Also known as sensory breaks, the energizing brain breaks help improve attention, focus, retention, self-regulation, and more!
15 exit ticket ideas for any subject or grade level!
Beat the overwhelm of teaching an absolute beginner with this downloadable checklist
These engaging, science-backed activity ideas are a must for you high school social studies classroom. - Let's Cultivate Greatness
Teaching middle school is like no other teaching assignment - like no other task on Earth for that matter. As a teacher, you need to be just the right mix of cool and strict - but most important, calm. You need to have a good relationship with your students overall based on mutual respect. But that's much easier said than done. Here's the thing about middle schoolers in particular: They want to look good in front of their peers. What their peers think of them is of utmost importance to them (whether they are in touch with that reality or not). Therefore, they will "save face" if they think you, the teacher, are criticizing them or making them look bad in any way. (Meanwhile, you meant no harm; you were simply calling them out on a behavior they clearly exhibited). The thing is you can't call them out in front of their peers. I mean you can, but you shouldn't. Whenever possible, call out their less-than-stellar behavior one-on-one, without their peers hearing it. This could mean going to their desk and whispering, or waiting for a good time to call them to your desk ever so calmly. It's easier to call them out from wherever you are, but if you want your class under control and to maintain respect, somehow arrange a private convo instead. The Goal is this, which is my #1 Rule for Teaching Middle School: No Power Struggles Have you ever noticed how some kids act so differently when their peers aren't around? Let's say a kid in your class before lunch was really pushing your buttons and disrupting class, but then he forgets his lunch in your room. He comes back to get it. You two talk. He's really nice and respectful! You have a pleasant conversation. You're wondering if this is the same person or perhaps a twin brother you weren't aware of. What is going on? IT'S BECAUSE HIS PEERS AREN'T THERE! I'm using a boy as an example, but the same thing applies to girls. Do NOT try to address a student's behavior in full view of his or her peers (a.k.a. the audience). You could get yourself into a full-blown power struggle before you know it. At first, by drawing attention to his or her behavior in front of his or her peers, you may inadvertently say something or suggest something that makes the student, from his or her perspective, look bad or uncool or different in some way. If you're not careful, you might find that the child you're disciplining escalates the situation, essentially trying to look good at any cost, even if that means receiving a negative consequence. For some kids, receiving a negative consequence is just more attention (and even negative attention is attention) and the whole situation will most likely make most of the students in the class think you're the bad guy and he or she is the good guy. You don't want that. There should not be a bad guy or a good guy, just you the teacher calmly in control. What you want to do is simply find a way to calmly speak to the student one-on-one. Keep your voice calm, logically explain everything, follow through on a fitting consequence OUT OF VIEW OF THEIR PEERS and most likely you'll avoid the full-blown power struggle. And, whenever possible, DO POINT OUT POSITIVE BEHAVIORS IN FRONT OF THEIR PEERS. Give them the good attention they want deep down inside. Say something like "Hey everyone, I really like how Alex is using his notes to write his essay. Wow, he's almost done." I heard you are supposed to give five praises for every one disciplinary comment. I say I heard that, because I need to work on that lol. GOOD LUCK! Here's another trick I learned. When you provide your students with high-interest learning resources they feel are relevant to them and interesting in some way, they will actually behave better. They will get sucked into whatever you are trying to get them read, write, or do and forget about misbehaving. So, that's why I created these high-interest informational texts and tasks. I went out of my way to make the articles super interesting to middle schoolers by writing about things that interest them. And, guess what? It worked. I keep hearing from teachers how kids get so into these passages. They actually want to answer the questions. They even want to discuss the articles as a group. And teachers keep reporting how much time and hassle I have saved them. I did that by aligning every text and task to a specific Reading Informational Text Standard and did that 10 times to cover all 10 of them individually. Now teachers don't have to go searching for the right articles that bring out the right skills. Try both volumes and use them all year long! Your students are actually going to behave better because they won't be bored! I even made them in both PDF and interactive Google Slides in case you want the easy distance learning option! And don't forget to pin this so you can read it again or share it with a friend. Best wishes to you this year! You got this!
Read about how, when, and why to use one pagers in the ELA classroom as a response to reading. Templates, examples, and scaffolding help!
