Middle School English

Since I don't have a vocabulary book or program that I HAVE to follow at my school, I used to always worry if I was doing enough vocabulary instruction. Even when I was theoretically following best practices or authentically investigating words as they came up in texts, I was concerned about if I was really helping my students become better readers. After a lot of trial and error, I'm now proud of what we do for middle school vocabulary, which falls into four main areas: Specific Words for…

By Presto Plans I first realized the power of bell ringers years ago, thanks to a particularly unruly class that would bounce off my walls after lunch. After consistently wasting the first ten minutes of class getting students seated, settled, and ready to learn, I decided to give bell-ringers a try. They were immediately a classroom game-changer. Bell-ringers—sometimes referred to as “warm ups” or “do nows”— are questions, tasks, or other warm up activities that students complete at the…

Much like students who spend more hours on the hook of an essay than they do the bulk of an essay, I often found myself with a case of English teacher writing block when it came to planning my first day of school activities. Though I have ten years (x two semesters each) of ... Read More about First Day of School Activities for High School and Middle School English

Getting middle school students excited about reading is really challenging, and without fun and engaging texts to read, students will quickly lose interest. One sure-fire way to keep students engaged in your reading class is to use reading comprehension worksheets about topics they are actually interested in. That's why we have put together this list of fun and interesting reading comprehension worksheets for middle school students. As always, these are FREE to use in your class. Simply…

Short stories for middle school - a list of the best short stories for your middle school classroom with tips and teaching ideas.

Use these memoir ideas and topics for middle school and high school in your classroom to help your students learn how to start a memoir!

Transform your English classroom with engaging lesson plans and ice breakers! Discover creative strategies and activities designed for the first six weeks of middle and high school ELA. Perfect for setting the tone for a successful school year!

Use Mentor Sentences in your ELA middle school classroom to improve student writing! Find practical ideas to teach writing skills.

Try this free, fun, and interactive middle school ELA games in your classroom to teach grammar and literacy ELA skills!

Stations in Middle School ELA that can be taught without constant grading and prepping materials #MiddleSchoolELA