I Didn’t Become a Better Writing Teacher by Finding a Better Curriculum.

I became a better writing teacher by changing what I believed about teaching writing and by making the conscious shift from merely assigning writing to teaching writing.

When I first started teaching, some of my inspiration came from my own high school career. It wasn’t uncommon in the late 90s and early 2000s for teachers to assign an essay on a Monday, have it due on Friday, and never work on it at all in class. So, early in my teaching career, I thought teaching writing meant assigning an essay, copyediting the draft, and handing it back to students with a final grade on it.

However, I quickly learned that this wasn’t actually teaching writing. Over the years, my students have taught me a lot about teaching writing. Once I stopped simply assigning writing as an endpoint and started teaching it more intentionally with strategies and scaffolds, I saw so much growth. More importantly, though, I saw a boost in my students’ confidence.

Today, every writing lesson I teach, every classroom routine I implement, every YouTube video I create, every resource I design, and every page I wrote in Building Strong Writers is rooted in the same instructional beliefs. These principles have transformed the way I teach writing, and more importantly, they’ve helped my students become stronger, more confident writers.

Writing Is a Collection of Skills, Not One Assignment

Assigning essays doesn’t teach students to become stronger writers. Instead, breaking writing down and teaching specific skills one at a time teaches writing. Assigning writing is what actually assesses writing. When I teach writing, I start small and build up to my Essay Writing Unit.

Students become stronger writers when they develop one skill at a time. They become stronger writers when they have many opportunities to practice that skill, receive immediate feedback, and try again. That is why I never assign an entire essay in the first couple of months of a new school year. I start with a tried-and-true three-sentence response. In the video below, I break down exactly how I use this strategy with my students.

When it comes to teaching students specific writing skills that will help them become stronger writers, I use a variety of strategies and scaffolds. These strategies include color-coding, sentence frames, mentor texts, word boxes, sentence starters, and more. In my book Building Strong Writers: Strategies and Scaffolds for Teaching Writing in Secondary ELA, I share these strategies in great detail and provide teachers with actionable steps they can immediately take in their classrooms to become stronger writing teachers.

Confidence Comes Before Complexity

Once I stopped merely assigning writing and focused more on teaching writing, I realized that students don’t hate writing. They hate feeling like they are bad at it. They hate feeling like they’ve failed before they’ve even started. They hate feeling like they don’t know how to articulate the complex thoughts swirling around their heads.

Students hate feeling unsuccessful, and that is where a lot of the writing resistance comes from.

Before we can expect students to tackle multi-paragraph essays, we need to equip them with the skills necessary to write them. They need to know how to start the paragraph, how to introduce and embed a quote, how to explain the quote, and how to transition from one idea to the next. This is why the three-sentence writing strategy is so beneficial. Students can practice the essential skills with a small, manageable assignment that doesn’t feel like climbing Everest. They think to themselves, “It’s only three sentences. I’ve got this!”

Once students experience early success with smaller writing assignments, it gives the confidence boost they need, so they no longer feel that dread when they are faced with a writing task. Confidence isn’t something students magically develop over time. It’s built one successful writing experience at a time.

Strong Essays Begin with Strong Sentences

Before my students write their first multi-paragraph essay, I teach sentence structure. And yes, I even do this with sophomores in high school. Going back and teaching/reviewing essential skills like sentence structure, nouns, and verbs helps put all of the students on a level playing field.

It ensures that when they sit down to write, they will know that a complete thought requires a subject and a predicate. Teaching sentence structure early on in the year helps students improve their grammar when they write.

In my classroom, I use this Sentence Structure Teaching Unit. It includes a multi-day, ready-to-use instructional slide deck and plenty of student activities and practice sheets to help them master sentence structure. I even created a student-facing video about sentence structure that teaches the same content from my sentence structure unit.

Once students understand sentence structure, they can move on to syntax and sentence variety, which inevitably helps them become stronger writers.

To help my students actively practice syntax and sentence variety, I like to start my classroom several days a week with these Sentence Combining Bell Ringers. This warm-up activity is actually quite simple. However, it requires a lot of thinking on the students’ end. They read a series of related, simple sentences and must combine the information into a more complex sentence without changing the original meaning of the sentences. This daily writing practice helps students start thinking like writers, and the skill transfers to their essays later on.

I Teach the Writing Process, Not Just the Final Product

One of the biggest shifts I made as a writing teacher was realizing that I had been placing far too much emphasis on the final essay.

For years, my instruction revolved around the finished product. I would assign an essay, teach a few mini-lessons along the way, and then evaluate the final draft. If students struggled, I often found myself wondering why they hadn’t applied what we had learned.

Eventually, I realized the problem wasn’t my students. It was my instruction.

Strong writers aren’t created by assigning more essays. They’re created by explicitly teaching every stage of the writing process.

Today, I spend much more time teaching students how to think like writers than I do grading final drafts. We brainstorm ideas, analyze mentor texts, practice individual writing skills, create outlines, draft together, revise with purpose, and reflect on our progress. Every step is intentional because every step teaches students something new about writing. One of my favorite resources is the Guided Essay Outline, which helps students organize their thoughts every step of the way. When students understand why they’re completing each step, writing feels less overwhelming because they’re never expected to do everything at once.

This approach also changes the classroom dynamic. Instead of acting as the evaluator waiting for a final draft, I become a coach who guides students through the process. We conference together, solve problems together, and celebrate growth along the way.

By the time students submit a completed essay, they’ve already received multiple opportunities to practice, ask questions, revise, and improve. The final product isn’t where learning begins. It’s simply evidence of everything they’ve learned throughout the process.

Writing Should Happen in the Classroom

One of the questions I get asked most often is why my students complete nearly all of their major writing assignments in class.

