“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. “ –Francis Bacon

Reading and writing are practiced and explored in a variety of formats in my English classes.  Whether students are harnessing the power of digital interactives or enjoying a sublime tale in traditional format, reading occurs each day.  For struggling readers, audio accompaniment is an option.   Writing and speaking take place regularly through student responses to journal prompts, novel chapter summaries, comprehension responses, open response compositions, multi-paragraph essays, short presentations, literature circles, and Socratic seminars.

Writing occurs in all forms: reflective journal writing, written responses to open response prompts, long compositions (inform/explain and argument) and research papers.

Thematic analysis of evil in the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. Students read the article “Why Do Good People Do Bad Things” on CommonLit and then synthesized the criteria needed for a descent into evil with the events and characters in the novel.

Google Classroom and Google Apps for Education offers students an easy interface and platform to create work product and receive teacher feedback. It is also conducive to cooperative learning activities, such as Literature Circles.

My teacher website and Google Classroom sites provide students with ready access to study materials they may have misplaced as well as additional learning aids so that they can enhance their understanding through multiple modalities.