Common Core Standard 7 for Reading presents teachers with many possibilities for mixing all kinds of art forms with literature.  Music, photography, painting, sculpture, and many other media are easily brought into the classroom today because of the internet…the important thing is to use these resources heuristically. 7. Analyze the representation ...

Looking at CCS standard for reading #5, I am encouraged to see critical thinking required of our students.  It is important to ensure that skills like problem solving, analyzing, and evaluating are at the core of our reading, writing, and speaking skills curricula.  It is also essential that we keep in mind the goal of generating independent, ...

This week we look at the last of three standards under “Key Ideas and Details” in the “Reading” section of the Common Core: Standard 3:  Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. For students to ...

Continuing with our exploration of the Common Core, this week I’ve discovered a useful website for the second standard under “Key Ideas and Details.” Standard 2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; ...

As the school year winds down, you might be thinking about what new or different books you hope to use in the fall.  If you are, I encourage you to check out Open Educational Resources (OER) textbooks.  OER or “Open Source” textbooks are digital, often customizable, textbooks published and available on the web.  Many of them are quite ...

For teachers and students, Shmoop.com, a popular online study guide website, recently released a new feature called “Shmoop Essay Lab” and it’s a powerful teaching/learning tool, especially for students who struggle with developing ideas and organizing their essays.  Students can choose to write about literature or to develop a college entrance ...

Ok, so the days are finally getting longer here in New England and the end of the school year is within sight…but I still feel like there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done and the students are growing restless by the day.  So, as usual, I’ve been digging about on the web, looking for resources to keep my students busy ...

Last week I wrote a post about using online comic creator applications to create comic strips based on scenes from Homer’s Odyssey.  Today I’ve published a lesson plan based on this idea.  This plan explores Epic / Homeric Similes, vivid word choices, and tone in the Odyssey based on Common Core Standards for Literature–Craft and Structure.  I ...

Good afternoon.  I hope my colleagues in the northeast are surviving the very long winter.  I know I am more than ready for spring in Maine.  This weeks’ post is for teachers looking for an opportunity to teach writing in a real-world context. One of the most effective ways to teach writing is to connect it to real-world careers.  This gives ...

For teachers introducing Mark Twain to their students, the Mark Twain Interactive Scrapbook is a website with a useful variety of multimedia resources from video and audio to images of primary documents and quotes from the author.  The site is produced by PBS and has five classroom activities ready to use with your middle or high school students.  ...