Cultivating Critical Thinkers: My Approach to Teaching Literature

Cultivating Critical Thinkers: My Approach to Teaching Literature

As an educator, I've always been passionate about instilling critical thinking skills in my students. It's a topic that I recently had the opportunity to reflect on during a professional development session, and I want to share with you the insights and strategies that I believe are essential for deep engagement in the classroom.

Challenging the Status Quo

During a recent PD session, I found myself in a bit of a controversial spot. I questioned a fellow teacher's approach to curriculum, which led to a broader discussion about our roles as educators. It's crucial for us to think like our students and to prioritize deep critical thinking over simply entertaining them. We need to focus on developing skills that lead to deeper critical thinking and provide opportunities for students to engage authentically with the material.

Teaching Literature Beyond Comprehension

When it comes to teaching literature, my approach might be a little unconventional. I steer clear of recall-based or plot-based activities. Instead, I encourage students to seek out summaries on their own and focus on the bigger issues at hand. It's about letting go of the minor details and teaching students to read for big picture connections. Comprehension is important, but it shouldn't be the primary focus. We should be guiding our students to think critically about broader themes and societal issues.

The Power of Close Reading

Close reading is a significant part of my teaching strategy. It's not about getting through an entire novel; it's about diving deep into passages and analyzing them. This mirrors adult book club discussions where despite different levels of recall, everyone can contribute meaningfully to the conversation. Close reading fosters a collective understanding of the text and teaches students valuable rhetorical and literary analysis skills.

Pairing Texts and Media for Enhanced Engagement

I'm a big advocate for pairing contrasting texts and media to stimulate critical thinking. For instance, combining literature with podcasts or other media that address relevant societal issues can create a dynamic learning environment. This approach encourages students to engage critically with the material and see the connections between the text and the world around them.

Visuals and Hands-On Activities

Incorporating visuals and hands-on activities is another way to enhance metaphorical thinking and create moments for critical thinking in the classroom. These methods help students to visualize and interact with the concepts in a tangible way, further deepening their understanding and engagement.

Conclusion: Prioritizing Deep Engagement

My approach to teaching literature and critical thinking is all about prioritizing deep engagement, critical analysis, and real-world connections. It's about cultivating students' ability to think critically about the world around them. As educators, we have the power to shape how our students perceive and interact with the world, and it's our responsibility to equip them with the skills they need to navigate it thoughtfully and analytically.

In the end, the goal is not just to teach literature but to foster a generation of thinkers who can analyze, question, and contribute to society in meaningful ways.

READY TO TRY TEACHING EQ DRIVEN UNITS?

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Planning a Novel Unit Reading Calendar

Planning a Novel Unit Reading Calendar

The art of pacing out the reading during a novel unit can be tricky, so we’re going to take some time today to talk through the process. Whether you’re teaching a classic or a contemporary YA title, there are special considerations to be made for the design of your calendar and how we backwards plan for ELA. Let’s jump in!

For a while now, I've had the pleasure of guiding countless teachers through the intricacies of curriculum design and instructional coaching. In one of our most recent videos, I delved into a topic that's crucial for any literature teacher: creating an effective reading calendar. Today, I want to share with you the insights and strategies I discussed for building a reading calendar specifically tailored to the novel Fahrenheit 451. You can skim through this post to see the gist and then watch the full video when you’re ready!

Understanding Your Timeframe

The first step in crafting a reading calendar is to get a clear picture of the real time you have available for the unit. It's not just about the number of days on the calendar; it's about the actual class time you can dedicate to reading, discussions, and assessments. This understanding is foundational because it shapes how you'll pace the novel and plan your activities.

Setting Clear Assessment Goals

Before you dive into the reading schedule, it's essential to set your assessment goals. What do you want your students to achieve by the end of the unit? How will you measure their understanding and engagement with the text? These goals will guide you in structuring your calendar and ensuring that each activity aligns with your objectives.

Structuring for Engagement and Ownership

A well-structured reading calendar does more than just outline what to read and when; it fosters student ownership and engagement with the text. I advocate for backward planning, which means starting with your end goals and working backward to determine the steps needed to get there. This approach ensures that every part of your calendar is purposeful and directed towards your learning outcomes.

Decentering the Text for Broader Discussions

In our discussion, I emphasized the importance of decentering the text to allow for broader analysis and discussions. This means assigning larger chunks of reading at a time and not getting bogged down by focusing solely on the text itself, and instead, focusing on the essential question. By doing so, you create space for students to connect the novel to larger themes and ideas, which enriches their learning experience.

A Week in the Life of a Reading Calendar

PIN ME!

Let me give you a glimpse into how I structure a reading calendar. Mondays are for assigning reading, which sets the tone for the week. Tuesdays are reserved for small group activities, which encourage collaboration and deeper understanding. Wednesdays and Thursdays are perfect for close reading exercises, allowing students to dive into the text's nuances. This structure balances guidance with autonomy, giving students the framework they need while empowering them to take charge of their reading.

Flexibility and Adaptation

One of the most important lessons I've learned is the value of flexibility. Every classroom is different, and what works for one may not work for another. It's okay to adjust the reading schedule based on your school's timetable and to be open to rearranging assessment, small group, and close reading days as needed.

Final Thoughts

Creating a reading calendar for Fahrenheit 451 or any novel is a balancing act between structure and flexibility. It requires an understanding of your timeframe, clear assessment goals, and a willingness to adapt to your students' needs. I encourage you to use the template I've provided as a starting point and to check the description box for additional resources.

I wish you all the best in planning your reading calendar. Happy teaching!