The answer is simple. Writing is a skill that deserves instruction, guidance, and feedback while students are actively doing the work. Plus, keeping writing in the classroom allows me to see my students’ authentic thinking rather than wondering whether the work truly reflects what they know and can do.

When students write in class, I can see their thinking develop in real time. I can answer questions before frustration sets in. I can conference with students who need extra support and challenge those who are ready for more. Instead of wondering how students arrived at their final draft, I get to be part of the entire journey.

Teaching writing this way has become even more important as artificial intelligence continues to change education.

Rather than spending my time trying to determine whether a student used AI, I’d rather create classroom experiences where I can observe authentic writing from beginning to end. Students brainstorm, draft, revise, and reflect while I’m there to support them. The focus shifts from policing writing to teaching writing.

Writing in class also creates a more equitable learning environment. Every student has access to the same instruction, the same resources, and the same opportunity to ask questions. Success isn’t determined by what support students have at home. It’s built through consistent practice in the classroom.

For me, writing has become less about collecting essays and more about helping students realize that they already have ideas worth sharing and giving them the skills to communicate those ideas with confidence.

New to The Daring English Teacher Writing Philosophy? Start Here!

Teaching writing is one of the most rewarding and challenging parts of being an English teacher. It has also been one of the areas where my own teaching has evolved the most.

I certainly don’t have every answer, and I continue learning from my students every year. However, the biggest lesson they’ve taught me is that students become stronger writers when we intentionally teach the skills that writing requires instead of assuming they’ll develop those skills simply by writing more essays.

That belief continues to shape every lesson I teach, every classroom routine I refine, every resource I create, and every professional development opportunity I have the privilege of sharing with other educators.

If you’ve found your way here because of Instagram, YouTube, my book, or one of my classroom resources, I’m glad you’re here. I hope these ideas encourage you to continue growing as a writing teacher, just as my students have encouraged me throughout my own journey.

Here is a curated list of resources to help you on your teaching writing journey.

🎥 Three-Sentence Strategy YouTube Video: This is a must because in this video I break down exactly how to use the three-sentence strategy in your classroom.

📄 Guided Essay Outline: This essay outline will become the new staple in your classroom. It works with a variety of essay types, and you can use it over and over again throughout the school year.

📄 Essay Writing Unit: My Guided Essay Outline is included in this Unit. This teaching unit includes ready-to-go instructional slides for teaching the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

📚 Building Strong Writers: My book goes more in-depth about the strategies that I use in my classroom to help build my students into strong writers.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

One of my favorite back-to-school tasks is setting up and organizing my classroom whiteboard. Whiteboard organization helps teachers create routines and establish porcedures in the classroom. Since my whiteboard is the focal point of my classroom, I want it to be both functional and visually appealing. A well-organized whiteboard helps students stay on track, makes classroom routines run more smoothly, and creates a welcoming learning environment from day one.

Over the years, I’ve found a handful of classroom organization tools that make a huge difference. Here are some of my favorite whiteboard organization essentials that help me start the school year strong.

Create a Defined Whiteboard Space with Borders

Adding a decorative border around your whiteboard instantly makes it look more polished and intentional. Borders help frame important information and can even make your classroom feel more inviting. For years, I’ve used these magnetic whiteboard borders to instantly organize and transform my classroom whiteboard.

Some of my favorite options include:

• Magnetic Border: A simple and versatile option that easily attaches to magnetic whiteboards and creates clean visual sections. Magnetic Border
• Crayon Scribble Border: Perfect for adding a colorful and creative touch without overwhelming the space. Crayon Scribble Border
• Composition Notebook Border: Great for English teachers who love a classic academic look. Composition Notebook Border

I like using borders to create designated areas for daily agendas, learning targets, important reminders, and classroom announcements.

Add Functional Storage Directly to the Whiteboard

One of the easiest ways to reduce clutter is by keeping frequently used supplies within reach. Plus, you’ll always know where they are.

A whiteboard organizer can hold markers, erasers, magnets, sticky notes, and other classroom essentials right where you need them. Instead of searching for supplies throughout the day, everything stays organized and accessible.

My favorite option is this convenient Whiteboard Organizer because it holds my markers and the eraser. Plus, my students know that markers stored within this organizer are off-limits.

Display Classroom Novels and Read-Alouds

One of my favorite back-to-school traditions is displaying our class novels for the year. Not only does this build excitement for upcoming units, but it also helps students visualize their reading journey. Sometimes I choose to display the book I am currently reading, and other times I choose to display the class novel and the current page we are on.

A small magnetic bookshelf placed on the whiteboard creates the perfect display area for class novels, featured reads, and fun decor.

I use a compact Bookshelf that keeps books visible and organized without taking up valuable classroom space. Plus, it adds a valuable focal point for my classroom whiteboard.

Displaying novels on the whiteboard area often sparks conversations and helps create a reading community from the very first week of school.

Keep Your Whiteboard Clean and Easy to Read

No matter how organized your whiteboard is, it can quickly become difficult to read if marker residue starts building up. After years in the classroom working on classroom organization, I’ve found that these two teacher supply items are absolutely essential!

Two classroom supply essentials I never start the year without are:

• A quality Whiteboard Eraser (I take these home every few weeks and throw them into the washing machine with my cleaning towels, and they are as good as new).
• Reliable Whiteboard Cleaner (Seriously, nothing beats this whiteboard cleaner. It helps so much for whiteboard organization).
• And of course, I use these Whiteboard Markers to for vibrant colors that are easy to read.

Regular cleaning helps prevent ghosting and keeps instructional materials looking fresh and professional all year long.

Suggested Whiteboard Sections

If you’re wondering how to organize your whiteboard layout, here are the sections I recommend:

Daily Agenda

Students know exactly what to expect each day.

Learning Targets or Objectives

Keep standards and lesson goals visible throughout instruction. And you know, admins love to see the learning targets and objectives on the board. This past school year, I moved away from displaying my learning objectives permanently on my board, and I now include them in my Daily Agenda Slides.

Homework and Upcoming Deadlines

A dedicated area reduces confusion and helps students stay organized. Again, I have a dedicated space for this on my Daily Agenda Slides.

Important Announcements

Use magnets, sticky notes, or a designated corner for reminders.

Current Novel or Unit Focus

Display novels, essential questions, vocabulary, or anchor charts connected to your current unit.

Final Thoughts

A thoughtfully organized whiteboard does more than make your classroom look nice. It helps establish routines, improve classroom management, and create a learning environment where students know exactly where to find important information.

With a few simple organizational tools, decorative borders, and storage solutions, you can transform your whiteboard into a functional command center that supports teaching and learning all year long. For more classroom supply ideas, be sure to check out my Amazon strorefront: The Daring English Teacher’s Amazon Favorites.

If you are gearing up for a new school year, you might be interested in how I conduct Back-to-School Night Stations or back-to-school activities for middle and high school students!

The final stretch before winter break is always a unique season in the ELA classroom. Students are buzzing with anticipation, schedules get interrupted by assemblies and spirit days, and we teachers are doing our best to keep learning meaningful without burning out. These last two weeks don’t have to feel like a slog or a free-for-all. With the right activities, you can keep your students engaged, creative, and focused while still protecting your own sanity.

Here are five engaging, high-impact ELA activities, perfect for Grades 7–10, that will carry you smoothly into winter break while still hitting essential skills.

1. Make Poetry Fun with Blackout Poetry

Blackout poetry is one of my favorite pre-break activities because it is quiet, creative, and naturally differentiated. Even your most reluctant writers get excited when you hand out book pages and markers. Blackout poetry taps into analysis, theme, diction, and connotation, but students feel like they’re creating art.

If you want an easy, ready-to-go option, my Blackout Poetry Lesson & Unit includes editable templates, modeled analysis, poetry writing scaffolds, and options for both print and digital instruction. Many teachers use it as a two-day mini-unit or as a calming activity after a test or assembly.

Why it works in December:

• Creative and artsy (a win for restless students)
• Minimal teacher prep
• Meaningful literary analysis disguised as a fun project

2. Build a Literary Theme Park (Yes, Really!)

If you’re looking for a collaborative, high-energy project that channels student excitement productively, you will love the Literary Theme Park Project. Students choose a novel or short story and transform key literary elements, theme, conflict, characterization, and symbolism into rides, restaurants, shows, and attractions.

This project naturally encourages deeper textual analysis because students must justify each design decision with textual evidence. It’s creativity with an academic purpose.

You can run this project over 3–5 class periods, and it is AMAZING for classes that need something hands-on and imaginative right before break.

Why it works in December:

• High student buy-in
• Encourages movement, collaboration, and creativity
• Requires in-depth textual understanding (but feels like play!)

3. Survive the Snowstorm: Escape the Yeti!

When your students are extra wiggly or your classes feel extra long, an escape room is the perfect way to keep the energy up and review essential skills. My Winter ELA Escape Room: Escape the Yeti is a collaborative challenge where students work together to solve puzzles, answer ELA questions, and ultimately avoid becoming the Yeti’s next snack.

This activity reviews grammar, reading comprehension, figurative language, writing skills, and more, without feeling like a traditional worksheet. You can complete it in one or two days, and because students work in small groups, you can circulate and support rather than lead the whole time.

Why it works in December:

• Students move, collaborate, and problem-solve
• Perfect for shortened periods or block days
• Built-in review before benchmark assessments

4. A Thoughtful Winter Classic: The Gift of the Magi Close Read

If you still need to squeeze in a meaningful literary analysis lesson before break, The Gift of the Magi is perfect. It’s short, accessible, and thematically rich. This short story is ideal for teaching irony, symbolism, theme, and character motivation.

A structured close-reading assignment helps students dig deeper into O. Henry’s craft without overwhelming them. My Gift of the Magi Close Read includes text-dependent questions, scaffolded analysis tasks, and both print and digital options, making it easy to use with any schedule.

Why it works in December:

• Short text + high-level literary analysis
• Seasonal without feeling cheesy
• Easy to complete in 1–2 class periods

5. Review Literary Elements with an Escape Room

If you want something academically focused but still student-approved, a classic Literary Elements Escape Room is an ideal option. Students work together to solve puzzles tied to conflict, plot, characterization, theme, setting, symbolism, and more. Because literary elements spiral throughout the year, this is a perfect mid-year comprehension check.

It’s high-energy but easy for you to manage. The students drive the activity, and you facilitate.

Why it works in December:

• Engaging review without extra grading
• Ready-to-go print or digital options
• Strengthens foundational literary analysis skills

Final Tips for the Home Stretch

Even with the best activities, these last two weeks can be a lot. Here are a few reminders as you head toward winter break:

• Give yourself permission to keep things simple.
  Not every lesson needs to be a masterpiece right now, and that’s okay.
• Lean into creativity and collaboration.
  Students are more engaged when they’re building, solving, designing, or creating.
• Choose activities that feel fun for YOU, too.
  If you’re excited to teach it, your students will be excited to learn it.

You deserve a peaceful, joyful countdown to winter break. If you try one of these activities, I’d love to hear how it goes. Tag me on Instagram @thedaringenglishteacher!

