Y’all, I can’t sit still. Throw me in a long meeting or even a long movie, and I struggle. I wasn’t wiggly in high school, but I now I need to move around more. If I can’t sit still, my students shouldn’t have to, either. That’s why I’m a huge advocate of movement in the classroom. The Case for Movement…
We’ll be talking about Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi with two ladies from the Bookstagram community, Courtney and Anna. Join us as we talk characterization, context, and why it matters. (transcript) In today’s episode… In Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel, Children of Blood and Bone, we meet Zélie, who was only five years old…
Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert is a dive inside the mind of a young artist, Danny Cheng. Join us today as we talk about secrets, tragedies, and struggles with mental health. (Listen to the podcast or find a transcription here.) In today’s episode… At the beginning of Picture Us In The Light, seventeen-year-old Danny…
We’re chatting with Anne Marie Wells, a fellow reader and foodie friend, about The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding. Check out more on this week’s episode of the YA Cafe. In today’s episode… In The Summer of Jordi Perez, Abby scores the internship of her dreams: working at a vintage clothing shop in LA. She hopes…
Picture Us in the Light – Kelly Loy Gilbert Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father’s closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there’s much more to his family’s past than he ever imagined. Danny has been…
The Radical Element is a new anthology of historical YA fiction short stories edited by Jessica Spotswood. This anthology moves chronologically through American History. We’ll dive in to these stories on today’s episode of the YA Cafe, the podcast for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. In today’s episode… The Radical Element: 12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes…
Welcome to the YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. On today’s episode, we’ll be talking about The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert with our guest, Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven. Grab a mug of your favorite beverage, friends, and let’s talk books. In today’s episode… The…
Welcome to the YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. We’ll be talking about Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli and its new movie adaptation, Love, Simon. Our guest today is Jeimy Gonzalez, a 6th grade English teacher joining us from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Jeimy is…
Welcome to the YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. Today, we tackle three YA Thrillers: Secrets, Lies, and Scandals by Amanda K. Morgan, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, and People Like Us by Dana Mele. In today’s episode… Today’s episode is a three-for-one special as…
Welcome to the YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. In today’s episode, we talk about Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. In today’s episode… In today’s episode, we discuss Turtles All the Way Down by John Green with our friend, Erin Warzala.…
Welcome to our new podcast, The YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. The YA Cafe is a round-table discussion of a new YA title each week. Our show is roughly split in half, with the first half being spoiler-free. Even if you haven’t read the book, you can…
Spark Imagination with Creative Reading We spend a LOT of time reading books and watching TV and movies in our household, and one game we love to play is “what if”. What if the ending had been different? The characters had had a stronger motivation? The main conflict had been more believable? This is what I call creative reading.…
A Possibility of Whales by Karen Rivers Summary Twelve-year-old Natalia Rose Baleine Gallagher loves possibilities: the possibility that she’ll see whales on the beach near her new home, the possibility that the transgender boy she just met will become her new best friend, the possibility that the paparazzi hounding her celebrity father won’t force them to move again. Most…
Teachers, it’s that time of year again. You’ve been handed a piece of paper called an Intent Form and you must decide whether you want to return to your job next year or seek greener pastures. Or, if you’re a student teacher, you’re thinking about where you’ll teach in the fall. Either way, it’s time to dust off your Teaching…
Books to Read, Love, and Share: Americanized by Sara Saedi Description from Goodreads: At thirteen, bright-eyed, straight-A student Sara Saedi uncovered a terrible family secret: she was breaking the law simply by living in the United States. Only two years old when her parents fled Iran, she didn’t learn of her undocumented status until her older sister wanted to…
Teaching Shakespeare: Tips & Tricks Teaching Shakespeare can be a tricky prospect, but here are some tips to help you and your students get the most out of your unit. Students have very different reactions to Shakespeare based on their experiences and expectations. I want to advocate for teaching Shakespeare through performance, and I’ll be talking more about that…
Introducing Danielle & Michelle, Shakespeare in 30 Creators So, I recently worked with my friend Michelle to release a collection of plays to use in the ELA Classroom called Shakespeare in 30. Since we collaborated on this project, I thought I’d take the time to talk a bit about us and how we met. It’s weird for an introvert…
Teaching the Harlem Renaissance (and Black History) with Intention Are you teaching the Harlem Renaissance? It can be tempting to gloss over the struggle and conflict and just stick with the jazz. This would be doing your students a huge disservice, however. This week on the Secondary English Coffee Shop Blog, I wrote about keeping your unit sensitive and intentional.…
Books to Read, Love, and Share: Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed In Love, Hate and Other Filters, American-born Maya Aziz has the same concerns as any 17-year-old: school, boys, and going to the college of her dreams (NYU) to pursue her goal of becoming a filmmaker. Her Indian parents would prefer their daughter go to college closer…
Books to Read, Love, and Share: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust In Girls Made of Snow and Glass, two stories intertwine. We watch Mina, an ambitious young girl, strive to gain acceptance at court. Her magician father expects her to use her beauty to get a good marriage for herself, but he insists that no one will ever…
Using Staged Readings in ELA It’s no secret that I love using drama in the ELA classroom, and I’m here today to advocate for using more rehearsed, scripted drama as you teach English. Maybe you’ve avoided this because it has seemed overwhelming. Maybe you think you don’t have enough time. Well, friends, you do! This post will help you…
Books to Read, Love, and Share: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert In The Hazel Wood, Alice and her mother have never been able to shake the bad luck trailing them. At seventeen, Alice has known more hotel rooms than homes, and truck stop food is familiar. Alice has always dreamed of living with her grandmother in her mansion, the…
How to Make a Book Tree A book tree is a great holiday decoration for nerds and English teachers, am I right? This can be great for your home, office, or classroom! Here’s how to make a book tree AND our book tree reveal for 2017. This is our second year with a book tree, and here are some…
WIN Your Teacher Wish List! What’s on your classroom wishlist? What are your favorite teacher things? Do you fantasize about that perfect set of pens, a classroom library that overflows, or the newest and greatest laminator on the market? Do you scroll through IG, envious of others’ classroom makeovers, or watch Oprah’s favorite things and droll? Well, this…
Hello, friends! I’m here today to announce a big dream: I want to read the world. I plan to read a book from every country in the world, and record my progress here. I believe that, as a teacher, I need to read widely and often, and be able to introduce students to works and worldviews they haven’t experienced yet.…
5-Minute Filler Activities for Secondary ELA Although I’m getting pretty good at gauging time in my classes, sometimes, I end up with five extra minutes. When this happens, it’s really important for me to already have filler activities for ELA ready to go, so that I don’t waste the time. Here are some examples of things that have led…
How to Make Book Recommendations for Teens One of my favorite parts of talking about books with students is helping them figure out what to read next. Readers know the power of knowing their next book, and we can help students get there with some tools in our own reader toolkit. These tools can help you find great book recommendations…
Hi, everyone! In my post this week at the Secondary English Coffee Shop, I talk about how to get students to write more, without increasing your workload as a teacher. That’s kind of the dream, right? 🙂 You’ll be able to read more about using shared notebooks, daily journal writing, and even NaNoWriMo to create low-risk opportunities for your students…
For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood by Christopher Emdin In For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood… and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education, Christopher Emdin shares his experience of learning and teaching in an urban setting and offers up a new approach to education. He dismantles stereotypes and advocates for a student-centered…
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon is a careful, thought-provoking portrait of the aftermath of a shooting, making it a strong choice for a high school read-aloud and discussion starter. Jack Franklin, white, thinks he’s doing a good deed when he shoots and kills sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson (black) as he leaves a convenience store. But what really happened? We…