Shop my complete Fahrenheit 451 unit plans

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5 Ways to Look at the Magic of Clarisse in your Fahrenheit 451 Unit

Now, more than ever, we need to have Fahrenheit 451 in front of our students. From the new onset of AI technology to the daily threats of our intellectual and academic freedom, Fahrenheit provides windows, mirrors, and doors into our present and our future. While Montag’s transformation, the working symbolism, and general dystopian world-building are all incredibly important pieces to focus on, I’d like to argue that it’s possible we need Clarisse McClellan the most.

Clarisse.

The enigma.

The one character my students always feel collective sorrow for losing.

She brings us so much in this story but in the chaos of teaching and planning, her magic can be looked over. I’m here to help! Here are the most powerful places to let Clarisse step into the moonlight (too cheesy?):

SKILLS: CHARACTERIZATION - FOIL AND/OR STATIC

One of the very first close reading lessons that we do is a side-by-side close reading between the first introduction of Montag and the first introduction of Clarisse. Between the imagery drawn from nature to the colors used in their description, this is a great place to clearly teach the purpose of a foil or static character. Clarisse’s constancy — her unwavering commitment to being exactly who she is and refusing to conform — is what allows us to see Montag’s transformation. There is a distinct “Montag before Clarisse” and “Montag after Clarisse”. Not all literature gives us such a clear angle to teach this piece of literary craft and I highly recommend using close reading to do this.

SKILLS: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE - SYMBOLISM

Clarisse is nature. She is water. She is the dew drops on the grass. She is the wind. As we learn about symbolism and track it throughout the novel, Clarisse’s symbols connect our readers to hope and humanity. Clarisse's appreciation for the natural world and her desire to connect with it on a personal level stand in stark contrast to the technology-obsessed, disconnected world of the novel. Clarisse (and her many objects) are a symbol of hope and resistance against a dystopian society. Her existence and actions inspire the protagonist Montag, and by extension, readers, to consider the possibility of change and a better future.

THEMES: HUMAN CONNECTION

If you’ve ever looked around your classroom, I bet you’ve seen phones peeking out of hoodie pockets, fingers flipping through TikTok, and wondered: what on Earth does the future have in store for us? Clarisse is our character to bring everyone back to our humanity (while Mildred does a fine job of warning students of the consequences of continued obsessive technology behavior). Clarisse seeks genuine human connections and meaningful conversations in a world where people are more interested in mindless entertainment and shallow interactions through screens. Her character highlights the importance of real, face-to-face relationships, and every year that I’ve taught this, students DO connect to her. Students DO express the feeling that they’d much rather a world full of Clarisses than a world full of Mildreds.

All of the contrast provided by Clarisse gives us ample opportunity to close read and discuss the roles of other characters. When we look at the Montag and Mildred’s marriage, it is one thing by itself, and an entirely different thing when we consider Clarisse’s impact. Beatty and Montag also have a distinct relationship, and that is shifted entirely as Clarisee’s impact works its way between them.

THEMES: INDIVIDUALITY & QUIET REBELLION

In my Fahrenheit 451 unit, we examine the Essential Question: To what extent is rebellion a requirement for society to progress? Again, Montag typically sits at the center of this conversation, but none of his transformation would be possible without Clarisse. Clarisse values her individuality and refuses to conform to the mindless consumerism and thoughtlessness of her society. Her character serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining one's unique identity in the face of societal pressures - something that is becoming increasingly harder to do for us as adults and especially for students. She thinks deeply and critically about the world around her. She questions the conformity and superficiality of her society, encouraging readers to do the same in their own lives. Her love for books and the ideas they contain represents a rebellion against a society that burns books to control information and thought. This underscores the importance of literature and the free exchange of ideas.

THEMES: THE POWER OF FEAR

Clarisse might be the first person that Montag has ever heard ask a question, much less questioning authority. She challenges the oppressive government and the censorship of books - and in doing so, is killed. The cost of her quiet rebellion, the cost of keeping the lights on, having conversations, and asking questions…the cost was her life. This underscores the power of fear: when we are afraid of what we don’t understand, fear can convince us to take extreme action in an effort to protect our comfort zone. This might be one of the most important themes for students to take away from studying the novel. Clarisse made Montag uncomfortable, but she also brought him out of the dark and into the light. As we work through Beatty’s speech in Part 1, I like to ask students what Clarisse’s reaction would be to what Beatty is reporting. In so many of Montag’s major close reading moments (moments of transformation), his last trailing thought always comes back to Clarisse and the feeling of her closeness and the painful reality of her loss.

Ready to go all-in on Fahrenheit?

If you’re ready to take the leap and transform the way you’ve always taught Fahrenheit or start teaching it for the first time, I have you covered. My complete unit is designed to take you through 5-6 weeks of inquiry driven, student-centered learning. Learn more about the unit here and be sure to click PREVIEW to take a look inside!

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS RESOURCES

55+ Books for Your Next American Dream Unit for High School ELA

THE AMERICAN DREAM: INSPIRING OR DESTRUCTIVE?

One of the most frequently taught units in the American high school system is one centered on The American Dream. In some cases, this can be the focus for an entire 11th grade year study of literature. And while it’s a necessary and important lens for us to use when examining literature, it can get stale or even oversimplified when working with students. After several years of experimenting, I have found this Essential Question approach to excite and engage students across skill levels, interests, and backgrounds. .Whether you’re building the unit to teach The Great Gatsby, A Raisin in the Sun, or another American classic or you’re ready to tackle this topic as a literature circle unit, this book list is here to save you time and energy in narrowing down the search. The books on this list open up the conversation about the American Dream widely and represent a variety of experiences and voices.

