3 Spooky Songs to Analyze for a Halloween Inspired Activity in Secondary ELA

As Halloween approaches, it’s the perfect time to add a little eerie excitement to your classroom with some spooky songs to analyze! For secondary ELA educators looking to spice up their lesson plans this October, we’ve curated a thrilling collection of three spooky songs that are ripe for literary analysis. Each song is a gateway to exploring rich literary elements like imagery, tone, and irony, all while engaging students with the fun, festive spirit of the season. This blog post will guide you through using these spooky songs to analyze and dissect with your students, ensuring a lively, interactive, and educational experience. Get ready to turn up the volume, dive into the lyrics, and unravel the mysteries of these haunting tunes just in time for Halloween! 3 Spooky Songs to Analyze this Halloween Listen…I am

Carina Assayed October 1, 2024

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Start Your 2024 School Year with Our New, Fun Figurative Language Short Story Unit

Our figurative language short story unit will help you build a foundation and collect relevant data on your students at the start of the year! We’re thrilled to introduce our latest resource: a figurative language short story unit, perfectly tailored for the start of the school year. This innovative unit includes eight diverse short stories, each highlighting a different element of figurative language. It’s designed not only to engage students with compelling narratives but also to deepen their understanding of essential literary elements. As you explore these short stories together, you’ll be able to assess your students’ current skills and gather valuable data on their learning levels. This figurative language short story unit is an excellent tool for establishing a solid foundation in literary analysis and setting the tone for a year of dynamic learning.

Carina Assayed September 3, 2024

3 Spectacular Short Films to Analyze Symbolism

Hey there, teacher pals! Are you on the lookout for short films to analyze symbolism? These 3 short films make for engaging content to shake up your symbolism lessons! These three short films to analyze symbolism are absolute gems that are perfect for diving into the rich, sometimes tricky waters of symbolism with your students. These aren’t just any short films; they’re the kind that stick with you, sparking conversations and aha moments that light up the classroom. Whether you’re aiming to inspire, provoke thought, or just switch things up, these short films are about to become your new best friends. Trust me, your symbolism lessons are about to get a whole lot more interesting! 3 Spectacular Short Films to Analyze Symbolism Effectively https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MX_fJAhmEE “Let’s Eat” by Anamon Studios ✨ Provided Summary: “‘Let’s Eat’ is

Carina Assayed April 23, 2024

5 short stories to teach characterization

5 Terrific Short Stories to Teach Characterization

Hey there, awesome ELA teachers! Looking for some fresh short stories to teach characterization? You’re in the right spot! I’ve handpicked five short stories to teach characterization that are perfect for getting your students hooked. These stories are a mix of old favorites and new finds, all packed with characters that will jump off the page and get your students talking, thinking, and even seeing a bit of themselves. Whether you’re aiming to shake up your lesson plans or just want to bring some new energy to your classroom, these stories are your ticket. If you’re looking to teach other ELA concepts with short stories (like conflict, symbolism, and more), this blog post has a comprehensive round up categorized by concepts. Meanwhile, this blog post features a round-up of even MORE short story ideas, like

Carina Assayed April 9, 2024

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From Lyrics to Literary Devices: 3 Excellent Songs to Analyze Irony

Looking for impactful songs to analyze irony in your secondary ELA class? This post has got you covered! Are you looking for an innovative and engaging way to teach literary devices to your secondary ELA students? Look no further! We delve into the world of music to explore 3 how popular songs can effectively communicate literary techniques, specifically irony. With lyrics serving as powerful examples, we analyze three well-known songs from different genres and artists, dissecting their lyrics to uncover the various forms of irony present. Through this analysis, we not only introduce students to the concept of irony but also provide them with relatable and enjoyable examples to deepen their understanding. Drawing on diverse styles, our chosen songs span a range of eras and themes, ensuring that your students will connect with at least

Carina Assayed March 5, 2024

7 Diverse & Powerful Poems to Teach Tone

Looking for FRESH and diverse poems to teach tone? Teacher friends, I’ve rounded up a good one today! Below, I have 7 poems to teach tone that are not typically taught in the mainstream ELA curricula (but should be!). They are all written from diverse authors and publishing dates range from 1995 to 2022. Want to know the best part? These poems are totally teacher-approved through CommonLit, and you can access them for free. You don’t need a district-paid account to access the poems, guiding questions, and other basic features. 7 Poems to Teach Tone Before you dive in, using daily poetry bell ringers and/or an introductory video like this one might strengthen your student’s understanding of tone analysis in poetry. You can also use the engaging activities in this stellar poetry bundle to introduce,

