3 Middle school bell work activities for ELA students with a middle school aged student in a coral color shirt holding a pencil in their hand

3 Fun and Educational Middle School Bell Work Activities

Looking for engaging middle school bell work activities for your ELA students? Check out these three fun and educational ideas to start your class off on the right foot! Before we jump into the 3 middle school bell work activities, I want to take a moment to answer some popular bell work questions! What are bell ringers for middle school? Middle school bell work activities are typically short writing or collaborative activities used at the start of a class period. Using them consistently at the start of your class yields a ton of benefits:✨ You have a few minutes to take attendance or respond to a quick email✨ Students develop a sense of routine & expectations✨ Students practice sustained & frequent writing (tons of benefits within itself!)✨ Great tool for start-of-class management✨ Prevents the anxiety-inducing

Carina Assayed August 15, 2023

Activities for Women's History Month titles above an image of 3 young teenage women--one wearing a green top, another a white blouse, and the last a blue

Class Celebrations: 6 Activities for Women’s History Month with Our Discount Resource Bundle

How do you celebrate women’s history month in the classroom? Make space in your curriculum to celebrate women who forged paths of possibility. If you need no-prep activities for Women’s History Month, look no further. This comprehensive bundle has a variety of activities and resources that will leave your kids engaged and informed. Even better? It’s discounted 20% when you use the code EMPOWHER at checkout! This discount is available until the end of March and can apply to any activities for Women’s History Month available on the blog. What to do for Women’s History Month in school? Before you start with any activities for Women’s History Month, give students the opportunity to learn about it. See some ideas and resources below for how to do so! Media Literacy Analysis Have students practice their media

Carina Assayed February 28, 2023

Inclusive Literature for a Short Story Unit with a teacher helping 3 students

Guiding Students to Success in an Inclusive Short Story Unit for Secondary ELA

For the last five years, the first unit I teach is always a short story unit. Every year, I spend countless hours researching engaging, inclusive literature to include in my short story unit. Every year, without fail, I feel exhausted after having little success finding just the inclusive literature I am looking for. That is–until I found the Inspiring & Inclusive Short Story Unit Ideas & Recommendations. This product is a living document that offers standards-aligned, categorized inclusive literature to guide and diversify your short story unit. What to expect in this resource? Forever Relevant All the inclusive literature suggestions for your short story unit exist forever on a living document! It gets updated with new short story suggestions, so all you need to do is bookmark the tab. It will always be there for

Carina Assayed February 7, 2023

this picture has a scorpion atop a blue background with the post focusing on Steinbeck's The Pearl Activities

Comprehensive Bundle: Steinbeck’s The Pearl Activities

Looking for The Pearl activities that excite your students’ creativity and critical thinking skills? The Pearl Unit Bundle will keep your students hooked from start to finish. The Pearl Lesson Plans included in the Bundle Pre-Reading: The Pearl Activities & Unit Calendar Before you begin, The Pearl Activities bundle includes an editable unit calendar. You can expect… ⭐️ Suggested lesson plans designed for 40-50 min. classes ⭐️ A total unit length of 4 ½ weeks (adaptable to be shorter or longer) ⭐️ Minimal homework throughout (homework-free option if unit length is extended) ⭐️ Students will engage in an anticipatory activity that provides resources (2 videos and 2 articles) to conduct research on John Steinbeck and Cortez Pearl. There are SO many benefits to using these activities as your anticipatory set! During: The Pearl Reading Guide

Carina Assayed January 17, 2023

Teaching Peer Feedback in ELA

These activities for teaching peer feedback in ELA will help students learn to give (and receive) constructive criticism. Teaching Peer Feedback in ELA Do you include opportunities for peer feedback in your classroom? If you haven’t done it before or you want to amp up your process, this is your year! Peer feedback is the perfect tool for fostering collaboration and critical thinking in Secondary ELA. I read The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop by Felicia Rose Chavez this summer, and I see so many possibilities for improving the way we have students present their work and receive feedback. I’ll be sharing these throughout the year, but I wanted to start today with talking about peer feedback. One of the biggest “ah-ha” moments for me in reading this book was that feedback should be an active process

Danielle Hall August 4, 2021

Digital Escape Rooms for ELA

Have you tried any digital escape rooms for ELA? Whether you’re doing virtual, in-person, or hybrid learning, I have a game for you. Digital Escape Rooms for ELA: Do you LOVE Escape Rooms, but feel like they’re out of reach now? Whether we’re in distance learning, a hybrid classroom, or trying to maintain social distancing in a physical classroom, we can still bring the critical thinking and excitement of an escape room to our lessons. The answer? Digital Escape Rooms for ELA. Since March, I’ve been working on creating digital versions of my most popular games. Each digital escape room has the same tasks and content as the original paper games, and now has much more flexibility for you, the teacher. Game List: Introduction to Shakespeare Digital Breakout Introduction to The Odyssey