Themes VS Essential Questions

For a long time, I taught theme-based units: units were based on a teacher’s pre-selected theme and all of the learning was connected underneath the umbrella of the theme. I really liked the sense of connectedness, and quite honestly, I was craving that coming from a much less organized situation when I began my career. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the teacher-centeredness of this approach. The students had very little investment in the choice of the theme, and the direction of the conversation around the theme, and so much of it was tied to the teacher’s decided trajectory for the unit.

Inquiry, on the other hand, gave me the chance to use the best parts of themes, but deepen them and hand them over to students. Inquiry takes a thematic idea, roots it in a question, and then asks students to spend the duration of the unit investigating and exploring potential answers to that question as they progress toward the summative. Look at it this way as a “unit makeover” :

BEFORE: Unit 1: THE AMERICAN DREAM

AFTER: Unit 1: IS THE AMERICAN DREAM MORE LIKELY TO INSPIRE OR DESTROY?

The thematic/topical unit states the focal point of the unit and we can assume that each of the texts in that unit will reveal different versions of the American Dream. The inquiry unit will do those same things as the thematic unit, but nudges students a massive step further: is it more likely to inspire us to do great things or destroy us along the way? The argumentative edge to this question presses students out of simple definitions and into the messy business of stating a claim on a continuum. This one big question begs dozens of smaller ones and sets up a unit that is connected, but also divergent. Most importantly, this question helps the unit address the critical nature of the way the dream manifested in drastically different ways depending on a person’s race, immigration status, and ancestry. This is a unit that is unified under a topic (The American Dream), but also ready to twist and turn with student curiosity. In the video below, I give a big longer take on the ways this question opens up possibilities within a unit:

Scroll through the list below of titles that are absolute perfection for this particular unit. Bookshop.org is a wonderful partner working to bring business to small, local bookstores, so if you can swing it, shop the list directly and you’ll be able to help out bookstores in your area!

What other books would you add to this list? I know there are so many that fit this EQ so perfectly and it was hard to keep the list manageable. I’d love to hear your additions in the comments!

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How to Create Book Club Magic Using Essential Questions {Part Two}

Lackluster literature circles? Boring book clubs? The remedy: lose traditional “role” sheets, declare freedom from organization by topic or genre, and build essential question-focused literature circles or book clubs instead. An EQ as the throughline for your lit circle/book club unit kicks up the impact that comes from having kids talk about what they read in a way that just does not happen with any other method.

This is the second blog post in a series dedicated to this kind of magic. Make sure you catch Part One when you finish reading here!

REASON # 3 – BUILD COMMUNITIES WITHIN A COMMUNITY

Lit circles like “real” life book clubs

One of the great things about lit circles and book clubs is how they build communities within your larger classroom community. 

In “real” life, we join book clubs to find community – to have a social outlet where we share a common interest. And even though lit circles have always had a cooperative learning element built in by design, using an EQ focus takes it beyond a learning strategy. 

• First, kids choose their book in a more authentic way, so regardless of how well they might know other students in their group, they have an immediate connection. 

• Second, like in “real life” book clubs where discussion is not dictated by a “role” but with genuine questions, connections, and a desire to understand, an EQ provides a touchpoint for question creation and passage selection. It also offers a way for groups to come back to center and ground discussions if focus waivers. 

• The work with supplementals and text pairings also offers students opportunities to build community as they try to make connections and develop understanding between texts, looking at “big” ideas through different lenses. Jigsawing between groups is a community builder, and EQs offer more opportunities for this because the text is not centered. 

• An EQ offers the opportunity for students to easily connect digitally. With no shortage of apps for virtual meetings, book groups can even be created between classes, providing alternative ways to foster and develop community. 

As students share their thinking and debate and consider one another’s ideas, whether it is within their “home” lit circle or during a jigsaw, they learn from each other. They consider new perspectives. They lean on each other to understand and analyze the texts they read, creating a sense of belonging at a different level. 

CHECK OUT AMANDA’S FAVORITE BOOKS TO USE IN An AMERICAN DREAM EQ UNIT:

REASON #4 – EASE OF ASSESSMENT

EQ = lit circle/book club assessment special sauce 

How to assess students and what to assess them on is an often-cited source of frustration. You are not alone if you’ve worried about any/all of the following:

• What if I haven’t read all the books?

• How do I keep them accountable individually? As a group? 

• How do I know if they are reading? 

• Should there be a group assessment? 

• Projects? Writing?   

But when your book clubs or lit circles are EQ-focused, they are skills-based, not text specific.  And an EQ and backwards planning – knowing what your summative will be at the beginning of the unit – develops students’ skills throughout the unit so they can find success. 

The focus of assessment, simply put, is to answer the essential question using whatever texts they encounter throughout the unit whether it is their novel, pairings or supplementals. Depending on your skills focus – developing interpretive-level questions, providing strong evidence to support thinking/writing/speaking, connecting concepts across multiple texts, paragraph writing – the summative could be: 

• a student-run Socratic with student-developed questions 

• a podcast

• an analytical paragraph or essay

• a synthesis essay 

• a one-pager 

Throughout the unit, individual and small group check-ins could include: 

• written reflections 

• creating discussion questions and choosing passages for each meeting

• write-arounds

• hexagonal thinking activities

• choice-board activities   

• and Sesame Street quizzes 

that focus on the skills students need to practice as they work toward their summative. 

EQ-focused book clubs and lit circles, like other EQ-based units, prioritize understandings about life that are bigger than the text/novel alone, making assessment more authentic and simpler to plan using backwards design.  

CONCLUSION 

EQ-focused lit circles or book clubs, by design, create an authentic, choice and skill-based, rigorous shared reading experience that your students will benefit from and you will enjoy guiding.

