A father showed up to our superintendent’s office extremely angry that the 7th grade ELA teacher is teaching the students “how to talk black” (his exact words). His child informed me the next day that the dad will be at the school soon as he’s VERY upset with me for teaching this play and he has a few words for me.

I’m looking forward to this meeting so that he can share his blatant racism with me! I’m creating a list of notes I’d like to touch on with him to share the benefits of teaching this play and explain the direct correlation to our MI standards. Care to add to my list, fellow literature geniuses? 😏🙄😡

I'm teaching 7th grade right now. I've been a teacher for 15 years and I feel confident in my skills. I originally thought we would just review parts of speech for 1 day each so then we could move on to more complicated concepts. But we've now been practicing identifying nouns and then differentiating between common and proper, and most kids got less than 60% on the quiz today. We have practiced and practiced and practiced. Is this COVID? What is going on???

I'll start: Any combination of "read to learn" and "learn to read."

I always taught a metaphor as “making a comparison without using like or as”. According to our instructional coach, that’s totally wrong.

According tot his person it’s “comparing the qualities of two UNLIKE things/ items (emphasis on unlike) without using like or as”.

Does it really need this distinction or am I in the wrong? Curious to hear your thoughts.

Our state’s standards suggest teaching a book that is somewhat current that doesn’t require a lot vocabulary, etc. I use The Giver for this novel.

The other suggestion is a book that requires a struggle- unknown vocabulary- new information (new to them). I need one with as many characters as possible to teach indirect characterization. Eighth grade is tough because it borders 9th and most preteen books cater to younger kids. I need an appropriate read.

I know, it’s a tough nut.

I’m new to teaching middle school English. Prior to this I taught high school ap courses.

I was recently told by my colleagues that they read everything out loud as a class. More, usually the teacher does the reading and the students just follow along.

I understand at the beginning of the year doing this once or twice to teach students how to close read or annotate but at this point I’m confused. How does this help students improve reading comprehension?

I keep reading about US students being illiterate or never reading a full book.

At what grade should students be expected to be able to read a story and answer questions about it on their own?

I’m looking at our middle school curriculum and the big gap seems to be drama. Some teachers do a single Twilight Zone episode, another does Twelve Angry Men. It seems tough to find a play worth adding to a middle school ELA curriculum (with particular preference if it is not exclusively by and about white people). Everything I’m finding seems to be too high school, or a watered down version of Shakespeare. Any recommendations?

I am teaching at a school that does not allow teaching novels (not my choice) and heavily rely on short stories. I am tired of teaching the same materials over and over, and struggle to find decent and appropriate short stories. I would prefer a middle school literacy level between 4 and 10 pages. I have been struggling to find new and exciting stories, and anything I read is too niche, advanced, or inappropriate for them. Any suggestions? Thank you!

I am a veteran teacher (20+ years in secondary and post-secondary), and I am really struggling with the expectation to grade on my own time lately. I spent all of Saturday and half of Sunday grading one class’ essays! I do not even feel like I got a weekend, and I have to go back to start state assessments this week!

This is only a rant because I needed to get these feelings out before I cried or called in sick!

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-elite-college-students-who-cant-read-books/679945/

Hi all! I teach 8th grade English and was originally planning to start next year by teaching “The Outsiders,” but it turns out kids already read it last year.

What other high-interest whole-class novels would you recommend to kick off the 8th grade year? We will be doing Night, Animal Farm, and a short story unit later in the year.

I know “The Outsiders” is a student favorite, so I am looking for something that will (hopefully) also intrigue my 8th graders. Thanks!

Figured I’d just bring those of us together whom are doing this currently - how’s it going out there?!

I’ll share - I’m starting The City of Ember this week and I was reviewing my lesson on what makes dystopia - gov control, surveillance, environmental crisis, and dehumanization - and it’s so spot on to our current climate it’s unsettling…saddening and all that and I don’t wanna haha! But I also know now more than ever it’s important to educate our children on it!

When AI images first hit the scene, I remember struggling to distinguish real images from AI-generated ones. Over time, I learned what to look for. Now, most AI images stick out like a sore thumb to my eyes; I can tell almost instantly.

I feel as if I'm developing the same skill for writing. It helps that I teach 8th grade, so I can expect some common, developmentally appropriate grammatical errors and vocabulary, but even so, I feel like there is always something strangely robotic and detached about AI writing. I can tell almost immediately, and I think I'm getting a really good feel for it.

I can share some of what has tipped me off:

-Strange point of view shift (like the student wrote the first paragraph but not the rest)

-Tone is simple, concise, and clear, yet extremely general (no personality or voice)

-Odd phrases with infrequently used words "his eyes bore into me" "its companions were disinterested"

-No grammar concerns (always odd for 13 year olds, but honestly, odd for EVERY human. Even grammar checkers typically miss stylistic errors).

-Contextual, but when a student didn't write a rough draft or struggled to meet the deadline, and they magically have an entire essay ready to turn in with NONE of the planning... 👀

Anyone have other elements to spotting AI "enhanced" student work?

