I write this knowing there are tens of thousands of poems for you to choose from when planning your poetry lessons. However, in my 16 years of teaching poetry to 9-12 grade students, I’ve identified some that are too tough, unrelatable, or just plain boring. These poems are the opposite: some that ...
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The Best of William Shakespeare: My Top Ten
I’ve been teaching Shakespeare’s plays since I was first hired as an English teacher, 16 years ago. In that time, I’ve taught his works in several English classes, but now most of my Shakespeare texts live in my popular elective, Shakespearean Literature.In my 15 years of experience, I’ve grown to ...
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March Madness Poetry Brackets in the Classroom
If you haven’t noticed already, many teachers are embracing students’ enthusiasm for the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament and bringing tournament-style activities into their classroom. Since the tournament runs from March to April, and since April is National Poetry Month, many of us have ...
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Tips for Creating a Strong Thematic Unit
There are uncountable ways to create and design a unit for literature. Lately, I’ve been incorporating more thematic units in my courses, such as my Honors/Pre-AP course and my World Literature class. This blog post walks you through some tips to create your own thematic unit or enrich one you ...
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How Lin-Manuel Miranda Can Enhance Your Teaching
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for 10+ years, you’ve heard of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Mr. Miranda is a god of composition, bringing us some of the best of Broadway and music we’ve ever known.But did you know that while Lin-Manuel worked on bringing his first musical, In the Heights, to the ...
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Multiple Choice Tips & Strategies for AP English Literature
Multiple choice strategies for the AP® Lit and Lang exam have been hard-earned for me. I took the Lit exam when I was senior with little to no preparation in testing strategies, particular for multiple choice. I relied heavily on my writing abilities to get me a pass (which they did), but that ...
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