What have your experiences with book clubs/lit circles been like as a secondary English teacher? What questions do you have about EQs, backwards design, or EQ Adventure Packs? Let me know in the comments!

Curious about how the thought process goes into an EQ unit? Listen in here to get a feel for how I break down this EQ and the levels of complexity available to teachers and students with just this one question: Why do relationships matter?

Believe it or not, there are even MORE reasons to lean into an EQ-centered appraoch to lit circles, and there’s a PART ONE to this blog series! Did you miss it?

LET’S GO SHOPPING!

How to Create Book Club Magic Using Essential Questions {Part One}

Lackluster literature circles? Boring book clubs? The remedy: lose traditional “role” sheets, declare freedom from organization by topic or genre, and build essential question-focused literature circles or book clubs instead. An EQ as the throughline for your lit circle/book club unit kicks up the impact that comes from having kids talk about what they read in a way that just does not happen with any other method. Here’s why:

REASON #1: CHOICE, BUT LIKE, FOR REAL

Fundamental Tenet of Lit Circles and Book Clubs 

Fact: choice boosts student engagement. And even in the “passage picker, summarizer, questioner, illustrator” role sheet days of early lit circles, students selected books that most interested them – usually within a specific genre or topic. 

Great, right?  

Sort of. 

What about students who: 

• detest dystopia? 

• hate historical fiction? 

• can’t stand “coming of age”? 

They have choice. Among titles they wouldn’t otherwise pick for themselves.😕  

When lit circles and book clubs focus on essential questions (more info on essential questions and inquiry-based learning here and here), novel options for students – unbound by any constraints other than shedding light on the question – grow exponentially! 

For example, if your book club/lit circle essential question is why do relationships matter? book choices could include:

• The Outsiders 

• The Hunger Games

• and The Crossover 

or 

• The House on Mango Street

• Long Way Down

• and The Children of Blood and Bone. 

Classics. Novels in verse. Realistic fiction. Fantasy. Dystopia. 

Something for every student's interest and background, and this is just a short list of possibilities for tackling this EQ! The EQ focus makes the book selection more authentic for the kids. Instead of “the least worst option,” their choice becomes something that truly speaks to their personal preferences as readers thereby creating more emotionally engaged lit circle/book club participants who are ready to tackle the EQ! 

CHECK OUT AMANDA’S FAVORITE BOOKS TO USE IN A RELATIONSHIPS EQ UNIT:

REASON #2 – RIGOR 

EQ-focused lit circles and book clubs elevate rigor!  

While choice certainly helps open the door to student engagement, rigor plays a role, too. By rigor, I do NOT mean offering only complex texts, accelerated reading calendars, or piling on assignments.   

As high school reading and writing gurus Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle say in their latest book, 4 Essential Studies, rigor does not equal text difficulty.  

““Book clubs motivate us to read. They deepen our understanding of not only the book but how others read and interpret the same text … rigor is not in the book itself, but in the work the students do to understand it” (45-47). ”

— Gallagher & Kittle

And the work students do with EQ-focused book clubs or lit circles encourages this work.  

Sure, in a genre-based book club, the kids can examine what elements show up in their book and how. They can compare how one author achieves this versus another. 

But an EQ, like Which is more powerful: hope or fear? immediately asks students to sit with uncertainty and consider possible answers and solutions rather than identify more correct ones. 

EQ-based lit circles or book clubs meet students where they are – literal, theoretical or anywhere in between – and provide opportunities to scaffold toward analysis, synthesis and more abstract thinking.

How? 

One way is to use supplemental texts and pairings! 

These texts are not novel-specific but EQ-connected, so every book group can use them:

• articles

• poems

• songs/lyrics

• art pieces

• videos 

• stories

• book excerpts 

Supplementals and pairings can be used to create whole-class, lit circle-based, or jigsawed skill-focused lessons that students can then practice independently. Check out my EQ Adventure Packs for supplementals and pairings AND a choice board that can also be used for this purpose.

What might such a lesson look like?

• Your EQ:  what is more powerful: hope or fear? 

• Skill focus: writing analytical paragraphs (students hyperfocus on literal aspects of plot) 

• Whole group: listen to one of the songs, give kids a copy of the lyrics

• Whole group: model identifying where you notice hope or fear in the lyrics; think-aloud  noting which felt stronger and why

• Small groups: kids continue identifying examples of hope & fear in the lyrics

• Small groups: kids note whether “hope” or “fear” was stronger in each example

• Small groups: select two lines/stanzas that best illustrate hope or fear

• Post on Padlet 

• Whole group: debrief; model what a “good” reflection looks like; show a skills progression 

• Independently: kids draft a paragraph reflection on whether they felt fear or hope was a more powerful idea in song and why, using evidence from any of the groups’ findings. 

This is just one way EQ-focused lit circles or book clubs can be rigorous while meeting kids where they are. The work they do in a lesson like this does not have a right or wrong answer; the kids discuss and rehearse their ideas and thinking aloud before they put pen to paper. The EQ requires kids to think beyond plot and surface-level similarities to do this work; it pushes them to consider ideas that are bigger than a text alone.

Listen in here to get a feel for how I break down this EQ and the levels of complexity available to teachers and students with just this one question:

Believe it or not, there are even MORE reasons to lean into an EQ-centered appraoch to lit circles, and there’s a PART TWO to this blog series! Are you ready for more?

LET’S GO SHOPPING!

Books for Your Next Unit on Relationships for Middle and High School ELA

why do relationships matter?

One of my favorite units to teach is a unit that focuses on relationships. It’s the perfect way to hone in on complex characterization and the layers of complexity are widely accommodating for skill level. Whether you’re building the unit to teach as a whole class novel unit or as a literature circles unit, this book list is here to save you time and energy in narrowing down the search.

