Bring personal expression, creativity, and relevance back to your ELA classroom.
The day I realized my son and daughter had not 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. 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
- American classics and diverse text pairings
- jaw-droppingly (that’s a word, right?!) effective writing lessons you’ve created or discovered.
Use my contact page, email me at elabraveandtrue@gmail.com, or leave a comment on any blog post.
Let’s connect!
Some Recent Posts
- The Favorite Place PoemHave students create content with a poem about their favorite place Many of my students are reading poetry. On Instagram. Okay, okay… I know. But whether or not you take verse found on Instagram seriously, poetry is experiencing a resurgenceContinue reading “The Favorite Place Poem”
- Call for submissions: Frederick Douglass wants your students’ essaysTheir best words and ideas are needed now This morning, I learned about an organization taking essay submissions from students around the world for possible online publication. The organization is called Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives. Founded in 2007 and basedContinue reading “Call for submissions: Frederick Douglass wants your students’ essays”
- Try this poem to spark rich discussions in your classroom“The Cold Within” by James Patrick Kinney Looking for a poem to generate a rich and engaging discussion with your students? I recently came across a post in one of the Facebook Groups I belong to. As I scanned theContinue reading “Try this poem to spark rich discussions in your classroom”
