Author Archives: Marilyn Yung

When Christian Bale becomes Beowulf

Here’s another way to infuse relevance into Beowulf When you extend your Beowulf unit into a mini-unit on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, three things will happen: 1) You’ll build excitement to read an Anglo-Saxon poem so old we don’t even know exactly when it was written or by whom. 2) You’ll open students’ eyes toContinue reading “When Christian Bale becomes Beowulf”

My post-COVID Follow-Up: Creative Vocabulary Resources

Here they are: the links for “Eight Ways to Explore New Vocabulary Words” Since COVID mixed things up a bit for me personally last week, I’m mixing things up a bit this week. I’ll explain in this quick video. Links: Please leave a comment with all the questions you have! And if you’re wondering aboutContinue reading “My post-COVID Follow-Up: Creative Vocabulary Resources”

Eight Ways to Explore New Vocabulary Words

Plus free handouts to download “Vocabulary is about precision.” Those are the words of Sheridan Blau, author and Professor of Practice in English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. I heard Blau speak at the Writing & Thinking Conference hosted by the Ozarks Writing Project at Missouri State University two years ago. Blau’s concise statementContinue reading “Eight Ways to Explore New Vocabulary Words”

A Sept. 11 Artifacts Poetry Display

Personal 9/11 artifacts and acrostic poems recall the depth of human loss Today, I’m posting some photographs sent to me from a fellow high school teacher, Joe Wolf, who last week tried my “The Stories the Artifacts Tell” lesson plan featured in this 9/11 lesson post. Wolf teaches at Hollister High School in southwest MissouriContinue reading “A Sept. 11 Artifacts Poetry Display”

How to get better “One-Word Summaries” from your students

Make 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 defending their chosen word. Read my post on the One-Word Summary if you’re unfamiliar with thisContinue reading “How to get better “One-Word Summaries” from your students”

Headline Poetry Reimagined and Redefined

My 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 phrases found and clipped from with a variety of printed materials, magazines, newspapers, and even junkContinue reading “Headline Poetry Reimagined and Redefined”