5 Quick Activity Ideas for The Necklace Story by Guy de Maupassant
The Necklace story by Guy de Maupassant is a staple in most middle and/or high school English classrooms. It is a classic piece of literature for many reasons. This story of riches to rags and letting go of one’s pride provides such a marvelous twist at the end,...
9 Scary Short Stories for Middle and High School English
In the midst of the Halloween season, scary short stories are my go-to for teaching fun, rigorous, and engaging literature! I do NOT want to sacrifice learning for the sake of entertainment, but I love the idea of killing two birds with one stone. I mean who really...
The BEST Strategy to Teach Reading & 6 Tips for Implementation
I have been an English teacher for over 17 years in the secondary classroom (middle and high school), and I have also had the awesome pleasure and responsibility of teaching my 1st grader how to read. Throughout my years teaching everything from 6th grade English to...
7 Ways to Teach The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
If you have not read The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury, get ready to enjoy a fantastic short story! Ray Bradbury’s dystopian story set in 2131 begins with a description of a man who walks through the city while everyone else watches their television screens. This...
Top 3 Short Stories O Henry Lesson Ideas & Activities
Sometimes, you just need a nice, sweet, comforting, easy-to-read short story on certain days...am I right? This situation is where the short stories O Henry has written come into play! If you have not read short stories O Henry has authored like "The Gift of the...
16 Simple Steps for Teaching Essay Rhetorical Analysis Writing
Very often, we sit and stare at the pacing guide for rhetorical analysis essay writing with a deer-in-the-headlights look. How do we go about teaching essay rhetorical analysis writing when our students struggle with writing a basic 3-5 paragraph expository or...
The Tell Tale Heart Analysis Activities
More than any other short story writer, Edgar Allan Poe still captures the imaginations of his readers 150 years after his death. What I love most about his writing is that he appeals to even the most reluctant readers. In order to teach his most classic short story,...
19 Reading Intervention Strategies that WORK in Middle and High School Classrooms
Reading is such a tough issue to tackle as a middle/high school English, Language Arts, and/or Reading Teacher. So often, schools are inundated with reading intervention programs that promise success but cost a lot of money, are superscripted, or rely on 1:1...
7 Super Strategies for Teaching “The Monkey’s Paw”
Do you need a spooky story to teach during the Halloween season, your short story unit, or at the end of the year when you are just DONE with your upper middle and younger high school students? Check out “The Monkey’s Paw" by W.W. Jacobs! This short story tells the...
7 Effortless Activity Ideas for A Modest Proposal by Swift
Satire is not easy to teach. In fact, I believe teaching satire is a step above teaching rhetoric in general. It usually requires high-level reading skills, background knowledge, comprehension of various tones, and fluency in various forms of syntax. It is tough to...
Hi, I’m KRISTIN!
I primarily focus on integrating multiple disciplines and subjects. The goal is to make teaching simplified and effective!