Themes VS Essential Questions

For a long time, I taught theme-based units: units were based on a teacher’s pre-selected theme and all of the learning was connected underneath the umbrella of the theme. I really liked the sense of connectedness, and quite honestly, I was craving that coming from a much less organized situation when I began my career. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the teacher-centeredness of this approach. The students had very little investment in the choice of the theme, and the direction of the conversation around the theme, and so much of it was tied to the teacher’s decided trajectory for the unit.

Inquiry, on the other hand, gave me the chance to use the best parts of themes, but deepen them and hand them over to students. Inquiry takes a thematic idea, roots it in a question, and then asks students to spend the duration of the unit investigating and exploring potential answers to that question as they progress toward the summative. Look at it this way as a “unit makeover” :

BEFORE: Unit 1: Relationships

AFTER: Unit 1: Why do relationships matter?

The thematic/topical unit states the focal point of the unit and we can assume that each of the texts in that unit will reveal different types of relationships. The inquiry unit will do those same things as the thematic unit, but nudges students a massive step further: why do they MATTER? Yes, many different types of relationships exist, but what do they do for the progress of humanity? Do we need them for survival? What are the kinds of relationships we need in our lives and which are the ones that we need to actively distance ourselves from? This one big question begs dozens of smaller ones and sets up a unit that is connected, but also divergent. A unit that is unified, but also ready to twist and turn with student curiosity. In the video below, I give a big longer take on the ways this question opens up possibilities within a unit:

Scroll through the list below of titles that are absolute perfection for this particular unit. Bookshop.org is a wonderful partner working to bring business to small, local bookstores, so if you can swing it, shop the list directly and you’ll be able to help out bookstores in your area!

What other books would you add to this list? I know there are so many that fit this EQ so perfectly and it was hard to keep the list manageable. I’d love to hear your additions in the comments!

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let’s go shopping!

Reading Sprints to Increase Student Engagement in ELA

The following is a guest post written by Lindsay from @smalltownela

cultivating a love of reading

One of my biggest goals as an ELA educator, like many others, is to promote independent reading to my students as much as possible. Because of course we want them to love reading or at least enjoy it more than they want to let on. Over the years I have tried many different ways to promote reading in the classroom including, reading logs, AR tests, and journaling. But the one way that I have found that helps my students read more and apply it to topics we learn in class is through reading sprints. 

LET’S TRY READING SPRINTS

Now I just want to come out and say that I am most definitely not the first person to come up with this concept because I saw it on Instagram from some of my favorite accounts (@missboverseas and @elaeveryday) and tweaked it for my own classroom. 

But here is the gist if you haven’t heard of them yet:

• Have your students mark down the page that they are starting on, and then you have your students read for an allotted time, usually around 8-10 minutes.

• Once the timer goes off, have them mark down where they finished and then have them take a break and answer a question of your choosing.

• Then, repeat the process. Usually, I only do 2 reading sprints in my class, but you are free to do more or less however you see fit.

Amanda has a reading sprints slide deck that teachers love to keep the time structured and you can grab it here.

READING SPRINTS: THE STRATEGY

When using reading sprints in your classroom, you can do multiple things in between “sprints” with your students. You can have them do a quick reflection, ask them to write a summary, or look at a different element in their reading, including tone, mood, foreshadowing, or make a  prediction to name a few. The easy thing about it is you can constantly switch up the questions and then every quarter or so just reuse them because the answers and the analysis will be different because they will be reading a different novel. This helps them understand the topic that you are learning and apply it in many different ways to strengthen their skills. 

The best part about reading sprints is how easy it is to implement them in your classroom on a regular basis. Not only are you building in solid independent reading time, but also having them work on skills or standards that you want them to practice more. I have found that using reading sprints in my class on a regular basis helps my class build up their reading stamina which helps when reading full class novels, poems, or close reading activities. 

STREAMLINING READING SPRINTS IN THE CLASSROOM

Here are a few more ways you could use Reading Sprints in my class.

1. Early Dismissals - this is the best way to have a productive class when you are on an early release schedule. The students know to walk in, open up their computers and we get started right away. Usually, I try to link it to whatever standard we have been learning about that week.

2. Bell-Ringer - depending on how long your class is having your students do one reading sprint every day and answering a question in their journal or on Google Slides is an easy way to have them read every day while also being held accountable. 

3. End of the Week - I personally do reading sprints on most Fridays with my students. It’s the best low stakes end of the week plan that both my students and I look forward to. We look at different skills we worked on during the week and apply them easily to our independent novels. Plus it’s an easy way to end the week and send them off with no homework for the weekend.

READING SPRINTS AND FLEXIBILITY

I love using reading sprints in my classroom and my students begin to look forward to them as well. The best part about them is you get to decide how often and how long you get to use them. This can be a random activity you do once in a while or something you do on a consistent basis with your class. I hope you can go and find new ways to use them in your classroom. 

Hey! Amanda here checking in :)

Reading Sprints are another great tool to help teachers move away from plot-centered teaching. When it feels like we’re so tied to plot level detail comprehension, it can be hard to remember the big picture. As you work through building your craft and aligning your goals, I made this YouTube video to help you think through the ways in which critical thinking can show up in your lesson planning. I hope it helps!

Helping Students do Hard Things in ELA

With every inch of my soul, I believe our students can do hard things.

But doing hard things is not the same as assigning hard things. It’s not the same as providing difficult instruction, then expecting straightforward or immediate results.

Raising the bar and increasing rigor in our classrooms must be coupled with purposeful, intentional scaffolding, compassion, a deep knowledge of our students’ lives and backgrounds, and effective teacher-tested strategies. This blog post features a round-up of TWELVE strategies to try that can both push students toward tackling hard things, but still support them and guide their way.

