Bring personal expression, creativity, and relevance back to your ELA classroom.
The day I realized my son and daughter could not recall having written one poem or piece of non-academic writing in their entire high school careers was the day I clarified my thinking about my own teaching. Students need memorable, creative opportunities to fully grasp the power of writing. Personal expression — and by extension, creativity — must be a driving force in my classroom. What’s the point of learning in-text parenthetical citations, how to write a literary analysis, or knowing how to summarize a text if one feels no personal connection to those tasks?
Whether we’re reading or writing in my ELA classes, we are always mindful that what we are really doing is finding our own humanity… expressing our personalities, tapping our creativities, and digging for relevance to our own experiences within the texts we read and write.
You can teach creative writing AND prepare your students for college and career. Let’s learn and share.
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I’m interested in your story!
Please contact me to let me know about creative ways you’re teaching ELA to high school students. I am especially interested in the following:
- headline poetry lessons and activities
- writing contests for middle school and high school students
- American classics and diverse text pairings
- jaw-droppingly (that’s a word, right?!) effective writing lessons for middle and high school students
Use my contact page, email me at elabraveandtrue@gmail.com, or leave a comment on any blog post.
Let’s connect!
Some Recent Posts
- How to get better “One-Word Summaries” from your studentsMake these off-limits: the topic and their opinion In the past, after I assigned One-Word Summaries, I would often feel a little let down when I walked around the room, glancing over students’ shoulders as they wrote their paragraphs defendingContinue reading “How to get better “One-Word Summaries” from your students”
- Headline Poetry Reimagined and RedefinedMy high school students take headline poems to the next level Again this year, I chose to start the school year with headline poetry. Both my in-school students and those learning at home created headline poems with words and phrasesContinue reading “Headline Poetry Reimagined and Redefined”
- Encourage distance learners with creative “Color Poems”Distance learners will enjoy this creative, fun poem activity about color!