Middle School Rewards Are you searching for a way to motivate your middle school students? Found a way to track positive behavior but not sure what to do now? Treasure box? No, that's too elementary. Prizes? No, that's too expensive. Reward coupons are the way to go! Your students will love the opportunity to be rewarded with things that matter to them. Plus, these no-cost options will cut down on the amount of money you need to spend on your classroom! Or, really, just allow you to spend it on other things because let's be real, you'll probably need more pencils or tissues soon! Check out the reward coupon options I provide my students: 1. Choose your seat for the day This is one of the most sought-after rewards in classrooms with seating charts. If you do not use seating charts, you can still use this reward; simply let students choose the type of seat they sit on. If you are REALLY flexible, you could even let your seat (at your desk or anywhere else in the room) be a choice. 2. Free assignment pass My students LOVE this reward. It becomes especially popular close to the end of the grading period. Weird, right?! #procrastinatorsunite 3. Assignment extension This one can be really helpful for student-athletes. In my 7th grade classes, it's often their first time trying to balance practice, games, AND school work. I'm thankful that my school supports students' interests but still holds them accountable. 4. Extra credit points I find it funny that the students who like extra credit the most, are usually the ones who don't need it! Don't tell anybody, but I was that kid! 🙋 5. Drop the lowest grade Some teachers use this practice routinely, but if you don't this can be a great reward. You may want/need to add some qualifying information to this reward; like it must be a daily grade, not a test or project grade. Please make sure you abide by your district/building policies regarding grades. 6. Work in the hallway This is a reward because of the freedom. Middle school students love to feel free, like they have control, and that you are not watching their every-single-move! 7. Listen to music while working This reward is easy if you are in a district/building with 1-1 devices or if you are a little more lenient with your cell phone policy. I do include a couple of qualifying statements with this reward - It can ONLY be used during independent work time and the student MUST have headphones. Image by Karolina Grabowska 8. Work with a friend Who doesn't like to work with their friends?! The social aspect of middle school life is central. Sure, this probably shouldn't be redeemed on test day, but on daily work, why not? Clipart from Pigknit 9. Bring a snack to class I have a snack DRAWER in my desk, so I am definitely not opposed to snacks in the classroom. I know some people worry about mess, if you are one of those people...add some guidelines to this reward. 10. Bring a drink to class I would recommend that you tell your students that their drinks should have a screw-top lid. Less chance of spillage. Image by Kaleb Tapp 11. Chew gum in class Gum is precious commodity. I don't know about your school, but at my school, if you are the kid with gum, you are the most popular! 12. Eat lunch in the classroom This is something that often happens at the elementary level, but sometimes we forget that older students want to build those connections with adults too. 13. Wear a hat in class At the middle school level, you may not have the authority to say that a student can wear a hat all day long, but the hat reward can be redeemed when that student is in your classroom. 14. Take off your shoes in class I know some people find this gross but think about how you get comfy. I don't know about you, but one of the first things I do when I get home is slip off my shoes! Image by Jacob Owens 15. Free time A free time reward can come in many formats to fit your classroom environment. Some free time rewards I have used include time to read a personal book, draw, play on technology, play board games, do puzzles, and just time to chat with friends (as long as it doesn't interrupt the rest of the classroom. You can purchase a set of ready-made reward cards from my Teachers Pay Teachers store - Here
A blog about teaching middle school ELA and math.
The British playwright W. Somerset Maugham once said “the crown of literature is poetry.” For the English teachers out there who have spent a good part of the year teaching complex novels, grammar rules and how to write a constructed response, this probably rings true! Teaching poetry can be such a treat. It’s fun to have the students interpret ever-deeper meanings from even the shortest of stanzas. And it’s satisfying to find just the right poem to complement the theme or unit you’re focused on right now – be it a rhyming bit about dogs to break up your reading of Where the Red Fern Grows or a more serious poem that pays homage to Memorial Day. The great thing about poetry is that it can be engaging, yet efficient; a couple read-throughs may take only a few minutes and can refresh your students on any number of skills, including close reading, determining central idea, interpreting figurative language, and citing text evidence. Or, it may simply open up a conversation. It’s always great to get the kids talking about literature! So, with all the poems to choose from and all the ways that they can be taught in the classroom where does a teacher start? Well, today, I thought I'd share with you my 5 favorite poems to read, analyze, and teach in the middle school classroom. "In