Helping students build resilience, confidence, and self-awareness is just as important as teaching academic content. That’s why incorporating growth mindset and SEL activities and social-emotional learning (SEL) lessons into your classroom can be a game-changer. If you’ve been looking for ready-to-use resources that encourage students to reflect on their learning, embrace challenges, and develop healthier attitudes toward mistakes, my Growth Mindset and SEL Activities for the Secondary Classroom resource is designed just for you.

Why Growth Mindset Matters in Secondary Education

As middle and high school teachers know, the teen years is a time when students often doubt their abilities. Many believe that intelligence and talent are fixed traits rather than skills that can grow with effort. Teaching students about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset empowers them to see mistakes as opportunities for growth rather than setbacks.

Pairing this with social-emotional learning (SEL)—skills like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship building, and responsible decision-making—helps students thrive not only academically but also personally. For ideas on how to incorporate a growth mindset in your classroom, check out this blog post: 5 Ways to Incorporate a Growth Mindset in the Classroom.

What’s Included in This Resource:

This comprehensive packet includes over 60 pages of activities, handouts, and reflections you can use all year long. Some highlights include:

• Student Self-Assessments and Surveys: Tools that help students reflect on their mindset, strengths, and goals.
• Fixed vs. Growth Mindset Handouts: Clear visuals and explanations to help students understand the difference.
• Exit Tickets & Reflection Sheets: Perfect for formative assessment and daily mindset check-ins.
• Redo Slips: Encouraging students to revise work with purpose instead of seeing mistakes as failure.
• Vocabulary and Coloring Activities: Engaging ways to introduce growth mindset and SEL terms while promoting mindfulness.
• Mindfulness & Gratitude Activities: Including the Emotion Wheel, Gratitude Jar, and mindfulness drawing.
• Collaborative Projects: Such as a classroom quilt or poster project that builds community while reinforcing SEL skills.
• Narrative Essay Assignment with Rubric: A deeper writing activity that allows students to reflect on growth, resilience, and perseverance.

Every activity is created with secondary students in mind—age-appropriate, reflective, and designed to spark meaningful classroom conversations.

How to Use These Growth Mindset and SEL Activities in Your Classroom

These growth mindset and SEL activities are flexible and can be used throughout the year. Teachers have used them:

• As back-to-school icebreakers to set a positive tone.
• For Mindful Mondays or weekly SEL check-ins.
• After major assessments or projects to encourage student reflection.
• During end-of-unit reflections to track growth over time.
• As decorative classroom projects like the Growth Mindset Quilt to create a positive learning environment.

Add these Growth Mindset and SEL Activities to your Classroom Today!

Create and embrace a growth mindset in your secondary classroom with these engaging growth mindset and SEL classroom resources and activities. These growth mindset activities were created especially for middle school and high school students, and they can be used all year long to reinforce a growth mindset in the classroom.

Introduce your students to a growth mindset with the growth mindset student survey and reflection activity. From there, have your students complete an assortment of the included growth mindset activities. Throughout the school year, use the growth mindset resources like the assignment reflections and exit tickets to reinforce a growth mindset.

You can purchase these growth mindset and SEL activities here!

Teachers like you said…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Angela Watson says, “Fantastic resource! This is the best growth mindset product I’ve seen for the secondary level, and I’ve done a LOT of searching. Thanks for a great product that will make a huge difference in students’ motivation and engagement!.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jenny V. says, “Teaching students about growth mindset is really essential. Even high achieving students can stumble, and they can be perfectionists. Understanding that mistakes are a learning opportunity is important. These activities really demonstrate that well- like think alouds.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nicole T. says, “My students loved these! This was a way for them to look at their day and be able to change their own negative thinking into positive thoughts. This activity has really allowed my students to become more open in class and hold not only themselves but each other accountable for how they present themselves around school.”

If you are looking for a beginning-of-the-year lesson for your high school English classroom, I’ve got just the idea for you! At the start of this school year, I had my honors sophomores read a short story and respond to a writing prompt (without discussing the story or having any formal writing instruction for the year) to attain a baseline writing assessment.

In addition to establishing a baseline for my students’ abilities, I also plan on holding onto their work until the end of the school year. Toward the end of the year, I’ll pass back their work so the students can see just how much their writing has grown in our classroom.

Before, during, and after this activity, I reassured my students that this was a baseline. I told them that I was scoring their writing, but that it wouldn’t appear in the gradebook. I reaffirmed to them that we would revisit and review the story, go over some writing strategies, and have an opportunity to revise the paragraphs. I wanted to help my students avoid excessive worry and stress about their first writing assignment of the new school year.

My First Academic Activity in High School English: A Baseline Writing Assessment

To start with, I had my students read Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour.” I printed the story on a single page of paper (double-sided) and found an audio version of the story for my students to listen to as they followed along with the text. Before reading, we also went over when the story was published because knowing when a story was written helps gain a better understanding of it.

I instructed my students to have a piece of lined paper out as they read, and I paused the story twice for students to jot down any thoughts they had. The only guidance I gave them was to write down characters, significant events, and thoughts and feelings. However, when I paused the story for a second time, I also asked them to write down any changes or shifts they noticed.

Once we were done with the story, I could tell that some students understood the ironic ending and some didn’t. I assured the students that we would discuss the story later, but for now, I wanted them to respond to the prompt without discussing the story. Since these are honors sophomore students who are on track for AP Lang and AP Lit, this helped show them what they will encounter in the future.

Once we were done, I presented students with this writing prompt: How does Kate Chopin’s use of irony in the ending of “The Story of an Hour” contribute to the development of a central theme in the story? Use specific evidence from the text to support your analysis.

I provided my students with about 30 minutes of class time to write their response using only the guidance on the slide. Many students finished their responses, while a few did not.

I collected their work regardless, and I scored their paragraphs on a modified version of the AP Lit FRQ2 rubric.

