Entries by Shannon Temple

Review Games for the ELA Classroom

Review Games for the ELA Classroom We all know students love review games, and while there are plenty of online game platforms, like Gimkit, Kahoot, and Blooket, sometimes, it’s nice to unplug and play exciting games without those Chromebooks.  Often, these are more engaging review games for the ELA classroom, not only for the students, […]

How to Create Suspense Writing Lesson

Suspense is one of those literary elements we all want to know how to use, especially when we are telling or writing a good story and want others to pay attention.  This SHORT narrative writing exercise will teach students how to create suspense, and it is guaranteed to be one of your favorite lessons of […]

Make Grading Easy in the ELA Classroom

Four Tips to Make Grading Easy in the ELA Classroom There’s so much to do in ELA, as you know, and that means a lot to grade! In order to make our lives simpler and to stay sane in the process, we have to find ways to make grading easy in the ELA classroom.  This […]

5 Ways to Ruin Your Middle School Classroom Climate

Classroom climate is really important, and especially in the middle school.  We want our classes and our classrooms to feel safe, to feel engaging, respectful, welcoming, and supportive.   In order to highlight what it takes to create this type of environment, we want to discuss five ways to ruin your middle school classroom climate. 1.  […]

Four First Day Activities for Middle School ELA

Ahhhh, the first day of school.  No matter how long you teach, it seems that there can still be anxiety of what to do on that day.  We want to share four first day activities for middle school ELA that you will love! We’ll cover what students should do when they enter your room, the […]

Three Tips for Middle School Back to School Open House

Tip Number One for a Middle School Back to School Open House : Use Stations! We have found a really successful way to navigate your middle school back to school open house night. Setting up stations in your classroom that the parents and students can work through during that back to school night, adding some unique […]

After Twenty Years Lesson Plans

This year, I tried something different with my After Twenty Years lesson plans.  I began with the following essential question:  What makes someone a good friend?  After asking this question, the discussion in the class took off, as you can imagine with all of the drama surrounding middle school friendships. Next, I asked the students […]