Some Inspiration Something I have noticed about teaching is that my identity tends to get wrapped up, even defined by my role in the life of students. I sometimes forget who I, Sarah, am — the quirks and gifts that I have carried with my …
One #verselove2019
Some Inspiration I imagine there are mixed feelings floating across this virtual space as cursors blink within the comment box below. What will you write today? Will it be any “good”? Every writer can attest that whispers of doubt are a natural part of a …
Writing Poems About the Season, a 5-Day Plan by Anna J. Small Roseboro
As you look ahead to April and plans for National Poetry Month (which we hope includes #verselove2019, Ethical ELA’s poem-a-day celebration), consider a week of seasonal writing brought to you by the amazing Anna J. Small Roseboro. What a gift she is to teachers and …
30 Days of Verse: Sign-Up to Write a Poem a Day with Ethical ELA this April #verselove2019
Writers, teachers, teacher educators, people-who-say-they’re-not-poets-but-just-might-be (essentially, everyone)! I know it feels too soon for April and National Poetry Month, but I am looking forward to springtime in great anticipation of living in the universe with and through verse. During the month of April, I will …
Rhetoric in Spoken Word: Analysis, Response, Writing, and Speaking for Change
Our seventh grade class began the final quarter of our year together with a closer look at rhetoric, specifically how a speaker earns the audience’s attention and trust (ethos), how a speaker moves an audience to feel (pathos), and how the speaker persuades and teaches the audience with jargon, facts, examples in the hopes that those who listen will consider the issue in a new way or be moved to act (logos).
Introducing the Best Co-Teachers Around
“So the speaker is saying that she wishes her mother would have left her courage behind instead of her brooch. Can you relate this poem to another poem or story?” says Jonathan. “Yes, Andy*?” “This reminds me of a movie, Guardians of the Galaxy.” “What …
Please, stop with the countdowns.
I am a resistor of the “countdown,” as in counting down the days until the end of school. I am anxious as nearly 600 other educators to dive into Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher’s 180 Days and get the story for my next novel that is …
30, April 30th, Lines and Verses Borrowed
Congratulations! Inspiration: We have shared this virtual space for 30 days — 30 days of words, phrases, images, and lines borrowed from lives lived and imagined. Today, we’d like to encourage you to select a day from our 30 days on ethicalela.com and reread …
29, April 29th, Remembered
Inspiration: What is your ultimate goal in your life? Geesh, this is a big, deep question to which you may not be ready to respond, but imagine for a minute or two what you would like people to say about you years from now. How …
28, April 28th, Overcoming
Inspiration: What was your greatest struggle? How did you overcome it, and how has it changed you for the better? Form: Try to write your poem in couplets today. A couplet is a poem made up of two-line stanzas with the final word of each …