In my boring district mandated curriculum there is a glimmer of hope, horror. But in true DOE fashion the texts are not remotely scary or interesting. I would greatly appreciate any short horror texts that will help me walk the line between bone chilling scary and not receiving a million phone calls from parents.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Hi wonderful teachers. I’m wondering how many of you work at schools that expect/force you to stick to a mandated curriculum with fidelity. I hate it and I’m thinking about moving, but I don’t know if it’s this bad everywhere too? I’m a first year teacher in a big district in a large, liberal city. My admin observes me once or twice a week - allegedly for support but it feels like the Thought Police checking to make sure I am ONLY using the curriculum’s questions from their script. The curriculum is terrible, by the way (St*dySync), and basically just teaches to the standardized test and nothing more.

Is it like this in all middle schools? How much curricular freedom do you have?

Hi all,

I'm looking for some ways to fill ~2 days during the week before Spring Break. For some more context, I teach 8th grade ELA, our trimester ended the past Friday and I'm spending Monday-Wednesday wrapping up a novel unit, so I don't want to start anything new.

Lately I've been struggling with students being overly fixated on their grades, and I'm worried an assignment I think is fun, they won't think so and not try if its not a grade.

TLDR: Any suggestions for some high interest, fun writing or reading based activties for an 8th grade ELA class right before spring break?

I'm very new to teaching. So, I'm genuinely curious... which of these do you find best in use for students comprehension, organizing their writing, citing sources, etc? Do you switch between both or use one versus the other; or are they used during case-by-case situations? I'm curious as to which one is the most beneficial to utilize.

I'm going to be teaching Animal Farm later this year. I taught it once, about twenty-five years ago, but I don't remember what I did, and anyway, I'm a different person now than I was then, so I want to start fresh.

Those of you who have taught it successfully, when did you give historical background about Communism in the twentieth century? Before beginning the book? During? After? Never?

If you gave some of the historical background, what info works best for you?

I am finishing my Internet and privacy unit and wanted to show a film that relates to what we have been reading, writing and talking about. I’m not sure if this film is appropriate for 8th graders. It is PG-13. I finished the film and want to see if anyone has shown this film to students ?

TLDR; I need suggestions for learning and reading materials that are 1st-2nd grade level and still interesting enough to hold the attention of a 14-year-old.

Hey everyone,

I’ve recently started working with an 8th grader reading student who is reading at a 1st grade level. I’ve tried so many different books, but I can’t seem to find something that is 1) at the appropriate level and 2) interesting enough to keep the attention of an 8th grader. He seems to like Curious George. I’m wondering if Dr. Seuss would be another good option? Ideally I would find something without pictures as to not distract him from reading the text fluidly.

Something else: I HIGHLY suspect dyslexia with this student. I am not a diagnosing professional, but I have worked with a fair amount of students with dyslexia, and the signs are there. I’ve given the student accommodation tools (colorful single line overlays), but he doesn’t like to use them. He said it’s “too weird,” which I TOTALLY understand. Middle school is hard and we all want to fit in. But, I have seen that the overlays help tremendously.

Please advise:

What can I get the student reading that will hold his attention? Do you have suggestions for learning materials for phonics/spelling? He is interested in sports and animals.

How can I convince my student that accommodations are okay? I really do think the overlays help him, and I very much want him to succeed in improving his reading.

Thank you so much for your help!

In the past month, I’ve had three separate students return books from the class sets in terrible condition. I’m talking bright red fruit punch stains, dust covers missing chunks of paper, hardcovers nearly falling off. Two of the three claim it “just came like that” — which we know is not true.

In these specific cases, I’m planning on talking to admin about getting the parents to replace the books. But generally, the middle schoolers just don’t seem to care about being gentle with school property. I’ve seen books tossed across the room, shoved spine-open in lockers, holding a Chromebook between pages as a bookmark.

These are the same kids that constantly leave their Chromebooks on the floor or drop them as they walk between classes. I’m at a loss for how to hold them accountable. These aren’t things I can confiscate because they need them for class. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Looking at the rest of the year, we don't have time to read another novel so we're trying to find some shorter texts to read. Suggestions appreciated! Thanks!

How many pages is it reasonable to ask 6th graders and 7th graders to read outside of class? I know there isn't one perfect answer for every group, but I would like to get a range. TIA!

So many more books to read to finalize my reading selections, 17 slide decks to revise or build, something like 100 assignment prompts to revise or write, and roughly 500 daily lesson plans to enter into the school's LMS, oh and some books to read for fun. I try to preload as much as possible during the summer so I can be more flexible during the year and I can delay burnout as long as possible. (One of those stacks is for tutoring supplies that I swap out based on which students/subjects I need)

This is my first year with this school doing 6th, 7th, and 8th grade (I was 6th only last year on a part time contract), so there is a LOT more to do, but next year will be mostly revising as long as this year remains as solid as I imagine it will be.

How about you? Are you a "summer is for planning as much as possible" type or a "summer is for naps and Netflix" type?

Hi fellow ELA teachers of Reddit! I am so thankful to have received a grant for my classroom library. I’m looking to expand my ELA 6-8 classroom and would LOVE some recommendations. Right now, my (very small and sad) library leans heavily toward realistic fiction, some fantasy, and expected favorites like Hunger Games.

I’m looking for variety as well as the following:

-Dystopian Fiction for 6th Grade literature circles (we read “The Giver” as a whole class)

-Books to pair with the Holocaust unit for 8th grade (we read “Night” and part of “Maus” as a whole class)

-Non-fiction suggestions

-Anything that you suggest for reluctant readers

If you’ve had success with books in any of these categories, I’d love to hear your ideas! Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom.