I read The Witch of Blackbird Pond on my own as a kid, but then had it spoiled for me by my school’s making it required reading. Nothing makes you hate a book more than having to sit through …

One of the first things teachers learn in their pre-service teaching classes is the importance of establishing effective classroom routines and procedures for

So… you’re a first-time middle school ELA teacher. Welcome to the madness, I guess! I’m kidding, but in all honesty, middle school isn’t quite like high school or elementary school. Middle school is its own unique level that you need to be prepared for as you get ready to run your classroom. But before we

As a teacher, I am always on the hunt for the perfect tools at the cheapest prices for my ELA classroom. Taking care of our students and keeping our learning

With the beginning of the school year right the corner, it is time to start thinking about which lessons will be most valuable for our students. Starting the

Here is what I do the first week back to teaching Middle School ELA. These back-to-school tips will help you start off on the right track.

From "candygeddon" to "glitcident," the words only make sense if you're a teacher.

Need a fun way to teach tone? Use a high school ELA game in your classroom using a deck of cards, a sharpie, and student brain power!

Part way through some lesson last year, I said that my students should “let it go.” I don’t remember what “it” was, exactly, but I remember two or three students jumped up and threw their arms out and sang the line from Frozen. Then, one started making up new lyrics for the song based on my lesson. It was ridiculous and funny and it all happened so fast. See, the thing is that we connect with music, and we don’t have to be particularly musical to do it. Music gets inside our heads and makes us feel things, and some tunes and lyrics never leave us. That’s why I (a non-musical person, by the way) love using music in the secondary ELA classroom. I’ve found that in middle school and high school, music breaks up a bit of the routine and allows students to access information that they may otherwise struggle with or find boring. Music can be used strategically (or just for fun!) in the secondary ELA classroom to increase engagement and retention. Here are seven ways I use music in my English classroom. 1. Present music as an avenue of direct instruction The easiest and most obvious way to use music in secondary ELA is to find a resource that puts a new concept to music. My favorite resource for using music in direct instruction is Flocabulary. I’ve used these short hip-hop videos to review story elements, introduce public speaking, and solidify some research skills. I also LOVE sharing Schoolhouse Rock with my students. Y’all, Schoolhouse Rock was already looking dorky and dated when I was a kid, but just *lean in* to this with your students. Tell them that you KNOW it’s dorky, but that you’re going to embrace that together in your classroom. 2. Introduce Song Analysis Another way to use music as a tool for direct instruction is by presenting songs as texts to be explored, analyzed, and imitated. I use songs to teach plot, genre, and figurative language. They are a short and easily accessible text (3-5 min) that provide a lot of fodder for student discussion. I do a whole Song Analysis lesson as part of my Short Stories unit, and you can download that lesson for free HERE. On my blog, I share 15 Songs to Use in Secondary ELA and 15 (More!) Songs to Use in Secondary ELA. Be sure to check those out, since they include ideas for analyzing song lyrics. 3. Play music to encourage relaxation & focus People from surgeons to athletes have been tapping into music’s relaxing properties before tackling a stressful situation. Remember Michael Phelps’ omnipresent headphones? We can allow our students the same opportunities and play some music while they’re writing, studying, or taking a test. Along this same line, music can be used to inspire creative writing. Encourage students to develop playlists for a certain writing project they’re working on. I often share my writing playlists with students to give them some ideas – my playlist for a sappy YA romance novel is completely different from my dystopian fairy tale rewrite playlist. Students should be encouraged to choose music that moves them towards the end goal: being creative and productive and awesome! 4. Have students create songs to demonstrate learning Music also makes a great option for a final project. Students can demonstrate what they've learned by making a song about it (or rewriting lyrics to a known song). My students write Symbolism Songs after reading Lord of the Flies or The Pearl, showing their interpretation of a symbol through music. 5. Show students how to create study songs Anyone who learned “The Fifty Nifty United States” as a kid knows the power of music to help memorize information. I mean, that stuff really sticks! Students can use music to help them study hard facts or vocabulary and definitions. They don't have to be amazing musicians to find a tune to make it stick - just have them try out making a recording of an effort on their phones. There is a simple ioS app called Recorder for this, or you can get a more sophisticated piece of software like Audacity. Eventually, they'll choose what study methods work best for them, but you can at least show them this tool is available. 6. Encourage storytelling with operas & symphonies You can also use music that's already out there and available to get students writing. Operas and symphonies both provide excellent opportunities for this, since they are a vehicle for a story anyway. You could play a piece from an opera and have students imagine the story. What emotions do they hear from the characters? Who's singing? What conflicts come to mind? You could have students write or discuss the stories they come up with, or even act them out in a scene set to the music. Don't share the original plot with them -- let them explore many possible answers. This is a great way to get them to engage in some creative writing, as well as explore the storytelling devices of classical music. 7. Actually, you know… play some music Also, you could just play music. :) Whenever I want to give students a set time to finish an activity, I put on a song or a playlist. For example, if students need 3-4 minutes to cut out foldables and title the pages of an interactive notebook spread, I'll put on a song. I also used the song “Final Countdown” last year for the last minutes that students assembled their writer’s workshop portfolios. What are some creative ways that you use music in your classrooms? We'd love to hear from you in comments or on IG @secondaryenglishcoffeeshop. :) Check out these other resources for using music by Coffee Shop teachers: Grammar Activities: Musical Grammar Mistakes by Presto Plans Analyzing Music Videos (Volume 2) by Stacey Lloyd

