Audio Feedback to Student Writing

If you find yourself buried in student work that needs a response, you’ll enjoy suggestions from Bill Bass for using a nifty new online tool.

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