As a first-year AP® Seminar teacher, I was really nervous that I wasn’t going to be able to offer my students all the support they needed. But, since my students had access to “They Say / I Say,” I felt as if I had a mentor teacher with me at all times
Category: HS ELA
Why You Should Engage Students with Primary Sources in Your ELA Classroom
Rebecca Newland is a high school librarian who spent 15 years as a high school English teacher before switching, which has been more fun than she could have imagined.
Exhibiting in the Humanities: How Showcasing Student Work Can Transform History and English Classrooms
Craig Nicoletti is an AP U.S. History teacher and Humanities Program Chair at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis.
Storying the Classroom: Why ELA Is the Perfect Place for Ethnic Studies
Since the fall of 2021, I’ve taught a class called English 12 Ethnic Cultures, a course designed specifically to incorporate Ethnic Studies principles into English Language Arts. After doing this work for some time, I am convinced that the Language Arts classroom is a perfect place for this kind of work. English teachers are natural storytellers, and our classrooms can be the place where students’ own stories emerge.
“Write What’s Not Fair”: On Obsession, Paradox, and Permission in the Classroom
Passionate student writers rarely lack ideas, but instructors can help them narrow those ideas down by choosing to write what makes them feel the most. Authors Matthew Clark Davison and Alice LaPlante instruct students to write what’s “not fair.” Unresolved emotions, from hatred to love, offer great fuel to new writers seeking direction.
The Best of Both Worlds: Using Print and Digital Tools in your AP® Literature Course
As an older Millennial teacher, I find that I am stuck between two worlds: the one I was born in and the one in which I grew up. The one I was born in was analog: paper, pencils and highlighters, and books. The one I grew up in—although it was ever-evolving—was decidedly not analog. It was keyboards, screens, and software updates. Like me, students are caught between these two worlds.
Using the Norton Critical Edition of WIDE SARGASSO SEA in a High School Literature Survey
Pamela J. Franics, PhD, outlines the many ways the Norton Critical Edition of Wide Sargasso Sea brings a deeper analysis to her classroom, including teaching her students the importance of critical literary lenses, context, and backstory when analyzing text.
The Ultimate Remix: A Student’s Journey from Final Project to Published Author
Katelyn is a senior at Miami University studying Emerging Technology in Business & Design, as well as Digital Marketing. When I clicked the submission button on the final project of my senior year of high school, I wiped my hands clean and promptly pushed that assignment to the back of my mind like any other …
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Getting to the Heart of Positioning Language: Who Is “They”?
Deanna Brossman started teaching English in Geneseo, Illinois, in 2001. She earned her MA in English literature in 2007 and National Board Certification in 2012. She teaches dual credit composition, AP English Language and Composition, and a transitional English course for seniors wanting to strengthen their fundamental reading and writing skills before college. She and …
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Practical Strategies and Learning Activities for Braving the New World of Multiple Choice on the AP® English Exams
The news is out: the multiple choice portion of the AP English exams will have only four—not five—answer choices. Say what?? Change of any kind tends to bring about uncertainty and mixed emotions, but we can all agree that reducing answer options will make the multiple choice portion of the exam less of a beast. …