The one Twain text your students need to read for the 2024 election year. Use this lesson immediately! Follow the links for FREE downloads! “Corn Pone Opinions”: Written in 1901 and published posthumously in 1923 by Robert Bigelow Paine in Europe and Elsewhere. Relevance: Peer Pressure; Critical Thinking; Political Messaging and Decisions; Fashion Trends; AlgorithmsContinue Reading
Relevance
Why Does Daisy Stay? How to Find Relationship Red Flags in The Great Gatsby
Why does Daisy stay? That’s the question students ask every year when we study The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s classic novel presents a valuable opportunity to educate students about the truth concerning abusive and toxic relationships. When they ask why does Daisy stay, they are really asking why anyone stays. They might be asking why theirContinue Reading
3 Classic Retellings You Need to Read This Summer
Who doesn’t love a good summer read? Summer reading is refreshing and exciting. And it’s different than a winter read. A winter read is soft and heartwarming and maybe romantic. But a summer read should be like summer: fun, fast, and maybe a little wild. That’s what these three YA novels have in common andContinue Reading
How to Connect Kids to Classics in One Sentence
A colleague gifted me this cool mug. It’s covered with some of the best sentences in literary history. One day, while sipping and excellent cup of Earl Grey and marveling over these one-statement masterpieces, it occurred to me that these sentences might just be enough to hook students into reading some of the best booksContinue Reading
How to Assess Student Connection to Texts
I discovered the assessment by accident. It was actually meant for a brain break for my honors students. We had just finished up The Great Gatsby, but throughout the week I had noticed mental fatigue setting in. Most likely, it had been a week filled with calculus and AP Chem tests with some kind ofContinue Reading
Should We Use Movies to Teach Classic Literature?
Are you a movie-showing teacher? Relying on movies to teach classics isn’t new. Although, I feel like it’s becoming more and more accepted as the norm. I often wonder if it should be. When I first started pre-writing this blog post, I truly thought it would lean towards nixing movies. We teach literature, not cinema.Continue Reading
Is Caps For Sale Worth Keeping?
“It’s not culturally responsive.” “It’s outdated.” “I roll my eyes every time someone suggests a book to me that’s over 70 years old.” These are the reasons mentioned on teacher Twitter recently for ridding your classroom of Caps For Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business by Esphyr Slobodkina. TeachersContinue Reading
“The Lottery” Lesson
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is such a great, memorable tale. I’m sure there aren’t many teachers who must be persuaded to teach this one. Nevertheless, the relevance to pandemic living is so strong, I just had to add this story to our classics to keep. If this is a story we already love andContinue Reading
How to Teach Twain Through Short Stories: The Ghost Story
Not only does “A Ghost Story” allow for a great study of the effective use of diction, syntax, pacing, plot, dialogue, and irony, but it also offers a great tie-in to real life.
How Author Info Hooks Students and Reveals Relevance
By the time most of my students read The Scarlet Letter, they are salivating for it.
What is a Classic and Why Should We Read Them?
The telling of unforgettable stories can work to change the hearts and minds of society. The most powerful ones should be considered classics.
Twain Texts You Aren’t Teaching But Should: A Medieval Romance
If your students are like mine, they will immediately jump on the women’s rights angle after reading this story.