1. SESAME STREET QUIZZES

When we talk about having kids do hard things, we have to look in the mirror and take a hard look at our own assessment practices. Why is something hard? Is it hard because it requires a high level of critical thinking? Or is it hard because the design of the assessment is something students haven’t tried before? Is it hard because the assessment wasn’t truly created with backwards design and students are attempting a skill they haven’t had enough practice using?

When it comes to assessment, we want to challenge our students’ critical thinking, but we also want to make sure that the assessment is an accurate measurement of skill growth. In the masterclass Down With the Reading Quiz, my podcast partner Marie Morris and I break down three types of formative assessments that can be used over and over again to help students master skills. My personal favorite: THE SESAME STREET QUIZ.

It’s about as simple as it might sound: the quiz shows students four items, three of which are connected, and the other is an outlier (one of these things is not like the other!). In this podcast episode, we break down the philosophy behind using our Sesame Street quiz formative assessments as a regular practice in your classroom. I love that this quiz checks off many important boxes for me in terms of what matters in the classroom and asking students to do hard things:

• They promote equity: this is a show me what you can do-type of assessment, not a “gotcha” quiz

• They are rigorous, but can also be scaffolded

• They can be graded on a rubric rather than using arbitrary points

• They help kids understand that you care more about holistic interpretations of learning rather than minute details (unless the details provide commentary on the whole!)

Sesame street quizzes are a HARD THING to ask kids to do, but one that they can get really good at. With scaffolding, practice, and reinforcement, we really can ask our students to do hard things.

2. MAINTAINING EXPECTATIONS THROUGH STUDENT INTEREST

As winter starts to come to an end, many students start to become less enthusiastic about learning as spring nears. Sharena from The Humble Bird Teacher uses student interest to maintain high learning expectations in the classroom through project based learning.  With project based learning, the students learn to think critically and solve real-life problems independently. Most importantly, the students are the captain of their education as they dive into topics that interest them and bring about discussion and collaboration and fun!  In this situation the teacher becomes the passenger, or guide, who steers the students in the right direction. Project based learning can keep behavioral issues low and help with maintaining classroom expectations because when students enjoy learning, they are more likely going to invest in their education rather than not. 

How can you implement this strategy in your own classroom? 

1. Select project based learning assignments that align with district standards.

2. Pick three to four of them and give students a preview of each one. 

3. Allow students to select the project that interests them. Some project based learning tasks require groups. In this case, have students vote as a class. 

4. Let students get creative and solve the problem presented in the project! This is where the fun and learning begins! 

Remember, you are the guide and not the captain. Provide your students with the support they need to be successful, but let them steer the ship.  Do you want to learn more about project based learning? Sharena recommends the blog post  Project Based Learning and Assessment. 

3. ROUTINES THAT CREATE PREDICTABILITY

In order to maintain high expectations and provide support to get there, Samantha from Samantha in Secondary focuses on classroom routines to make sure students feel heard, respected, and supported. It might seem obvious to make sure your routines are intact, but as the year drags on, it can be difficult to maintain that high level of expectation when students are so comfortable in your room. Routines provide stability for your students so they know what to expect from you and your class. Being very explicit about your expectations and routines (even if you find that you’re repeating yourself multiple times) sets the benchmark for student achievement. Evaluating (and maybe resetting) just a few of your classroom routines can make all the difference. Here are just a few to consider.

• Bellringers: How are you starting class? Is it chaos for the first few minutes when students come in? (No judgment—everyone has been there!) Provide a reliable structure that students can anticipate so that they understand how to be successful. Consider visual writing prompts or attendance questions as a routine to start. Giving students something to get them started immediately is an invaluable routine that will set students up for a strong class period.

• Daily Agenda Slides: Are you being explicit about what’s being covered that day and allowing students to see how they can be successful? Make sure you have a daily agenda slide ready to go. (You can put your bellringer right on there as well—win, win!) Listing the activities for the day and the assessment can show your students immediately how they can be successful and allow them time to think about how they might need to be better supported.

• Close Reading: Within your novel units - whether whole-class, book club/lit circle or choice – this powerful instructional strategy teaches students to read with intention and purpose, and it is best achieved as a regular, weekly practiced routine. Whether you are new to close reading or have tried and been frustrated with it, the Mastering Close Reading video (asynchronous) workshop series offers the guidance and support to build a strong routine and effective lessons.

• Do Something Fun: You can do activities that are both fun AND academically aligned. Make sure you are showing your students that you care about them as people and students. Strengthening classroom culture only leads to students wanting to achieve more academically in your class. What can you plan today that will lead to stronger classroom culture tomorrow?

One of the things that makes teaching so difficult is the unpredictability of each day. Students need different things at different times and some of the things they need to be supported and successful are completely out of teachers’ hands. One way you can provide support for them to do hard things is to make sure your class is set up in a way that they know how they can succeed. Classroom routines are something you as the teacher can control that can make all the difference.

4. RUBRIC CONSISTENCY FOR GROWTH

Students need to know what the goal is if they are going to reach it, right? Krista from @whimsyandrigor knows this to be true, which is why she has created one rubric to rule them all. (Ok, technically there are two rubrics-one for creative writing and one for analytical writing, but you get the idea.)  By this “Almighty Rubric”, she means she has created a single rubric that students use ALL year long, from August to May. This is how they know what to reach towards, how to grade themselves on their work, and how to see their progress throughout the whole year. Because students use the same rubric all year, they get to know (and love?) the criteria and, by the end of the year, basically recite each expectation.