Carina Assayed October 3, 2023

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10 Video Games to Use in Secondary ELA

Video games can be helpful tools to help students gain a deeper understanding of literature. Here are 10 video games to use in Secondary ELA. Using video games for mentor texts is a great way to connect with students who are reluctant to analyze elements of literature. Since so many students already love video games, these texts are an excellent way to leverage their interests. I also have a new resource (2023) that has 15 lesson plans analyzing pop culture short texts, like video games, TV episodes, songs, short films, and more! Check out the 15 Pop Culture Analysis Activities resource here. Using video games in the classroom You can harness the goodness and power of video games without turning your classroom into a gaming den. In the blurbs below, I recommend specific scenes you

Danielle Hall March 22, 2022

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5 Perfect Short Texts for Teaching Characterization in Literature

Looking for short stories (and other short texts) you can use to teach characterization in literature? This post is for you! If you’re a fan of using short texts to teach literary concepts and more, I have a new resource (2023) that has 15 lesson plans analyzing pop culture short texts, like TV episodes, songs, short films, and more! Check out the 15 Pop Culture Analysis Activities resource here. Teaching Characterization in Literature Are you tired of teaching the same short stories over and over? Today I’m sharing 5 texts – four contemporary and one classic – that you and your students will love. Analyzing characterization in literature is a vital part of understanding an author’s purpose, and one tool I love to use when teaching characterization is interactive notebooks. I even have a resource

Danielle Hall February 15, 2022

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Teaching Suspense & Pacing with Short Stories

These 5 short texts for teaching suspense and pacing will help make your lessons on literary elements less daunting and more memorable! While they’re both fundamental elements of storytelling, students will often struggle with identifying elements of suspense, or examples of pacing in a specific work. As you may have noticed, I love using short stories and other short texts when teaching literary elements! I find that using shorter texts can make a new concept easier to digest for students, and they’re also perfect for reviewing multiple elements in a short amount of time. Note: A big difference in teaching suspense in middle school as opposed to high school is how graphic or frightening your content can be. This post features example texts for teaching suspense that aren’t overly scary. You can find many more

Leila Hobbs October 19, 2021

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Using Short Stories to Teach Setting

I love using short stories to teach setting! Shorter texts are more approachable to students, and allow you to provide more examples. Short Stories to Teach Setting Setting is one of the earliest literary elements we understand as readers, since we know the difference between the feel of a creepy house in the woods and the warmth of Grandma’s house. Using short stories to teach setting is a great way to move those reading instincts into honed reading skills. Here are two short stories to teach setting that I love: “No Me Dejas” by Mark Oshiro, found on Slate.com This story takes place inside a futuristic hospital. Our protagonist, Gabriela, is preparing for “the Transfer,” a procedure which will allow her to receive all of her dying grandmother’s memories. During the procedure, she experiences a

Danielle Hall September 7, 2021

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Teaching with Short Films in Middle & High School ELA

Teaching with short films in ELA is a great way to strengthen reading skills and increase students’ literary analysis. Why use short films with students? Much in the same way that short stories can help reach reluctant readers, short films are excellent for demonstrating literary elements in ways that are approachable, memorable, and engaging. They’re also a fantastic choice for ELLs since many of them have little to no dialogue, and therefore rely on more universal means of communicating their message. I’ll share some specific tips for the short films I’m shouting out, but here are some activities you can use with any short film: Practice writing summaries. Since short films are just that (short), they’re easy to summarize in a paragraph. You can make it more fun and challenging by asking students to write

Leila Hobbs May 25, 2021

Teaching Symbolism with 3 Short Stories

Do your students struggle to identify instances of symbolism in a text? Yeah, mine too. So today I am sharing some contemporary short stories, plus additional resources, to help you plan a unit on symbolism that is both compelling and memorable. Teaching symbolism with short stories helps students practice their analytical skills. The first way I found to engage my students was to bribe, uh, I mean, reward them with candy. Candy was the perfect way to help my students finally get symbolism. But the biggest positive change I made when teaching symbolism with short stories was to revamp the texts themselves. I was getting burned out on using the same old stories. (And teachers, if you’re getting bored, you can bet your students are too.) Plus, “Masque of the Red Death” and “The Pearl” (a

Danielle Hall March 16, 2021

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