This past school year was a great one. With every school year that passes, I like to take a moment and reflect on activities that were successful in the

We need the bigger, better deal Every English teacher I know is looking for the bigger, better deal when it comes to assessing novels. We’ve moved WAY beyond the simple book report (I hope), and into the realm of critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis. In recent years I’ve tried the mandala (which you can read… Continue reading The Character Study One Pager- An Assessment for Any Novel

Filler Activities for ELA (blog post) What can you do with five extra minutes in secondary ELA? Here are a few ideas to engage students until the bell.

The content and skills students learn in their middle school English language arts classes provide them with a strong foundation and help prepare them for high school and beyond, and these middle school ELA lessons are just the ticket! From learning about fundamental grammar rules to learning how to become stronger and more confident writers, middle school is an important time for students to begin thriving in their English classes.

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Below is my list of the 15 best books for 6th graders. As an ELA teacher, these are my tried-and-true tools for unlocking the reader buried within all of my

Shhh! Did you hear that? It was the second bell. They’re COMING. Skipping, tripping, sauntering and marching right down that hallway. Are you ready for your students? Because make no mistake, they are ready for you! In an instant, the classroom goes from empty and silent to bursting with energy. Let’s face it: we teachers ... Read more

Curriculum pacing can be the hardest part of teaching. Follow this guide and use these resources from ELA Buffet to help get your class on track!

This fall marks the sixteenth year that I will be returning to school as an English teacher. Every summer I start planning for the year... what will I keep, what will I change, what will I try for the first time? Of course, after so many years there are bound to be many things that I ditch, and even more that I tweak and adjust to better fit the needs to my students. But, after more than ten years of use, I have a favorite strategy that I always make time for -- teaching writing with mentor sentences. Now, I can see what you're thinking, "Mentor Sentences...isn't that something used in elementary school?" And I have to admit, some people seem surprised when I tell them that I use these in high school, but stick with me here. If we want students to be good writers, we have to model good writing and that's all there is to it. Giving students strong models and plenty of opportunity for practice just makes sense. So how do I teach using Mentor Sentences in my own classroom? With mini-books focusing on a specific skill. I like to create mini-books for several reasons. One, mini-books are just that -- mini. For whatever reason, that makes them more special for students. It could be the novelty or the fact that it's not just another worksheet, but students really like the half-sheet size and they hold onto them! Next, mini-books allow for only so many pages, keeping them focused and well-organized. Finally, mini-books create a set of resources for students; they don't have to flip through pages and pages of notes to find what they're looking for. If students need a reminder about sentence variety, they just pull out their first Sassy Sentence mini-book and there it is. OK, so how do you actually teach using Mentor Sentences, you ask? I like to teach each book over several weeks, breaking down one skill at a time to give lots of time for practice. I have students assemble the books (an easy process because there's no cutting necessary), and then we go through the book one spread at a time. For each set of pages, there is a section for notes, mentor sentences as models, and space for students to write their own sentence. There are also examples in print (from popular books and short stories), space for students to search for examples in print, and space for more practice. I provide photo presentations to serve as stimulus, rather than having students think up their own sentences, relieving some of the pressure to be creative and instead letting them focus on the writing. Finally, there are two pages for students to practice writing longer paragraphs, incorporating the mentor sentences they have learned. Again, I provide a stimulus photo (and occasionally some notes about a topic), and students write at least seven sentences, three of which must be incorporate the new sentence rules they have learned. This takes students from the task of just writing individual stand- alone sentences, to developing their writing style and stamina, creating a more sophisticated paragraph. So what makes this my favorite strategy? It's easy: every year I have students tell me that they can't believe how much better their writing has gotten! It's exciting for all of us when they see their improvement and are proud of themselves. For that reason alone, I can't see ever abandoning this strategy. If you'd like to try this strategy for free, download this mini-unit which teaches Sentence Structure with simple, compound, and complex sentences. And when you love it, click here to check out all my other Mentor Sentence resources. I can't wait to hear what you think. Give them a try today and let me know! **UPDATE** I've now converted these resources to digital format, too, so if you're transitioning to a blended learning approach, you can use these resources on electronic devices.