The In-Class Revision Process: Improving the Baseline Writing

After scoring all of their paragraphs, I planned a day to return the work, review the story, explain the rubric, and go over some fundamental writing instruction.

First, I reviewed the story with the class, and I had students share their examples of irony they found in the story. (During a previous day, I had the students work together in small groups to develop a working theme for the story.)

Then, I reviewed the rubric with students. I also explained how a 3/6 isn’t a bad score. Overall, I had several 3/6 scores, but most were a 1/6 or 2/6. Again, I used this as an opportunity to reassure my students that this is the beginning of the year and we are establishing a baseline.

Then, I went over two essential elements: how to write a thesis statement and how to embed evidence. These were mini-lessons with just verbal instruction and sentence frames, but they provided a good starting point for students to begin improving their writing. I also provided them with several sentence frames to choose from for the thesis statement and embedding evidence.

Thesis Statement Sentence Frames:

• Kate Chopin’s use of ____ at the end of “The Story of an Hour” reveals the theme ______.
• Through the _______ ending, Chopin emphasizes how _________, which supports the theme of __________.
• ________ serves as ironic commentary that reinforces the theme of __________________.
• Chopin uses _______ in the final line to _____________, suggesting that __________________.
• By ending the story with ___________, Chopin develops the theme that ________________.

Embedding Evidence and Analysis Sentence Frames:

• This idea is shown when ______________, revealing _________________.
• Chopin emphasizes this theme through the line, “_____,” which shows _____________.
• The irony is clear (in/when) ___________________, contrasting _________________.
• Chopin’s use of the phrase “___” highlights _______________________.

After collecting the paragraphs, I quickly reviewed the students’ starting point and their revised writing. Immediately, I noticed a massive difference in their writing. Primarily, almost every student had a solid thesis statement in their revised paragraph. Furthermore, I also noticed that students had a better understanding of the story, and many students used two pieces of evidence from the story compared to just one.

If you are reading this blog post thinking, “Wow! This is just the kind of writing instruction I need for my class,” I invite you to check out this affiliate link to my book, “Building Strong Writers.” In my English teacher PD book, I break down even more writing strategies to help you help your students become strong, confident writers.

Moving Forward with Meaningful Writing Instruction

In moving forward this school year, I plan to build off of this activity to help my students grow into strong writers. For the upcoming writing assignments, I will do the following to make sure students are ready to respond academically to a prompt:

• Review the story
• Conduct group brainstorming and discussion in class
• Break down the prompt with students
• Ensure students know what elements are needed for their thesis statement
• Provide students with thesis statement sentence frames
• Provide students with evidence and analysis sentence frames

As we progress through the year, I will slowly remove some of the scaffolds. In particular, I plan to remove all of the thesis statement sentence frames by the end of the first quarter. However, this is for an honors-level class. For a general ed class, I would keep the thesis statement sentence frames for the entire first semester.

I will also go into more in-depth writing lessons that will benefit my students and help them grow as writers. In particular, I will teach them the four lessons in my Writing Spotlight Lesson Series.

• Writing About Quotes
• Writing in the Present Tense
• Writing in the Literary Present
• Using Ellipses and Brackets

Each of these lessons provides students with focused writing instruction to improve a particular aspect of writing. Once students complete the entire lesson series and synthesize the knowledge gained from all four lessons, their literary analysis writing improves tremendously.

For additional writing instruction, in particular, for on-level and below-level students, be sure to check out this blog post about teaching students essay writing.

Interested in reading more? Check out these additional blog posts for more ideas!

• 5 Tips for Teaching Thesis Statement Writing: Teaching How to Write a Thesis Statement

• Teaching Figurative Language: 5 Engaging Ways to Teach Figurative Language

• 5 tips for teaching vocabulary in secondary ELA

As ELA teachers, we’re always looking for fresh ways to help students dive deeper into literature, especially with ways that go beyond the standard five-paragraph essay or chapter quiz. That’s exactly why I created my Theme Park Literary Analysis Project. This is a creative, engaging, and rigorous assessment that invites students to interact with literature in a totally new way.

This project has quickly become one of my favorite go-to final assessments for novels, plays, and even short stories. Whenever I finish a novel, I usually assign two major summative assessments: a standard novel test and a fun, collaborative project. Together, these two forms of assessment help me see what my students know. And this literary analysis amusement park project fits the bill for an engaging, collaborative, summative project!

What Is the Theme Park Literary Analysis Project?

In this project-based assignment, students work in small collaborative groups to design an amusement park based entirely on a piece of literature. Yes, a theme park! They will be having so much fun as the brainstorm and plan for this project that they won’t even realize they are learning and showing their understanding!

Each group creates an entire literary theme park from the ground up: they name the park, create a park logo, design themed lands based on the story’s settings and conflicts, create rides and attractions inspired by major plot points, develop character meet-and-greet experiences, and even design food and souvenir items that represent key symbols or motifs in the text.

Students then create a park map, which is something they will absolutely love, and “pitch” their park to a group of potential investors (you, the teacher and their fellow classmates!) in a short, persuasive digital presentation.

It’s a perfect blend of literary analysis, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. Your students will actually be excited to do it.

Why This Novel Project Works

Here’s the magic: students engage deeply with theme, symbolism, characterization, conflict, and setting, which are all of the essential literary elements we want them to analyze. However, they’re doing it in a way that feels more like design thinking than test prep.

And because the project includes both overview and in-depth planning pages (and a completely editable student assignment page), you can easily differentiate how you. You can assign only the core components, or let students go all in and complete every detailed page. The resource is flexible and adaptable for grades 7–10, but also comprehensive enough to use in honors, AP Lit, and IB classes as a creative companion to deeper analysis.