Danielle Hall January 5, 2021

Terminus – Digital Breakouts for ELA

Are you looking for new digital breakouts for ELA? Look no further! I’d like to introduce you to my newest game series, Terminus. Terminus is a four-part digital adventure series geared towards 8th and 9th grade students who read below level. This story is a post-pandemic, found-text adventure. Playing as Rania, students work to solve the mystery of the MILSA outbreak by reading letters, memos, manuals, and emails left behind. Behind the game This game was a labor of love by myself and my wife Amanda Thrasher. Amanda wrote the storyline, and I designed the puzzles. Then, we combined it all with incredible original art by Lily Chan. Amanda began writing Terminus in the summer of 2019 (while I was at the TPT conference!) and finished it later that year. Little did we know that

Danielle Hall December 8, 2020

Teaching The Odyssey with an Interactive Escape Room

Take a look inside my completely updated and redesigned Odyssey interactive escape room. New art, new hints, and a brand new digital platform for teaching the Odyssey. Have you played my Odyssey Escape Room? In this interactive adventure, students play as Telemachus, trying to solve Eumaeus’ puzzle and get access to Odysseus’ famed bow. It’s an introduction to the Greek gods and goddesses, the characters in The Odyssey, and life and customs on Ithaca. Since I first shared this resource in 2017, it has been in constant evolution, improving for the better based on amazing feedback from students and teachers. One teacher told me that her class needed hints, so she set herself up as the Oracle at Delphi. I worked this into an update in late 2018, adding four hints in verse for the

Danielle Hall January 9, 2020

Engaging Reluctant Readers with a Digital Adventure Game

We know that our reluctant readers have a skills deficit that grows over time. Whereas a student may be just one grade level behind in elementary school, that gap can grow if we don’t address the problem. By high school, a student who can’t read at grade level faces significant difficulties across content areas. Moreover, it becomes challenging to find age-appropriate texts to support that student’s progress. But, fear not! We’re going to work together to improve student reading! Let’s give the issue a human face. Malcolm is a smart and charismatic 8th grader. He’s the class diplomat; whenever the class wants something from you, they delegate Malcolm to come forward and persuade you. It’s Malcolm who sees through all of your gimmicks – you thought you could bribe them with candy? Hah! It’ll take

Danielle Hall August 1, 2019

Teaching Executive Functioning with Escape Rooms

Have you been told you should be teaching executive functioning? Is this a totally overwhelming proposition? Where do you even start? Let’s break it down. Teaching Executive Functioning Executive Functioning is the complex way the brain ‘works’. We use these skills to make decisions, choices, and plans. When we use strong executive functioning, we work smarter. We can delay gratification when working towards a goal, plan for the future, and avoid feeling stuck when our plan hits a snag. A lack of executive function skills leads to impulsive/reckless behavior, poor planning/time management, and an inability to stick with a task from start to finish. Sound familiar? Of course, it’s normal human behavior to be occasionally careless with our time, or to make a rash decision. But if students are struggling

Danielle Hall July 18, 2019

Poetry Escape Room for 4th-6th grades

I’ve talked before about using teaching with puzzles and games and using Escape Rooms in ELA, but I thought I’d address using escape rooms in upper elementary. Our 4th, 5th, and 6th graders can definitely benefit from collaboration and critical thinking, which is why I made a Poetry Escape Room for that level. Check it out: Some things you’ll notice: *There’s a variety of skills tested. This means some “easy wins” for reluctant readers or struggling learners. *Each task is valued in the final Secret Message. This means that students can “divide and conquer” the different tasks and everyone will still have their contributions valued. *A variety of poems are used. This means that you can always spiral learning by revisiting the entire poem later on in the school year. Students can also keep their

Danielle Hall November 20, 2018

Staged Readings in ELA – A Play in 5 Days!

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 produce a play in five days. The answer is producing staged readings in ELA. I’ve written before about my experiences producing a class play. I talked about casting, rehearsing, and evaluating the experience. The whole thing took about six weeks, and it was AWESOME. I’ve also talked about using Improv and how that benefit almost any teaching unit. But what happens in between? What if you want to spend a week putting together a class

Danielle Hall February 6, 2018

Differentiating the Research Process for all learners is important, especially in ELA. Here are some ideas for creating engaging and accessible research opportunities. More at teachnouvelle.com. Blog post.