Using ELA Mysteries in your classroom will bring an engaging take on ELA review and skills. Your students will love these!

After part one of guided reading and small groups in middle school ELA, this post outlines what the other students are doing during this time

What Makes the Best Anchor Charts? If I see students referring back, again and again, to an anchor chart in my classroom, I know the space on my classroom wall is being used well. On the other hand, if an anchor chart rarely gets a second glance, the space is wasted. As difficult as it is to take down a chart you spent time and energy making, and all teachers know we do not have much of either, the space is best used for a more effective chart or resource. Tips for making anchor charts Focus on one objective The chart should be easy to read Keep it simple Use MNEMONICs when possible The anchor chart should be pleasing to the eye The anchor charts, below, are among the top charts that are tried and true resources for students year after year!!

Mentor sentences are a great way to blend reading, writing, and grammar. Here are some ideas for how you can use them in fun, yet meaningful ways.

Book clubs for middle school and high school have become the new version of literature circles. Book clubs in school represent a more authentic and organic means of literary study because they are more student-directed whereas literature circles are more teacher-directed. Check out this guide with

Because picture books never really go out of style, and also because big kids love graphic novels, too. This post contains affiliate links.

Incorporating drama is an enriching way to analyze text in your English classes. Sometimes it can be difficult for students to get a full grasp on these

Getting your classroom to manage itself, procedures, models and more. Visit us:

Reader's theater is the perfect tool to add to your middle school ELA toolbox for so many reasons: it is interactive, highly engaging, enhances student

This is a culmination of my own anchor charts, plus the best anchor charts that I could find online. This is a great place to find effective charts that get to the heart of what you are teaching in workshop. If you have a favorite chart that you'd like to add, please contact me! Also, if I have not properly given credit for an anchor chart, let me know so that I can fix it.

Engaging ideas for teaching literary genres with literature units in middle and high school ELA. Explore some activities you can try today!

