ELA The Miss M Way

Reading can be a dreadful activity for some and an enjoyable activity for others.     Whether the text is a novel, a poem, or an informative work, each student will fall into one of those two categories.   Sometimes all it takes to turn a reluctant and/or struggling reader into an excited and/or fluent one is the right approach to reading for that student. Whole-class read-aloud with student readers When conducting a whole-class read-aloud, it is beneficial for you, the teacher, to be the first reader.   You will model a variety of elements such as pronunciation, cadence, volume, and expression.   After reading an appropriate length of the text, whether it be one paragraph or several pages, stop to engage the students by posing questions.   The questions can be direct or indirect and can even be used for pair-and-share discussions.   Once you are satisfied with this first round of reflections on the text, ask for student volunteers to r...

Word walls are effective literacy tools that should be used in all subjects and all grade levels.   A word wall displays commonly used words relative to the course content. Familiarization with seeing and hearing these words will help students become comfortable with the words’ meanings and applications. What words belong on a word wall? Weekly vocabulary If you are an English Language Arts teacher, or any teacher who’s a fan of weekly vocabulary quizzes, a word wall is a great resource to have in your classroom.   Each vocabulary word can be written on an index card and then taped to the wall.   Another option is to write each word in a list on a piece of poster paper.   Words can be listed in whichever way you ( and your students ) believe is most logical.   One option is alphabetically, another is ordering by the common root word, and yet another is grouping by a common characteristic, such as words that relate to a particular topic.   ...

Middle school students often have a lot to say and LOVE opportunities to share their opinions and personal views.   Use that sense of self to your advantage.   Create writing prompts that appeal to them.   Here are 42 journal topics, by category, that are guaranteed to engage your middle schoolers. Start Of The School Year These topics will get your students excited for the new academic year.   They will be ready to turn tasks that may seem impossible into accomplishments. 1. What are your academic goals for the year? 2. What are your personal goals for the year? 3. What is something you hope to learn about this year?   Halloween Many kids and teens ( and adults! ) love this October holiday and the scary stories that go with it.   Be cautious though as some of your students may not celebrate Halloween for cultural reasons, while others may have a genuine fear of the holiday.   It may be wise to provide an alternate topic, perhaps ge...

On any given day in class, there will inevitably be at least one student who questions you with the iconic, “I’m done.   What do I do now?”   Instead of panicking because there are 10 minutes left and all other students are still working, you will be prepared with these fun, educational activities.       Trivia Kids of all ages love being challenged with trivia questions.  Search on the Internet for trivia aimed at your students’ ages.  The trivia can either be an assortment of random questions or subject-specific questions.  Use key phrases such as “trivia for kids” or “math trivia for middle school.”  Of course, you can also create your own questions based on course content.       Print several copies of the trivia questions, as well as one copy of each answer key.  Put all of these sheets in a binder.  Place the answer keys in plastic sheet protectors with a note stating that answer keys must remain ...

When teaching an elective class, it can be tricky to figure out the types of assignments to give and how to grade them.   This can be especially frustrating if you are a core subject teacher who is also teaching an elective, by default, due to scheduling needs.   While your priorities are on your core classes, you still need to find ways for your students in the elective to demonstrate what they have learned.   Here’s how to do that:   Projects Both individual projects and group projects are great to assign in an elective for two reasons: the students will view projects as fun activities rather than work, and the projects will lessen your workload.   Dedicate several class periods to working on the assignment.   While the students are doing this, you can circulate the classroom to get a sneak peak of what they are working on and even ask the students questions about their assignment.   When you have a sense of what each group or each individu...