Even better? This project gets students off screens. It encourages real collaboration and face-to-face interaction. That’s right! Students can complete all of the initial planning and brainstorming without any technology so you know the students are the ones doing the work!

Built-In Literary Analysis (That Doesn’t Feel Like Work)

One of the most powerful parts of this project is that students are constantly referencing the text. Every single element from the roller coasters to the souvenir stands must be based in textual evidence and include clear connections to the story. This helps you see just how much your students understand the text!

For example:

• A spooky, dark ride might symbolize the protagonist’s internal conflict.
• A food stand might serve items that reflect a key motif from the story.
• Themed lands might represent major settings or contrasting worldviews in the book.

Students have to justify their creative decisions with analysis, pulling quotes, paraphrasing events, and explaining the deeper meaning. It’s literary interpretation in disguise. It’s not just a fun, cutesy project. It is based in the standards and rooted in rigor!

Use It for Lit Circles, Too!

This project is also an excellent choice for literature circles. After students finish their group novels, have them complete this project together to synthesize their understanding. You’ll see thoughtful conversation, organic collaboration, and some incredible creativity.

What’s Included

The Theme Park Literary Analysis Project includes:

• A teacher guide and student assignment sheet
• Pages for brainstorming and planning park features
• Detailed templates for themed lands, rides, characters, and more
• A rubric for grading
• A digital version for Google Docs
• Optional extension ideas (think brochures, dioramas, gallery walks!)

Let Your Students Take the Lead

One of the things I love most about this project is that it puts students in charge of their learning while also reinforcing college and career readiness skills. They’re not just answering questions or responding to prompts; they’re building something meaningful from the ground up. Plus, they’ll have to put together a proposal and a pitch and present their theme parks to the class! What a fun day of group presentations!

So if you’re looking for a fresh, fun, and standards-aligned way to assess literary understanding, I highly recommend giving this project a try. You’ll be amazed at what your students create. Also, if you are looking for more creative projects, check out this literary analysis square project!

We’ve all been there—the class period feels sluggish, students are zoning out, and your perfectly planned lesson just isn’t landing the way you hoped. Whether it’s the day after a long weekend or just a typical Tuesday, every teacher needs a few go-to strategies to energize classroom lessons and increase student engagement fast.

Teachers often find themselves searching for new techniques to invigorate their lessons. To truly captivate students, educators must adapt their teaching styles to accommodate varying energy levels and learning preferences. This post will explore effective strategies to energize lessons, ensuring that each student feels engaged and valued.

The good news? You don’t need to start from scratch or overhaul your curriculum to boost student engagement. These three classroom engagement strategies are easy to implement, adaptable for any subject, and perfect for middle school ELA and high school English classrooms.

By integrating these strategies, educators can create a vibrant learning atmosphere that propels student participation and enthusiasm. Engaging students requires creativity and a willingness to experiment with new ideas and methods. In the following sections, we will delve into specific techniques that can breathe new life into your classroom.

1. Add Sticky Notes for Increased Engagement and Literary Analysis

One of the fastest ways to spark energy in the classroom is with sticky note activities. Something about handing students a stack of colorful sticky notes makes the lesson feel hands-on, collaborative, and just a little more fun. Plus, it’s an excellent tool for interactive ELA activities.

Sticky notes serve as an engaging medium for students to express their thoughts and opinions as they work through complex texts. When students are able to physically interact with the material, it fosters a deeper understanding and connection to the content.

In my classroom, I love using sticky notes to boost literary analysis skills. Whenever I hand out the sticky notes, I immediately see a boost in student engagement. Students can annotate text, track character development, or analyze themes—all while interacting with the text and each other.

For instance, after reading a passage, students can jot down their thoughts or questions on sticky notes and place them in relevant sections of the text. This visual representation of their ideas allows for a collaborative discussion, fostering a sense of community and shared learning.

📌 Ready to try it? These sticky note literary activities are perfect for getting started with this engaging method:

• Literary Analysis with Sticky Notes – Short Story Unit
• To Kill a Mockingbird Sticky Note Literary Analysis Activity

Looking for more about teaching literary analysis? Check out this blog post: Teaching Literary Analysis: Improve Your Student’s Literary Analysis with the OPTIC Strategy and Art

2. Use Station-Based Activities to Energize Classwork

If your students are dragging their feet through independent work time, station-based activities can completely transform the learning environment. Rotating through stations adds movement, breaks big tasks into manageable chunks, increases student engagement, and promotes collaboration—three things that naturally boost student engagement.

Whether you’re teaching writing skills, starting the school year, or reviewing content, station-based learning is a flexible, high-engagement option. These work especially well in middle and high school ELA classrooms where routines and student ownership matter.

I love using stations at the beginning of the school year, for peer editing during my essay writing unit, and with literary analysis activities.

💡 Try these easy-to-use station activities to liven up your classroom:

• Back-to-School Stations – First Day and First Week of School Activities
• Peer Editing Stations – Revision and Editing Checklists

3. Use Bell Ringers to Increase Daily Engagement

If you’re not using bell ringers yet, you’re missing one of the simplest and most powerful ways to boost classroom engagement. Bell ringers create a consistent routine that signals “it’s time to learn” from the moment students walk in the door. They also provide meaningful, skill-based practice that sets the tone for the rest of the class.

I love using bell ringers for daily writing, grammar review, and growth mindset journaling. They’re short, effective, and require minimal prep—perfect for busy secondary ELA teachers looking to keep students focused from the first five minutes.