At the beginning of the year, Krista knows that students are going to be below expectations on a few of the traits (maybe their command of a comma is still in development or their ability to explain evidence is at the beginning stages), which is why she only grades students on specific aspects (maybe the intro and the use of topic sentences) and not on every single area, until she actually teaches all of the traits on the rubric. However, she does mark the students’ standings on all of the traits so they can see where they currently stand and know precisely in what areas they can grow. As their skills progress and the units introduce each of the traits on the rubric, Krista slowly starts grading more and more.

Speaking of knowing where to grow, built into each rubric is a reflection piece that asks students to reflect on what they did well and what they can improve for the next assignment. This habit of getting students to reflect on both their strengths and weaknesses is one that will serve them well as a student who truly owns their learning.

So, if you have ever wanted to help students see their goal, monitor their own progress, and not have to create a million rubrics, this might just be the solution for you. Click here to check it out and see if this is a resource that would benefit you and your writers!

5. PROVIDING STAGES FOR LARGER PROJECTS

Molly at The Littlest Teacher found that students were often overwhelmed by major projects, such as the research paper. Big projects are hard-but-valuable experiences for students because they challenge students in the areas of organization, time management, planning ahead, growth mindset, and more.

To provide support while still maintaining her high expectations, Molly turned to heavily detailed scheduling and communication. 

The most important way to support students during a big project is by breaking down that project into many smaller steps for students. They need to know much more than “What do we do, and when is it due?”

With a traditional research paper, for example, Molly would break it down into mini milestones, each with their own due date, such as: topic selected by March 5; brainstorm completed by March 6; 5 sources collected by March 9; 20 notes recorded by March 14; etc.

Along with the task and its due date, Molly also included the page number of students’ writing textbook where examples and information for each step could be found. If you’re not using a textbook, consider providing links to videos or webpages that give examples for each step of your project.

Molly compiled all of this information onto a neatly organized and easy-to-read handout that she provided at the beginning of the research project. She put a paper copy of the handout in students’ hands, posted a copy on Google Classroom, and even emailed a copy to parents, along with a brief explanation of the goals of the project.

Building in all these little checkpoints throughout the project helped Molly stay on top of where her students were at in the process, if they were understanding the project and moving toward success, and allowed her to see where students were veering off course from expectations and gave her the opportunity to correct struggles before students got too far into the project. 

What’s more, providing so much detailed information about the project gave parents a tool to support their students through the process. This was especially important for struggling students.

When assigning any project that requires multiple steps, taking the time to break down all the details of the project and schedule out checkpoints for students and provide them with a calendar of the checkpoints will simplify the process for both you and your students.

6. ACADEMIC ART THERAPY

Infertility and postpartum depression had left Olivia in a dark place. As she began her healing process, she realized how many of her students were also struggling. She began to prioritize her students’ emotional health, starting with a concept called academic art therapy. Here are a few of her ideas:

1. When studying Literary Mood, have students illustrate each mood with colors and symbols. This helps students become more aware of their own emotions—and it helps them recognize mood in their reading, too.

2. Before analyzing a story’s plot, lead your students in a body scan. They can close their eyes if they are comfortable and then pay attention to which parts of their bodies feel relaxed and which parts are experiencing tension. Have them draw a body silhouette (or give them a pre-made template) and encourage them to color in the body with colors that represent how they feel. When you’re ready to discuss a plot diagram, encourage your students to analyze the stress or tension in each part of the story to determine the climax of the plot. Be sure to refer often to the body scan and art therapy as you go!

3. Have students trace their hands, then fill one hand with illustrations of their past and one with illustrations of their future. When they finish, have them trace their hands again, but this time have them fill one handprint with quotes about a character’s past and the other with predictions about the character’s future. 

7. KEEP PARENTS CONNECTED

Supporting students and maintaining expectations sometimes means talking to parents. Parent communication doesn’t have to be anxiety-inducing. Yaddy from Yaddy’s Room makes sure students’ parents and guardians are tracking what happens in the classroom in an effort to maintain expectations. Whether it's to brag to parents that their child wrote a phenomenal intro paragraph that she threw up on the board for other students to examine or its to let a grown up know that their student needs a pep talk on appropriate school behavior. 

Parent communication is the foundation of classroom management and the key to reducing nerves when you need to have not-so-pleasant conversations about student behavior or academics. She's found that creating relationships with parents through email and phone calls at the beginning of the year helps to create a dynamic where parents feel they are partners with teachers in their child's education and behavior. 

To make parent communication as painless as possible, Yaddy makes sure to follow the following steps to make every communication a painless one. First, she introduces herself as an ally to student success in an email to all student parents with a highlight of engaging activities she will facilitate for students. Then, she makes sure every follow-up email highlights a student’s positive behavior or performance, and then she dives into whatever the objective of the email is. She finishes all parent communication with an invitation to schedule a phone call to address concerns. If you want to see how she does it, you can check out this blog post or download her email templates here. 

8. UTILIZE CHOICE BOARDS

Katie from Mochas and Markbooks knows that when it comes to maintaining expectations while offering support, choice boards are just the ticket!

Choice boards provide a system for students to demonstrate understanding of specific curriculum in a variety of ways depending on ability level, interests, learning styles, and so much more! 

Essentially, a choice board is a handout or digital slide with a table of boxes offering different options for a task. By offering different choices, students feel empowered and take more ownership of their chosen tasks.

You can direct your students to complete a specific number of options on the choice board, or you can create a Tic-Tac-Toe board where students must complete three tasks in a line, ensuring they hit on specific skills that you have strategically placed. For example, each line in any direction contains a written, verbal and visual option. To check out an example of this type of choice board, click here for a fun freebie! 

