Speaking and Listening – ELA Brave and True by Marilyn Yung

Lessons on Longfellow

This past week, my junior English III learned about one of the America’s first celebrities, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. And I’m so glad I decided to go more in-depth with this cultural icon than our textbook allows.

“Song of Myself” Video Project Reveals Walt Whitman’s Importance Today

And then I stumbled upon something amazing: Whitman, Alabama. This was the inspiration I needed to demonstrate the importance of Walt Whitman’s poetry in American culture today.

Switch up sketchnotes to engage distracted students

I love sketchnotes. They’re engaging, colorful, and creative, and allow me to make illustrative connections while I listen to a book. But here’s the thing: I’m not a very good listener. I need to carefully concentrate on the words I’m hearing or my mind wanders to whatever’s going on in the hall, outside the window, or just inside my head. So even though I’m a huge fan of sketchnotes, sometimes I need a more passive kind of sketchnotes… sketchnotes that keep me engaged, but still able to focus on the text so I can create meaningful notes and doodles that will ultimately aid understanding and retention of the content.