Build the Classroom You Want to Teach In

I've really been enjoying the Curated Short Stories Library!  It's a good mix of old favorites and new-to-me short stories.  I like that each story is available to print for free, and many of the stories have video and audio versions that go alongside them.  I like to use the essential questions as part of an anticipation guide to pique student interest prior to reading, and the suggested writing connections help me extend student learning beyond the typical essay.  Thanks!!

I went with Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder,” a choice I’m very happy with. Thanks for all you do and the resources and support you provide to ELA teachers!

I teach high school students who have dropped out of school or been expelled from their local public school and possibly several others. My students have an age range of 14 to 26. It is like teaching in a behavior alternative school on a large scale, and I use an online curriculum with individual intervention as needed. As you might imagine, my students have not done well on the state’s end-of-instruction exams--especially in English. However, our latest scores were much better than in previous years, and I think that in part is due to our focus on and search for new strategies to try.  

Some of the reThink ELA strategies I have used include the teaching with music lyrics, the high-interest short readings (like "The Lottery" and "The Landlady), and the idea of using more news articles to set up writing prompts. 

The kids have been much more responsive to these ideas than others we have tried. Thank you!

Thank you for making these kinds of resources available for remote educators like me! 

When I consider AI apps like ChatGPT, I think about the possibilities for this technology to support students in being more effective writers. Recently, I listened to a great podcast with Michelle Boyd Waters and Aimée Myers (2023) on positioning AI apps as thinking partners (English Education, April 2023).

I was looking for some new and different writing prompts, and Michelle told me about the 180 Day of Quickwrites. I am so excited to use them! I have many prompts from past years, but these are completely new to me. There are even hyperlinks to sources to use in conjunction with some of the prompts. Also, the prompts are broken down into categories, making it easy to implement with different writing units. Finally, Michelle includes standards and directions to help teachers--whether you're new or a career teacher. I would definitely recommend these!

I also want to say that I'm understanding next level how rich your resources are!  I'm loving what you've done with the Curated Short Stories Library, adding the writing connections section.  I've also started using the reflective writing section in the 180+ Days of Quickwrites - my tutoring student loved the conversation, and was surprised at some of what came up for him.