7 Spectacular Short Stories for Middle Schools
Competing with students’ love of all things technology can be difficult, particularly in middle school English. As a result, finding ways to hook these young readers becomes imperative. Enter short stories for middle schools, especially short stories with twists! ...
10 Helpful Ways to Practice for Standardized Tests
Getting ready to practice for standardized tests coming up? In the months of February through May, standardized tests flood the American school system like the plague. Today, students take more standardized tests than in any other period in history. My parents who...
8 Engaging Ways to Begin Teaching with Films
Teaching with films can be a highly controversial activity in education. Even though people nowadays consume more movies and videos than any other form of media, we rarely consider them valid forms of literature. And this perception is unfortunate. So many of us watch...
What Reading Strategies Work Wonders on Standardized Tests
Let's be real. Standardized testing is here to stay, at least for a while anyway. We cannot escape standardized tests, especially if we are ELA and/or Reading Teachers. Now, I know we all are thinking the following: What reading strategies can we realistically...
6 Relevant Reading Comprehension Testing Season Tips
No one goes into teaching thinking "I can't wait to help my students with reading comprehension testing." Yet it is one of the necessary, and I do say necessary, parts of teaching English language arts and reading. Teachers cannot escape some sort of standardized...
Powerful Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe
The poetry of Edgar Allan Poe has challenged readers over the last hundred and fifty years; however, when we think of Poe, we might first think of his short stories. Eerie and suspenseful, Poe's most taught stories include "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Masque of the Red...
7 Effective Reading For Comprehension Test Tips
A Reading for Comprehension Test is usually dreaded by teachers, parents, administrators, and students alike. We know that our students are always growing, but high-stakes tests tend to bring out the fear and overwhelm within all of us. We cannot escape some sort of...
25+ Ideas for Year End Fun Activities
Are those ants in your pants or are you just a teacher nearing the final days of the school year? Seriously, as the countdown to year end happens, both teachers and students start to get a little lackadaisical. But year end fun activities can save the day(s). To keep...
How To Create The Best Reading Questions for Comprehension
As English teachers in middle school and high school, we’re not often teaching students primary reading skills like phonemic awareness or phonics. More often than not, students arrive in our classes having learned to read already (or should have). While reading skills...
Teaching Poetry Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman, an important 19th-century poet, has been a part of the American literary canon for over a hundred years. His poetry "transcends" because of his consuming focus on freedom in both personal and societal constructs. One can clearly see similar themes and...
Hi, I’m KRISTIN!
I primarily focus on integrating multiple disciplines and subjects. The goal is to make teaching simplified and effective!