If you’re like me, you find competing with students attention spans almost impossible some days! With the amount of different distractions students have at their fingertips, there are days where I feel like I could be juggling chainsaws and it would have no effect! I always am trying to support listening skills in my students, […] The post 9 Fun Podcasts To Energize Your Middle School Classroom! appeared first on ELA Buffet ..read more

Who knew that using a fun and simple technique like directed drawing would help me teach descriptive writing and short story writing? Teaching a writing support class for 5th, 6th, and 7th graders isn’t easy. Especially when kids have to get to school an hour early to attend. (I don’t even want to know the […] The post Boost Student Engagement: Teach Descriptive Writing with a Fun Twist appeared first on ELA Buffet ..read more

The first day and first week of school is all about setting expectations, getting to know each other, and building a positive classroom culture. These engaging and interactive ideas will capture your students’ attention and make going back to school a breeze! One year during first period, I was asked to give out PTA issued student planners. Every single class looked the same. Classroom rules up on a PowerPoint, teachers struggling to be enthusiastic, and kids struggling not to yawn. I vowed to never cover classroom rules and a syllabus on the first day again. What will I do? Something impress ..read more

The end of the school year is exciting, but it can be tough to find fun end of year plans for the last weeks – and even the last day- of school. In this post, we’ll discuss 24 must-do, low-prep, end of year activities for middle school. The end of the school year is always a whirlwind of excitement and chaos. Trips, assemblies, and interruptions make it hard to teach. That makes it the perfect time to do some creative enrichment activities that were sidelined all year to accomodate the mandated curriculum. Here are 24 end-of-year ideas to get you through the last weeks of school. These activi ..read more

Using the right mentor texts has really boosted my success in teaching writing. In this post, we’ll discuss what mentor texts are, why they’re important, and how to use them effectively in your middle school classroom. A good mentor text floats my boat, tickles my fancy, and ruffles my truffles. It’s true. These handy little lifesavers are my secret to engaging my students, provoking deep thought, and fostering their love for language. Now, I can’t wait to share with you how using mentor texts can transform your classroom too! And be sure to hang around for the part where I tell you how to ma ..read more

Ask any English Language Arts teacher to identify the absolute worst time of the school year, and I guarantee they’ll give you the same answer: test prep season! Test prep is so dull that you might as well be prepping your students for a nap. But what if I told you there are ways to spice it up so the test prep becomes fun, engaging, and memorable? I’m emphasizing memorable there because that is the ultimate goal, after all. And studies prove that material is more memorable to students when it is presented in a new or unusual way. And for anyone who thinks learning can’t be fun and games are ..read more

If you teach writing in middle school, I’ve got some more super helpful, easy-to-use tips to make your life easier! Before long you’ll love teaching writing, and you’ll breeze through those towering piles of papers and get back to what’s really important. What’s really important? YOU, Put yourself first for a change and do what YOU want to do. Whether it be drinking coffee, watching Netflix, taking your kids to the park, or petting your dog. These writing tips will help you get the most bang for your (instructional time) buck. 1. Assign Authentic Writing Tasks If you want your students to be ..read more

The good news is that October is a spooktacular and fun time of year! The not-so-good news is that Halloween falls on a school day.  So it’s time to start thinking about lesson plans for Halloween. You and I know that whatever we teach that day had better be interesting. You might be wondering how you can incorporate the holiday into your upper elementary or middle-school curriculum without throwing a party or getting too off-topic. Never fear! There are plenty of ways to celebrate Halloween in the classroom while still covering the standards. Here are a few ideas that incorporate readin ..read more

I don’t know about you, but when I was in middle school, I always found essay writing to be a bummer and based on the confusing messages they sent, I imagine that my teachers hated teaching essay writing as much as we hated doing the writing. Ms. Print demanded five-paragraph essays, while Mr. Stickler insisted six was the magic paragraph number. Every teacher had different requirements, and they all assigned very specific topics. Asking to choose my own writing topic would have been like voluntarily signing up for detention. I’m sure that some of you had similar experiences. Now that I’m a t ..read more

It’s first period on a Monday morning. Your middle school students drag themselves into class like zombies. They have no idea you have a secret. They’re about to embark on a digital escape room adventure! After greeting everyone, you tell them that their objective is to learn the four different ways a reader can define unfamiliar words in context. Still zombies.  When you tell them that they will learn and apply four ways to define unfamiliar words by playing a digital escape room game, your zombies are suddenly transformed into living, breathing kids. They cheer so loudly that the princi ..read more