Just" by E. E. Cummings This spring poem is told through the perspective of a child. It's the perfect example of Cummings's poetic innovations. In it, he plays with language, spelling, form, and punctuation. I love teaching and sharing this poem because it's fun and a wonderful way to illustrate how poetry is limitless. Students love discovering that all the typical rules that govern English Language Arts are thrown out the window with poetry. It's mud-luscious! Teach it with this Interactive Flip Book Resource. "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost Looking for a perfect way to combine literature and poetry? Well, look no further than Frost's poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay." You might already recognize it from The Outsiders. In the novel, Johnny Cade tells Ponyboy to "stay gold." This poem perfectly portrays the theme of the novel, but it works great in isolation, too. Its message that all good things must come to an end is relevant to so many experiences that our adolescent students are having. They'll love Frost's words and message. Help students analyze this poem and four others with this Poetry Analysis Unit. Great news! I've put together an exclusive free lesson for analyzing "Nothing Gold Can Stay!" Sign up below to receive the entire lesson plan, student resources and answer keys. Then, keep your eyes on your inbox because I'll be sending over 50 pages of more free poetry resources your way! Sign me up! "A light exists in spring" by Emily Dickinson I love a poem that makes students dive deep into its meaning and Dickinson's "A light exists in spring" does just that. This poem is complex enough for students investigate figurative language and tone before analyzing its meaning. I've also found that students love learning about Emily Dickinson. They're fascinated by the way she lived much of her life in seclusion. Pairing this poem with a study on Dickinson has always been a hit in my classroom. Celebrate this poem and Emily Dickinson with this reading comprehension learning centers and poem analysis resource. "Journey to Be" by Mark R. Slaughter Here's a contemporary poem that middle schoolers really relate to. It's "Journey to Be" by Mark R. Slaughter. His poem perfectly illustrates that life is about the journey and not the destination. I love sharing and teaching this poem with students at the end of the school year. It's a great read aloud. I've also used it as part of a journey-themed unit. Students love it! Teach "Journey to Be" with this collection of Journey Poems Analysis and Writing. You could even combine it with this FREE end of the year reflection book. "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes What's not to love about the message in Hughes's poem "Mother to Son?" I've taught this poem with students of all grade levels and they all love it. It's message of perseverance is not only important, but it's also so inspirational. This is a great one to share with students before standardized assessments or any time kids could use a little motivation. Help students interpret and analyze "Mother to Son" with this poetry analysis unit. Reading, sharing, and analyzing poetry with middle school students can be so rewarding. There's nothing like watching a class full of students discover a poem's deeper meaning and realize that poetry doesn't have to be intimidating. On the contrary, poetry can be super accessible and even fun! Don't forget... Sign up here: Sign me up! Thanks for stopping by, Mary Beth P.S. Download this FREE Poetry Catalog filled with resources to make teaching poetry fun and engaging. There's even an exclusive poetry writing lesson included. Yahoo!
Manage your middle schoolers during speech therapy with my 10 best strategies for behavior management to encourage and motivate!
Listen to this Special Ed Podcast with 15 great ideas for Functional Centers for students with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism in High School. Read more and subscribe today!
Teaching blackout poetry is an engaging way to help spruce up your poetry unit. Show a few examples, and your students will be eager to create a blackout masterpiece of their own. Keep reading to learn what blackout poetry is and just what you need to do to teach it. So, you’re thinking about teaching… Read More »A Beginner’s Guide To Teaching Blackout Poetry
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
This blog post will introduce you to six simple, fun, and enriching project-based learning ideas for your English Language Arts classroom.
Want to introduce a money project to your students? Check out these personal finance project examples for middle and high school. Every so often, I find a fun and interesting personal finance project example that
Do you need warm up ideas? I want to share 3 warm up ideas for social studies classes with you. These are engaging and easy to implement!
Why I don't review the syllabus on the first day of class in high school and what I do instead. Fun first day of school activities and icebreakers!
Something new we've learned this year is that TED has some really interesting math videos. Here are a few TED Talks for middle school kids who hate math, for those days when you really need to do something different, or need a bit of a break from the norm.
Create a classroom of writers with these fun writing activities for middle school students! There's something for everyone!
Public Speaking Games: 7 outrageously good fun-filled speech activities to build confidence and skills. Good for middle school upwards.