🔔 Add structure and energy to your daily routine with these engaging bell ringer sets:

• Sentence Combining Bell Ringers – Daily Writing for the Year
• Growth Mindset Bell Ringers – 60 Writing Prompts & Journal Activities

Whether you’re teaching literary analysis, launching your first week of school, or trying to refocus a restless class, these quick and effective strategies can help energize your classroom and keep students engaged all year long.

By adding sticky note activities, rotating through classwork stations, and starting strong with purposeful bell ringers, you’ll create a dynamic and student-centered learning environment your students will actually look forward to.

At the start of a new school year (and quite frankly, all year long, too) one of my top priorities is building a strong, supportive classroom community. As teachers, we often teach a wide range of students with diverse backgrounds, interests, and personalities. One of the easiest and most effective ways to build connection, spark conversation, and help students feel comfortable in our classrooms is by engaging them in friendly, low-stakes discussions. For this task, I use “Would You Rather” slides in the beginning of the school year and for fun Friday attendance questions.

Whether you’re looking for an engaging bell ringer, a brain break, or a community-building activity, these Would You Rather slides are the perfect addition to your classroom routine!

Building Classroom Community: Why “Would You Rather” Questions Work

“Would You Rather” questions are quick, low-prep, and incredibly engaging. Because they come in both Google Slides and Canva presentation formats, they are versatile and easy to use! They encourage students to make choices, share opinions, and listen to others—all essential components of a collaborative classroom.

Even the most reluctant students often can’t resist picking a side when the options are things like, “Would you rather discover a new underwater species or discover a new planet?”

These kinds of fun and engaging creative prompts give students a chance to share their thinking, hear from their classmates, and find common ground with classmates they may not otherwise interact with.

And as we know, when students feel safe, seen, and connected, they’re far more likely to participate, take academic risks, and grow when the material becomes more challenging.

Would You Rather Attendance Questions

To make this classroom discussion and community building strategy even more seamless, I created a ready-to-go “Would You Rather” resource that’s perfect for back-to-school and for the entire school year.

This Would You Rather classroom resource includes 50 student-friendly Would You Rather questions designed specifically with secondary students in mind.

✅ Age-appropriate
✅ No prep required
✅ Perfect for middle and high school
✅ Great for whole class, small groups, or even writing prompts

Use them during the first week of school, as a Friday bell ringer, or when your class needs a quick reset.

Building Classroom Community: How I Use Them in My ELA Classroom

There are so many different ways to use this resource in your classroom. I like to use one every Friday as a fun Friday attendance question. I also like to share a couple of slides whenever I switch the seating around in my classroom so that my students can get to know each other and become more comfortable in their new groups.

Here is how you can use these slides in your classroom:

• Bell Ringer Activity: As students walk in, I project a “Would You Rather” question on the board. It sets a positive, low-stress tone for the class and gives students something fun to talk about with their table groups.
• Class Discussion Practice: I’ll have students move to one side of the room or the other based on their choice. Then, I’ll invite a few students to explain their reasoning. It’s a low-stakes way to build speaking and listening skills.
• Writing Prompts: I sometimes take it a step further and have students write a short paragraph defending their choice. It’s a fun and creative way to sneak in some argument writing practice.

Building Classroom Community One Question at a Time

The truth is, building a positive classroom culture doesn’t always require elaborate lessons or detailed activities. Sometimes, it’s the simple routines—like taking two minutes share and discuss quirky and silly answers to questions that have nothing to do with the class content.

By using “Would You Rather” questions consistently, you’ll help students bond, learn about one another, and feel like they belong. And when students feel like they belong, they’re more likely to engage in meaningful learning.

So if you’re looking for an easy, effective, and engaging way to build community in your classroom, try adding “Would You Rather” slides to your weekly routine. And if you want to save time, grab my ready-made resource here. It’s one small change that can make a big difference.

You can also grab this Classroom Community Bundle that contains four sets of community-building attendance questions to last you the entire school year! This bundle also includes thoughtful this or that questions. Also, if you are looking for more back-to-school activities for your secondary ELA classroom, check out this blog post: 15 Back-to-School Activities for Secondary ELA.

In today’s era of the increasingly more prominent AI-generated student essay, teaching students how to write is more challenging than ever! And while AI will most certainly be an integral part of Gen-Z and Generation Alpha’s educational and professional careers, middle school and high school teachers across the globe are finding new ways to teach writing to ensure that students have the necessary skills for effective communication and critical thinking.

One way that I’ve adjusted my instruction because of AI is by focusing on more in-class writing either with paper and pencil or a lockdown browser. You can read more about how I address AI in this blog post. However, simply assigning writing is not enough to make sure our students are learning how to improve their writing skills –they also need explicit writing instruction and a variety of practice activities to help them practice their writing. That is where the in-class collaborative essay comes in! This post contains affiliate links.

Recently, I assigned my students an in-class collaborative essay on paper. While I’ve facilitated collaborative paragraphs and essays before, I needed to adapt my instructional strategies this time to do my best to AI-proof the activity. In retrospect, this was a highly effective activity, and I feel my students did well and improved in their writing abilities. If you find this strategy helpful, be sure to check out my secondary ELA teacher professional development book: Building Strong Writers: Strategies and Scaffolds for Teaching Writing in Secondary ELA.

Teaching Writing: Why Assign a Collaborative Essay

Assigning a collaborative essay in the middle school ELA and high school English classroom is a highly effective assignment that provides students with real-time opportunities for brainstorming, organizing, and drafting an essay. In their peer groups, students work together to organize their thoughts and ideas and form the sentences that will eventually comprise their essays.

By working in a group to do this, students actively participate in the writing process while also making small, self-edits to improve their writing as they go. Collaborative writing is also beneficial for students because it provides them with the opportunity to observe the thought process and writing process of their peers.