Differentiated Research Projects in ELA

If you love the idea of assigning differentiated research projects, but find the actual research process daunting, then this post is for you. Research projects can be a time of joy and exploration for your students, so here are my tips for making this something you can enjoy, too. These projects should be something open and accessible to all learners, so differentiation is really important. Depending on the school, much of the onus of research can fall on the English teacher. Students may be required to write a certain number of pages of a research paper each year, and you may have little to no support from other departments. I certainly hope that you teach in a paradise where you do amazing cross-curricular projects. If you don’t, though, you can still incorporate meaningful research projects

Danielle Hall May 2, 2017

Persuasive Techniques and Media Literacy

Persuasive Techniques & Critical Thinking I’ve taught persuasive techniques every year, but it feels more necessary than ever for our students to develop media literacy. Can they judge the worth (and truth) of the information presented to them? Can they identify how a speaker could be manipulating their emotions and instincts? I’ve teamed up with a group of teacher-authors from TeachersPayTeachers to share free resources for teaching in this tough climate. We know that our students are hearing messages of hate and division after the election, so we need to come together to counter that with messages of peace and unity. Also, more than ever, we need to equip our students with the skills to identify and analyze persuasive techniques used in the media. Here are some activities for helping students develop an awareness of

Danielle Hall January 19, 2017

Using puzzles and games in high school ELA is a great way to develop a growth mindset, challenge both sides of the brain, and encourage collaboration and critical thinking. Discover three ways to challenge your students at teachnouvelle.com.

Using Puzzles in High School ELA

Using puzzles and games in the high school classroom is a great way to build collaboration, critical thinking, and a growth mindset. Puzzles can be particularly powerful in the ELA classroom because they allow students to approach words logically, mathematically, and visually, creating cross-brain connections. Okay, so it’s true: I love puzzles! I’m excellent at some types (jigsaw puzzles) and terrible at others (tanglement puzzles), but I love them all. And last week, I picked up a tanglement puzzle at Barnes & Noble. This is branded as Roman Arches by True Genius, but it’s traditionally known as the Double W Puzzle. I’ve worked on this thing for hours, y’all, and I only accidentally solved it once. And yet, I keep trying. And it just reinforced my belief that puzzles are amazing for developing grit and

Danielle Hall December 13, 2016

Using Interactive Notebooks to teach class novels can be rigorous and engaging, even for middle and high school. Here are some tips and tricks for setting up your novel units. Read more at teachnouvelle.com

Teach a Class Novel with Interactive Notebooks

Do you love the idea of Interactive Notebooks but are unsure of how to use them to teach class novels? Stay tuned for my best tips and tricks for designing rigorous and engaging class novel units. I am a huge proponent of using Interactive Student Notebooks (ISNs, INBs, INs) in high school. I love them for the ease of structuring a lesson, keeping everyone organized, and helping students create a yearlong learning tool. Once your students get onboard, it can even be a relaxing addition to your classroom since there can be some coloring or crafty elements. And whereas people find it easy to set up a spread for a single lesson, I often get asked how to set up an notebook for an entire class novel. Well, I’m here today to share my planning

Danielle Hall November 22, 2016

Expose your secondary students to a wide range of classic poetry using these engaging bellringers! Students create and analyze, finding fun and meaning in each of these thirty class poems.

Use Bellringers to Help Students Love Poetry

It can be tough to get students engaged with poetry, but I have found a solution! Poetry Bellringers. I created this resource as a way to share several classic poems with students in a short amount of time. There’s no over-analysis here – each activity is short and targeted. Also, since each activity is a Bellringer, or happens within the first few minutes of class, they can be used in conjunction with other poetry activities. What Poetry Bellringers Look Like: Each of these thirty bellringers has a snippet of a classic poem, or the whole thing if the poem is short. Then, each bellringer has a different creative or analytical prompt. Students could identify poetic devices in one poem, illustrate another, create a new poem in the same style, etc. Major Benefits: Exposure – If you

Danielle Hall November 1, 2016

Interactive Notebooks for High School

Are you looking for ways to use Interactive Notebooks for high school English? When I was first faced with this possibility, I was super excited!, but had no idea where to start. I wasn’t sure if these would be the right tool for my 9th graders. I decided to start off the year with my normal Short Stories Unit, and slowly found ways to transform those lessons to ISN spreads. Over the course of the unit, I discovered that Interactive Notebooks gave me a great structure for planning lessons, a lot of scaffolding for my students, and very rigorous, focused practice of a new skill before they left me each day. Check out this 2 minute video to see how I set up Interactive Notebooks for high school English: Interactive Notebooks in ELA To make

Danielle Hall October 14, 2015

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