Here are some ideas of how to use Choice Boards in your ELA class:

• Pre-Reading Activity Options

• Post Reading Assessment Options

• Novel Study Project Options

• Bell-Ringer Tasks

• Early Finisher Tasks

• Themed Choice Boards for Specific Holiday Activities

• Poetry choice boards organized by themes or types of poetry

• Independent Reading (links to readings and/or after reading response prompts)

The options are really endless - just like a choice board!  

9. PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR REFLECTION

Doing hard things starts by putting together a game plan.  The game plan for learning is understanding how you learn.  Do your students have the attitude that school is happening to them?  That learning is a chore they have no say in?  Carolyn from Middle School Café has noticed after a year of online learning that many of her students have forgotten how to reflect on their own learning?  They are not really sure how they learn, which makes creating their game plan to do the hard task of learning a difficult one to create. 

Reflection is a life skill, not just an academic skill. As adults, we learn, process, reflect and adjust every day. To help students learn how to reflect, Carolyn has created these reflection sheets to help students think about their own learning.  

By intentionally adding reflection time into her units and lessons, Carolyn’s students have begun to understand how they learn.  Each day, Carolyn asks a combination of these 5 questions: 

1. What did I learn? (Academic concepts)

2. What did I do? (What activities did I do that helped me learn?)

3. Why was it important? (How did the activities help me learn?)

4. How well did I do? (Did these activities help me to learn?)

5. What can I take away from this? (What did I learn about my learning?)

At first students will struggle with identifying how the activities help them learn, however, the more students are given opportunities to make connections between what they are learning and the process in which they learned, the more they will see the role they play in their own education – and stop thinking of education as something that happens to them!

USE INFORMAL CHECK-INS: DURING CLASS, DIGITALLY, & MONTHLY

10. STOP-START-CONTINUE CHECK-IN

Lesa from SmithTeaches9to12 incorporates student voice using a stop-start-continue check in that can be adapted in different ways. At midterm the check-in works for adjustments in how things are being taught to better suit the learners in the class. But it can also be adapted for students to reflect on work habits and behavior. For example, stop procrastinating-start asking for clarification earlier-continue being on time for every class. This can work as an individual element and then as a whole class too. It can help to re-establish class expectations and also opens up dialogue with students to spot those in need of more specific support. 

To make this happen, give students three sticky-notes in different colors (eg. stop is pink, start is green, and continue is yellow). This also makes it easy for teacher review. For whole class input, add in big paper labeled with the three elements and have students place their sticky notes (anonymous works best) or simply wander and build directly on the paper. Students can review what others have written so they can expand their own reflection/feedback. 

To learn more about supporting students’ needs in your classroom check out this post.

11. USE MONTHLY CHECK-IN SURVEYS

In the hustle and bustle of the tightrope balance that is teaching, it’s easy to forget that the most important thing is the kids. And that they are just kids. Simply Ana P is a huge advocate of relationships over content, and while content, rigor, and high expectations are all necessary, SEL focused activities, like check ins, are equally as vital. 

Monthly student surveys are a fantastic way to check for student thoughts/ideas academically speaking, but also a way to check in mentally and emotionally. Life is really hard: heartbreak, trauma, grief, mental health issues, the endings of so many things, etc. - and for youth, they feel things twice fold, or sometimes more, and a lot of times struggle with or simply don’t know how to process or cope.  

It can be really intimidating for a student to go up to a teacher and vent or ask for help. Check In Surveys are not a replacement for guidance counselors or the end all be all solutions, but they can serve an outlet for kids and as invaluable insight for teachers. 

Ana assigns monthly student surveys at the end of every 3 or 4 weeks and then uses the input to guide her monthly one-on-one conferences with students over the following week. It’s significant for students to know that their teacher not only reads their input, but actively cares to discuss it and/or reply to it. 

You can grab one of her surveys HERE  - it is completely editable on Google Forms, so feel free to trash or treasure what you’d like. She hopes it can at least serve as inspiration for your next convo with a kiddo. Don’t forget to check in with yourself, too! 
***Click this link for extra Google Form survey headers :)

12. DIGITAL CHECK-INS

When was the last time you checked in on your students? Check-ins and conferences can make all the difference in supporting students throughout the school year. Staci from Donut Lovin’ Teacher uses digital check-ins to gain a pulse on student wellbeing, interest, and overall level of comfort in class. These short and ongoing check-ins can help you with seating charts, grouping, and general knowledge about students’ lives. You can quickly whip up a Google Form using some of the questions below.

Try scaled questions (on a scale of 1 to 5) such as:

• I feel cared for by my teacher in this class.

• I feel cared for by other scholars in this class.

• I put in my best effort on a regular basis while in this class.

• I can work well with others around me in my current seat.

• I am able to see the board well from my current seat.

Try open ended questions such as: 

• What is one thing going well for you in this class right now?

• What is one thing that is challenging for you right now?

• Who is one person you would like to give a shout out to in this class? Why?

• What are we learning about right now?

• What would help you to feel more supported in this class?

• What’s one thing that has brought you joy lately?

Another tool to guide your work with students might be through Accountability and Support conferences where students reflect on their learning, behaviors, and growth. This allows teachers to work together with a student to make a plan for continued growth with new support in place. They were originally designed for virtual conferences, but work just as great for in-person conferencing too!

Lastly, If you haven’t tried out Student-Led Conferences yet, they can be a vital tool in connecting and supporting students and the adults that support them! They definitely take a lot of planning in advance, but it isn’t too late to start! You can read more about Student-Led Conferences in Staci’s blog post here.

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I’d love to hear about how you are challenging students in your classroom, asking them to do hard things, and providing the needed support along the way. Leave me a comment below!

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