Analyzing writing curriculums, planning writing workshop and teaching writing lessons can be overwhelming. You might think, how am I going to fit everything in and produce successful writers? Where do I start? What skills do they need? This post will share the 7 BASIC WRITING LESSONS that every teacher should teach! With this basic knowledge, students will be able to perform other writing assignments more effectively. The following skills are not only effective in upper elementary, they are often needed at the middle school level for review or the primary level for differentiation. So yes, every teacher should teach them! If you start with these 7 fundamental skills, it will set the expectations for your writing lessons and assignments throughout the year! Frequently Asked Questions What are the basic skills and what order should I teach them? Sentence Structure 1. Complete Sentences Lesson for complete sentences 2. Fragments Lesson for fragments 3. Run-ons Lesson for run-ons Paragraph Writing 4. Topic Sentences Lesson for topic sentences 5. Relevant Details Lesson for relevant details 6. Transition Words Lesson for transition words 7. Closing Sentences Lesson for closing sentences How much time should I dedicate to teaching these fundamental skills? I recommend one day for each skill. If you spend a whole writing block for each skill, students will benefit from the practice. How do I teach each skill? First: Start with an anchor chart explaining the skill. (See each lesson link above for effective anchor charts.) Second: Provide examples. Students can share examples too! Next: Students should take notes. I love using Interactive Writing Notebooks to take notes. Research supports the use of interactive notebooks through studies on multiple intelligences, the brain and note taking. Here are a few videos to Set Up Interactive Writing Notebooks. Click photo for the Upper Elementary Version. A Primary Version is also available. Then: Identify the skill. Provide practice sheets and task cards for students to practice identifying the skill in sentences and paragraphs. Last: Apply the skill. Students should have the opportunity to write their own sentence or paragraph to apply the particular skill. What if I can't fit the lesson in one writing block? If you can't extend the days to complete them, there are other ways to get the whole lesson in. You can put practice sheets or task cards in a center, or you can have students apply the skill for homework or morning work the next day. What if my students, some of my students, or absent students can't do interactive notebooks? Make a small anchor chart to put in their notebooks with the same information! If you don't have a printable poster, take a picture of the anchor chart you used in class and print them off! I hope you found this post helpful and your students become successful writers this year! Connect With Me! TPT Store Facebook Pinterest My Blog
What does a successful writing workshop look like? Here are strategies that will ensure successful writing workshops all year.
Show, Don't Tell: A Writing Minilesson! This blog post focuses on teaching students to write showing sentences instead of telling sentences. It includes an anchor chart and a FREE Bingo game!
Do you hate to teach poetry? Do you want your students to learn and enjoy poetry? Try these simple ways to learn how to teach poetry...
Find good books for your middle school students who are reluctant readers, maybe even struggling readers, books that are motivating, some at lower levels.
What to do when your schedule has the tiniest gap and there's not enough time to accomplish much? Classroom time fillers from teachers who've been there.
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
Top 3 Units for Middle School General Music. Organized Chaos. Ideas and resources for project based learning with middle school general music students. World music, composition, and careers in music.
If there are two things my students know, it is that I assign paragraphs often and that I grade them rather harshly -especially in the second semester. It’s
Freaking out over how in the world can you actually use centers and stations in your classroom without being completely overwhelmed? Concerned that you don’t have enough time, don’t know how to enforce student accountability, don’t know what the stations should look like, or panicking that you simply can’t keep up? These are absolutely valid
Classroom management strategies for middle school are not the same as elementary strategies. Learn how to manage a middle school classroom.
A multiple choice quiz after reading is a quick and easy way to check student comprehension, but it doesn't allow you to assess deeper understanding and it certainly isn't fun or creative. If you are looking for more meaningful and engaging activities to use with students during literature circles or a novel unit, here's twelve ideas that are favorites in my classroom and the Common Core standards they align with.
Looking for games to play with a classroom? This list of English games in the classroom is exactly what you need to engage students!
I love teaching poetry and can't wait to share these fun ideas with you! This post is full of ways you can make poetry fun in your middle school classroom.
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Looking for high school rewards or middle school rewards to motivate students? Tired of finding reward ideas that are more applicable to elementary kids than your 8th, 9th, or 10th graders? No need to look any further. As a language teacher, I'm always searching for high school incentives to get my trickier classes to speak
TED Talks are informative, engaging, and often leave me thinking. Here are some of my favorite TED Talks for students in middle and high school.
My favorite teaching units are my research and rhetorical analysis unit. I love teaching rhetorical analysis and assigning students a rhetorical analysis PAPA square. Read on to learn more about the rhetorical analysis PAPA square activity and to sign up to receive your own free copy! I love providing my students with the knowledge and resources they need to critically read and analyze text, know why it is powerful, and understand how the author crafted it. I feel that truly understanding the language and the text, primarily through rhetorical analysis, is something that makes all of my students critical thinkers.
There are so many great options for middle and high school homeschool electives for teens that it can be hard to narrow down the choices.
Find powerful point of view teaching activities and ideas including strong books and anchor charts to strengthen students' understanding.
middle school chorus
This blog post will introduce you to six simple, fun, and enriching project-based learning ideas for your English Language Arts classroom.