Pokemon Go was all the rage in 2016. Fortnite in 2017. You get where we are going with this! Getting back into the swing of things of a new school year can be tricky, but we can help! An easy way to connect with your students is to make your back-to-school lessons relevant and relatable. How can you do this? We have compiled a list of several ways that you can easily incorporate teen trends into your back-to-school lessons for the first few weeks (or anytime!) of the year. Most teens love music and connect with it on a personal level. You can bridge that connection by incorporating music into your daily routines. For example, play an upbeat song between bell work and discussion time to motivate your students. If you struggle to know what's popular with your students, just ask them! The beginning of the year is the perfect time to find out more about them and their music preferences. You can give them a writing prompt asking what their favorite songs are or be even more specific; ask them: Which song makes you want to get up and dance? Which song could you listen to over and over again and never grow tired of? Once you have compiled a list of their favorite songs, search the lyrics of a few. You can often find the best examples of figurative language in song lyrics. If the lyrics are appropriate, print them off and play the song in class and ask students to find examples of figurative devices. This activity can be done anytime, but it's for great back-to-school to review figurative language and to gauge your students' learning levels. Another way to incorporate music directly into learning is to compare popular music artists with writers or subjects you are reading. During poetry and Shakespeare units, I love challenging students to see if they can guess whether the line or phrase is from a song or a poem. I created an entire series with various poets and musicians that you can download here. I'll start out with a presentation and a student handout so the as whole can engage in the activity. It's so much fun to see their reactions when they swear there's no way the line came from an old poet, but it actually did! The next day, I'll display the bulletin board (below) so students can continue to interact with the lines of poetry and songs. One way to grab the attention of your students is to explore books that may have been released since school has been out and/or sharing some titles of books that will be released in the coming months! Talk about anticipation! :) Here are a few YA books that came out recently: Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi The Haunted by Danielle Vega We Walked the Sky by Lisa Fiedler Here are a few YA books that will be coming out soon: Frankly in Love by David Yoon The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh You can also see what your students are interested in by displaying these Genre Reading Cards around a few tables in your classroom (or in the library). Simply, set out the different genre cards, select a few books that fit within each genre, set a timer for 2-3 minutes and let your students explore the various titles. Follow-up with a brief discussion on their favorite books they may have already read (or discovered) through the stations. This is a quick and easy way to see what genres they are interested in or may be interested in exploring this school year. Whether it's the World Cup or the Super Bowl, chances are many of your students are fans of sports or are familiar with at least one sport. Using this FREE survey at the beginning of the year, ask your students which sports or teams are their favorite. (Click HERE to get an editable digital copy of the survey ready for distance learning!) Once you have an idea about their favorites, you can incorporate them into your lessons. For example, if you are writing a sample sentence for a grammar lesson, name-drop a player from one of their favorite teams. My students are usually divided between being either a Chicago Cubs or a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, so a sample sentence may be: "Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler sat down together to have pizza after the Cubs defeated the Cardinals last night." Every two years, you can integrate the Olympics into your lessons. Re-word the titles of your activities or assignments by using Olympic-themed names. Instead of calling it a class discussion or a "think-pair-share," call it the "Opening Ceremony" or "Passing the torch of knowledge." A quiz can be called a bobsled competition or a vault competition for gymnastics. Award the top three scores with gold, silver and bronze medals. If you teach multiple sections of the same class, have your classes compete for the overall winner. Awards points for the class with the fewest tardies, the highest scores on quizzes or assignments, and/or the liveliest discussions. Better yet, have your students create the areas for competitions and what they'd like to call them. They can even pick which country they would like to represent (or create their own country). Some students may not like traditional sports, but love video and online gaming. The popularity of videos such as Minecraft and Fortnite paired with the rise of schools adopting eSports as official extracurricular activities indicate that our students still love gaming. Instead of fighting it, try to embrace it by giving students opportunities to utilize both the skills they learn through games with academic skills. For example, I asked my students to recreate a scene from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. One group built Rome in Minecraft and reenacted one of the scenes live as the class watched. My head was swimming a bit, but it was pretty amazing to see what they created together and how they adapted it to the text. They learned more about the play from that one assignment and had so much fun doing it. This particular assignment may not work with other games, but if you allow your students the possibility of incorporating their favorite game into a project, you may be amazed at the ideas that they come up with. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things as a student was when we were able to follow-up a book with a movie. As a visual person, I always appreciated when I saw a book come to life after reading it (even though most people prefer the book over the movie). Watching the movie after reading the book can lead to a lot of fun class discussions. Here are a few fun prompts that you can use to follow-up after your are done reading and watching! What did you like better, the book or the movie? Why was the book better than the movie? Why was the movie better than the book? What did the book have that the movie didn't? What did the movie have that the book didn't? A great way to grab the attention of your students would be to plan a unit around an upcoming movie release based on a book. This might be an older book or perhaps, a newer one. Regardless, your students will think it's pretty cool that they are going to be able to watch a movie. I realize it's not possible for all classes to be able to watch a movie in a theatre, but it's a fun and quick field trip if you can make it work! Movie theatres usually give a discount on larger groups and I usually try to work in a price that includes popcorn and a drink for everyone, too. If you think money may be an issue for some students, it does not hurt to ask your administraton for some assistance. They will, almost always, find a way to make sure everyone in your class is able to participate. You can also plan a unit around a particular theme of a movie coming out (or already in stores), if you're looking to take a break from reading for a few weeks. Once students gain a better understanding or appreciation about a particular theme, you can show them a movie where they can explore that theme even more. This way, if taking your students to a movie theatre isn't an option, then show a movie in your classroom instead! Note: You can ask your students which movies they may be interested in watching at the start of the year, then surprise them with the themed unit based around that film! One of the easiest ways to incorporate both social media and pop culture all at once is incorporating current events into your classroom. You can do this on a local, national or international level. You can simply ask your students to start talking about what's happening in your town, in the world, or even more specifically, with their favorite movie actors, singers, bands, etc. What's the gossip with their favorite celebrities? Once your ideas have been shared and topics have been listed, you can use this list as a means for an impromptu writing activity, as an essay topic, etc. The possibilities are endless. If you're interested in checking out more ways on how you can incorporate pop culture into the classroom, click HERE. You might also be interested in: Soundtrack of my Life/Playlist of my Summer

These photographs show a glimpse of what times were like during the 1930's in Oklahoma.

I recently just finished my first set of Middle School Mentor Sentences to teach grammar. As I’ve started talking about and posting about Mentor Sentences, I’ve realized that most teachers fall into the following categories when it comes to implementing mentor sentences: I have no idea what mentor sentences are, but I am intrigued now. I ... Read more

These ideas are absolutely genius.

