Super ELA 
We’re a couple of weeks away from winter break, and while I am looking forward to trimming the tree and unwrapping presents, I also find myself in the awkward position of finishing a unit a few days too early. What do I do to fill the time? It is unrealistic to start a novel study … Read more
In the spring, I was in a class on rhetoric and composition for my master’s in English program. We focused on many different ideas, from threshold concepts in writing to multimodal composition to inclusive practices for international and L2 students. For our summative assignment, however, we had to choose a focus that we hadn’t covered, or at least … Read more
This year I’m celebrating National Poetry Month with “30 Days of Poetry” on the Super ELA! Instagram and TikTok accounts. Follow along with me as I discuss thirty different approaches and ideas to help jazz up your poetry lessons. (And I promise that not one of them is TPCASTT!) See the list below for links … Read more
One of the most difficult concepts taught in ELA classrooms is the essay. It’s because there are so many parts at play: formulating the research question, evaluating sources, gathering evidence, outlining ideas, and translating the outline from bullet points into a well-structured and original piece of writing. Phew. Add to all of that the idea … Read more
It’s almost March, and in the U.S. that means businesses and schools are decorated with cardboard shamrocks, cartoon leprechauns, and obscene amounts of green glitter—all in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Many Americans participate in this verdant holiday, but do they ever ask themselves why? Why do we don green (instead of blue) and pinch each … Read more
Now that Super Bowl LVII has come and gone, we enter the period of post-game analysis. The players and coaches are watching footage to see which kicks, throws, and tackles were the most or least successful. This is all well and good if you’re interested in getting better at football; however, the only kind of … Read more
Valentine’s Day is upon us, which means that classrooms are about to be bombarded with candygrams, PDA is going to skyrocket, and hallway assignations will clog the flow of traffic between bells even more than they already do. Instead of leaning away from love in the classroom, I say lean toward it, and there’s no … Read more
A few weeks back, I celebrated MLK Day with a comic to honor the venerated activist and leader Martin Luther King Jr. To continue in this vein, and in honor of Black History Month, I’m sharing a few of my favorite resources for teaching MLK’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. (Get the full transcript … Read more
Last fall, I took a class on American Lit from 1776-1865. While the majority of our time was spent on prose produced in a young and conflicted United States, toward the end we shifted our focus to poetry, and this led us to the subject of today’s post: Emily Dickinson. I had not read much … Read more
Of the many books I’ve taught, my favorite has to be the Odyssey. I love watching kids grimace when they read about Odysseus driving a charred stake into the cyclops’s eye. I look forward to discussing what the sirens’ song sounds like. (Is it like the Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter?) I can’t get … Read more