In the past five years, I've tried everything a variety of methods to meet the grammar needs of that year's class of students. Let me save you the trouble of finding some things out the hard way... as well as some ideas that are just plain cool. Here's the problem: Teachers of English are put into a tricky set of dilemmas every school year: How do find "enough" time for students to master, or at least improve, in different grammar topics? How do we engage students in a topic that they find boring and/or difficult? How do we choose which topics we do (or do not) teach? How do I cope when my students either didn't master OR didn't maintain grammar fundamentals from previous years? How do I reconcile my own beliefs, opinions, and/or background knowledge with the task in front of me? On one hand, there's no one right answer. We have to adjust our grammar instruction from year to year to meet the needs of the classes we just inherited. However - and I may ruffle feathers here - as long as there is standardized testing in our schools, we cannot blow off grammar. Period. Even if we don't want to uphold the most traditional norms of Standard English and wish to be more linguistically progressive, it's a disservice to not equip students to be competitive in the worlds, like test-taking, that are not optional at this time. SO, how can teachers survive and thrive in this subsection of ELA? Here are some tips to think about as you plan your school year of instruction! 1. Find and give a grade-level pretest Make or find a pretest to see what students know, but don't feel pressure to make it include all grammar for the year; it's fine to pretest just the topics you think you'll cover that quarter or term. Then you'll know more confidently what you do (or don't!) need to teach. Even better? Give a pretest in the format of the next standardized test they'll take. I've been known to scan and print a page of the ACT's English section from a test prep book and give it to 8th graders. Here's a sample grammar diagnostic test that uses song lyrics to keep things from getting boring: 2. Prove why students should care I love using part or all of my "Why Grammar?" mini-unit, because it lets students read why grammar and editing matter (from people OTHER than me), and motivates them to care more. I'd rather have them hear it from more authentic sources than just take my word for it! If you don't have enough time for the whole mini-unit, you might like part or all of my Word Crimes lesson, made to go with the music video! 3. Give quizzes that grade themselves Check out all of the tech options you have in your building and see if any come with the ability to create self-grading quizzes or polls. My team uses Edmodo, so we can create self-grading quizzes as little formative checkpoints. (Backup plan? Use Google Forms!) 4. Teach it in a GAME Learn more about how I teach grammar in a GAME BOARD format by either reading this blog post or viewing my full grammar bundle here! 5. Narrow your rubric You don't have to grade EVERY piece of writing for grammar, but even when you do, there's no rule that says you have to point out EVERY mistake they make (at least all the time). It's fine to make a rubric in which you JUST grade commas, or JUST spelling/homophones. Your shortened grading time per paper will thank you! 6. Put students in the role of teacher (& artist!) We learn by doing and teaching, right? Push students to deeper levels of thinking with two cool projects My grammar video project, in which students become teachers and make (creative) instructional videos, and My grammar poetry assignment, in which students write about their grammar topics (including personifying them!) 7. Take requests! Every once in a while, why not take student requests on which mini-lessons you should do next? It will up their engagement as well as make them take some ownership and curiosity of a sometimes-dry topic. 8. Students make their own learning goals The ultimate low-stress differentiation is to let students self-assess, identify their own problem areas, make plans to fix them, and then accomplish those plans. Show visible growth from each student with my Grammar & Proofreading Project. 9. Reward error-finding Students catch a grammar error on a store sign? Found a typo in a published book? Caught a business in a sloppy mistake on an ad? Find a way to reward them for their finds - it can be a point, a piece of candy, or just public praise. 10. Write original sentences ASAP Don't just give all the mentor sentences away; make students copy real sentences from others AND also write their own original ones! They need to practice recognizing errors AND drafting correctly the first time. If you need help, here are 10 activities to write grammar rules in context. 11. Use videos wisely Even if you don't have student-made videos (see #6), I highly recommend giving students EITHER videos you find online, or recordings of you explaining a grammar topic. I "flip" most of my grammar instruction with homemade videos; I make PowerPoints explaining a topic and then use screencastomatic.com to record myself narrating over those slides and teaching. There are serious advantages to having grammar instruction in video format. It helps absent students, not to mention any student (IEP or not) who needs to hear something multiple times before it "sticks". 12. FREEBIE: Find it in the texts you're reading! I've seen elaborate mini-lessons analyzing the grammar used in a specific text, and while those are fine, sometimes it's enough to just: Make brief mentions while doing a close reading ("Did y'all see that semicolon that Dickens just used, btw?") Collecting correct sentences from texts! Use my FREE Grammar in Literature activity sheets if you need a starting point! The bottom line Any grammar instruction is better than none, and you have the professional skills and judgment to help your students in the best way that you can. If you don't give up, and if you model that grammar is important, then your teens and tweens will be better for it! Did one of these resonate with you? Tell me in the comments!
Looking for new poetry for your middle school and high school students? These 30 poems, recommended and tested by secondary ELA teachers in their own classrooms, are sure to engage and inspire your students during National Poetry Month or any time of year.
Try this free, fun, and interactive middle school ELA games in your classroom to teach grammar and literacy ELA skills!