While I am a firm believer in students reading real books that they choose and doing this often, I also love to include reading games and reading centers in my instruction. On this post, I will share three of my favorite types of reading games and centers for 4th and 5th grade, free reading games […]

Of of the most engaging and interactive ways to start the new school year is by facilitating a back-to-school station activity in your classroom. Using back-to-school stations as a classroom activity during the first week of school a great way to get your students up and interacting with each other. Furthermore, back-to-school stations are also great for getting to know your students and handing out important class information.

Use independent reading research to find out why you should be promoting audiobooks, eBooks, and print books during free choice reading.

Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner. Check out some fun, exciting activities to use in your English Language Arts classroom!

I was recently looking back at my goals for the 2015-2016 school year, and one was to embrace some elementary teaching methods in my second...

Interested in using anchor charts with older students? Read about benefits, best practices, and materials to make the experience a success.

An English teacher’s life is packed, and for the most part on top of that, we are doing more than just teaching English. For me, I’m the yearbook adviser, the graduation coordinator, senior class sponsor, member of the leadership committee, etc. I’m sure your situation is similar. So, when I can cut down on what […]

Since I don't have a vocabulary book or program that I HAVE to follow at my school, I used to always worry if I was doing enough vocabulary instruction. Even when I was theoretically following best practices or authentically investigating words as they came up in texts, I was concerned about if I was really helping my students become better readers. After a lot of trial and error, I'm now proud of what we do for middle school vocabulary, which falls into four main areas: Specific Words for Texts and Units Word of the Week Program (see this post) Vocabulary.com use for differentiation (see bottom of post) Greek & Latin roots instruction (see this blog post for details) This mix of interaction, instruction, differentiation, and assessment is working for my students better than ever before (and is showing up in their reading scores). Today, I'm going to share the details of my Word of the Day/Week setup (also known as the Word Nerd Challenge), which is essentially doing deeper instruction of 40 words (10 words per quarter). Here's How it Works: Because I teach middle school, I need the materials to be age-appropriate and easy to read, so I've made my Word of the Week resources minimalist and without clutter -- print-and-go materials with no need to add extra, unnecessary information. I want my students to learn the vocabulary terms with the definitions, synonyms and antonyms, Greek or Latin roots, and so on. Here are the steps for how I carry out the Word of the Week program in my class: Pre-test: Check initial understanding of the 40 words Bell-ringer: Use the PowerPoint visual display (or just stick the guided notes packet under your document camera) while students record information into their guided notes journal Guided notes: Fill-in-the-blank graphic organizer customized for each word Flashcards: Pre-made Quizlet sets (for each 10-word set AND overall) Quizzes: Students take a quiz every 10 words Bulletin board: Display the cumulative list of words learned this year Post-test: Assess growth over time I sometimes throw in some additional things, like these: Skills test: An optional assessment with 10 NEW words to practice the skills taught through the guided notes journal Certificates: Celebrate student victory from the post-test results Journal cover and extras for the guided notes, like student directions, growth chart, etc. Personally, the vocabulary terms that I use in my classroom are ACT/SAT level words, even though I teach middle school. This prepares them for high school and for those tests that they'll have to take eventually to help them gain admission to colleges and universities. Another benefit of using words at this level is that they commonly appears in real-world contexts, like the news! If you'd like a ready-made vocabulary program that will take a task off your plate, then you can purchase my Word of the Week Program here (Volume 1) and here (Volume 2) in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I've taken all of the work out of it for you and created a ready-to-use but editable vocabulary program! How I use Vocabulary.com This is a paid program that my school purchased after I requested it. Here's how we used it last year (our first year of the program): Every student had an account, and I set them up into their class periods. Every student had a goal to "master" 10 words per quarter, at minimum. For some students, this was challenging (especially for those who struggle with reading or vocabulary and took a long time to get the several-questions-right-in-a-row needed to "master" a word). However, many students exceeded this goal - by the hundreds. At the end of the quarter, students logged their statistics as well as writing down a short sample of words they mastered and words they're currently working on. (This gave me, and their parents, a view of the difficulty level of the words that the program had given them.) I'm happy to say that the vocabulary.com program is their favorite online program (more than, say, IXL or CommonLit), and students were authentically choosing to play it in their downtime. (This review of vocabulary.com is not an ad and is my personal opinion.) What are some of your favorite methods for teaching vocabulary? Let me know in the comments!

Get your students reading with these 11 great middle school books made into movies.

We know students in the middle grades can make an argument to throw a pizza party, to get out of[…]Continue Reading

As a teacher, I am always on the hunt for the perfect tools at the cheapest prices for my ELA classroom. Taking care of our students and keeping our learning