(While I’m spending spring break finishing my 20Time2018 project, here’s an updated repost sharing ideas and tools to celebrate the upcoming National Poetry Month in April. Enjoy!)
Of course we should fold in some extra poetry lessons to celebrate April as National Poetry Month, but who has the time? With state testing and AP exam prep, this month is a bullet train, whipping by with scary speed. But what if we slowed that roll just a bit? April’s also supposed to signal warmth and new growth, the perfect time to dig some rhyme. I know we all have a lot to do, but here are a few easy options to help our English teacher tribe add more poetic voices to our curriculum. Continue reading
English teacher friend Sarah Oleyourryk just shared a fun lesson to reinforce figurative language. This week, she showed the YouTube video below to her kids, pausing on each of the red question slides. “We went through it once with them singing and guessing,” she said. “Then I went through it a second time…more singing…and I gave answers and explanations. All told, it took about 40 minutes. The kids LOVED it!!!”
Continue reading
Sure, we know that Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, and Harry Potter are modern examples of the Hero’s Journey, but there are a l-o-t of other popular films that also fit Joseph Campbell’s monomyth. A few that may surprise you: Continue reading
The man who created Roget’s Thesaurus, Peter Mark Roget, was born on January 18, 1779, a date loquacious scholars celebrate as National Thesaurus Day. (Thanks, Alex E., for the heads-up. I had no idea this was a thing.) Though my research failed to unearth the authority who had the power to make such a declaration, it seems like a nice thing to remember the retired doctor whose passion project helps us all sound a bit more erudite. Continue reading
So…yeah…it’s been nearly four months since I changed out the bulletin board, but last week I visited the giant color printer at Media Services and you can follow along a video field trip Continue reading
Note: If you’re looking for the pre-winter break Reindeer Race, keep reading to see how these materials can easily be adapted for any holiday/upcoming school vacation.
Two years ago, I shared my P.E. department colleagues’ inspired use of stations on the day before we left for Thanksgiving break. Here’s the video, in case you missed it:
Today, I’m adapting their idea to bring some holiday fun to our English/Language Arts classes. Continue reading
