Students tell me they don’t write. They say they have no idea how to respond to prompts, how to add details, how to expand their thinking. Students state they can’t write because they don’t remember (or remember how) to punctuate or capitalize when they’re writing initial drafts. This has got to change. To make that […]
Anyone Need Help Teaching Grammar In Context?
If you’re on my mailing list, you already know about the grammar unit Jennifer Williams (@jennwillteach), a fellow Oklahoma teacher, guest blogger here at reThink ELA, and #FierceWomanofOklahoma, and I are working on this summer. (If not, you really should be!) I wrote about this a few days ago, and wanted to share it here […]
To Err Is Human (Unless You’re An English Teacher Or Writer)
As a writer and English teacher, I want my writing to be perfect. Many of our students want the same thing. We all want what we see or hear in our heads to be exactly what we put onto paper, and this is doubly true for the writing we put online for the entire world to […]
Teaching Appositive Phrases With Newspapers
The English Department head at my school, Debbie Self, tells her students that they must add FAT to their essays. She’s not talking about feeding them loads of carbs. Instead, she is referring to three elements of compositions that will add interest and flow to student writing: Figurative Language Appositive Phrases Transition Words Last week, I […]
Students Teach Grammar In Awesome “All About That Bass — Sentence Parody” Video
I love this “All About That Bass — Sentence Parody” video — and I’m sharing it with my students as soon as I return to school! Michelle WatersI am a secondary English Language Arts teacher, a University of Oklahoma student working on my Master’s of Education in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum with an concentration […]