Teaching Writing: How to Set up a Collaborative Essay

In the past, I’ve had students work collaboratively in a shared Google Doc for their writing before. And while that was a great way to facilitate collaborative essays in the past, with today’s temptation of a done-for-you essay generated by AI is just too much for students. I cannot even tell you how many times I walk around my classroom and see ChatGPT open on my students’ Chromebooks. I wanted to completely eliminate the temptation, so I went with an all paper approach.

For this essay prompt, I had my students write a four paragraph essay: introduction, body paragraph 1, body paragraph 2, and conclusion. For each paragraph, I had them write on a separate piece of paper to maximize in-class productivity and engagement. If a group was sharing just one or two pieces of paper, more students would be observers rather than active participants.

I had students choose their own groups for this assignment, and I had them form groups of four. I instructed them to all work together on the introduction and thesis statement. They were to start there before moving on. This step was absolutely vital for the brainstorming and outlining portion of the essay: the student groups could not begin the body paragraphs until they had a solid thesis statement to guide them.

From there, I instructed the group of four to break up into partners. Each pair of partners within the group was tasked with writing one body paragraph together, and they had to organize their body paragraphs to align with the same order as the thesis statement.

As students wrapped up their body paragraphs, they wrote a quick conclusion restating the thesis statement and commenting on the passage’s impact on the audience. I only gave students one class period to do this. However, we prepped for a bit the day before to help speed up the process.

Since I didn’t have perfect groups of four students, some groups chose to work on groups of three. For those groups, one student worked on a body paragraph independently, and I instructed the groups to have the independent writer to choose the body paragraph they wanted to write. Generally, I noticed my stronger writers took on this role.

To help students understand the process, I also illustrated what the collaborative essay would look like on the whiteboard.

Teaching Writing: Strategies to Use for a Collaborative Essay

In addition to having the students work on the essay collaboratively, I also provided each group of students with a paper that had the prompt (since they didn’t have Chromebooks open and their phones were stored away at the front of the classroom in this cell phone holder). On the paper with the prompt, I also provided students with several sentence frames to use that loosely matched prompt.

The provided sentence frames were written in both the third person and in the literary present. In the days leading up to this activity, I also provided my students with direct instruction where I showed them color-coded versions of these sentence frames to emphasize the third person and literary present.

This is where backward planning comes into play. I knew where I was going with the final writing assignment, and I designed my instruction around that. In regard to how I graded this essay, it was all class participation where students received points for completing the process. I ultimately graded an individual essay after this process.

Back to setting up my strategies, at the beginning of class as I reviewed the sentence frames with students, we also discussed additional strong verbs students could use in their essays. They then wrote their essays as I circled throughout the room offering individualized feedback and instruction. My students stapled their papers and turned in their essays at the end of our 55-ish minute class.

Teaching Writing: Using Peer Review with a Collaborative Essay

After this process, I didn’t just want to stop here. On one of the following days, I had students complete a peer review activity where they returned to their original groups. For students who were absent on the writing day, I had them join existing groups. I distributed the essays to a new group, and I also gave them a copy of the rubric.

I instructed students to not only grade the essay on the rubric, but to also provide bullet-point explanations as to why they assigned the score that they did. I also instructed the students to mark up the essays with different ways to improve the writing. I wasn’t so much concerned with spelling and grammar, but I wanted them to focus on how to improve the content of the essay.

After the student groups worked with the essays for about 20 minutes, student groups then returned the essays to their original owners. At that time, my student groups then reviewed the feedback from their peers. And let me tell you, they are much harsher critics on themselves and each other than I am on them! It always seems to be that way, but that is okay because when students look at other papers with a critical eye, they in turn become more aware of their own writing!

Teaching Writing: Incorporating the Collaborative Essay in a Writing Unit

While collaborative essay writing might seem like a great idea because there is less to grade, the benefits extend far beyond that! After collecting the peer-reviewed essays, I then graded the essays on the rubric and also provided on-paper comments. Usually, I have 35 students per class, so this is too much to do for every essay, but since there were fewer papers, I was able to provide this level of detailed feedback to my students.

My students then applied these layers of feedback to their own writing for the final writing assessment of the unit. Again, this is where backward planning is so keen. I planned this whole collaborative essay with the final essay in mind. Both prompts were similar, and each prompt required students to demonstrate similar skills. For their individual essay (which was also in-class and only during one class period), students could either write a four-paragraph essay or a three-paragraph essay. I emphasized that I would rather have them write an essay with one body paragraph that was stronger and went into more analysis rather then an essay with two body paragraphs that were more surface level.

The Collaborative Essay Writing Details

I facilitated this activity in an honors sophomore English class during our Night unit. This was the class’ first experience with rhetorical analysis, and in particular, working with the AP Language FRQ2 rubric. And while I completed this activity with an honors-level sophomore class, I’ve also done with with general English students as well! You can read more about my collaborative paragraph poster activity in this blog post.

Prompt: In chapters 3-4, Elie discusses the inhumanity of the concentration camps. Write an essay that analyzes the effectiveness of Wiesel’s use of rhetorical strategies to describe the inhumane conditions that contribute to the message of these chapters. You can focus on tone, diction, imagery, repetition, parallelism, anaphora, syntax, or another rhetorical strategy.

Students chose one rhetorical strategy for the first body paragraph and chose another for the second body paragraph.

Resources for Teaching Essay Writing

Essay Writing Teaching Unit – Teach your students how to write an essay! This comprehensive essay writing bundle includes teaching resources and lessons for every part of an essay. Plus, it includes digital resources!

Essay Writing Skills Unit – Help your students improve their writing by focusing on one specific aspect of writing at a time. These Writing Spotlight Mini-Units help students improve their writing by focusing on specific skills to enhance writing!