The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA

Today's guest, middle school teacher Susan Taylor, has repeatedly gone the extra mile to build a reading program that makes an impact. Not only does she guide her students towards the best books available, she guides her teaching network the same way, through her podcast, Wonder World Book Cafe. Today, we're going to go rapid fire through her favorites to recommend to students, and why she likes them so much. You'll walk away with fantastic recommendations for novels-in-verse, graphic novels, historical fiction, and much more. You'll discover Susan's top pick for First Chapter Friday, the one book she thinks every classroom library should have, and the superb (easy-to-copy) way she helps students recommend books to each other all year long as part of their regular reading routine. Go Further:  Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit. Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram.  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!   

If you've ever felt stymied over the fact that some of your students aren't sure how to write a thesis while others are ready to tackle counterargument, today's episode is for you. Not so long ago, Kareem Farah of the Modern Classrooms Project was here to share the MCP vision for a differentiated blended classroom, and how it can support all learners (and all teachers!). Today, his founding partner, Rob Barnett, joins us to follow up, sharing specific techniques for easily creating instructional videos and learning roadmaps in ELA.  We want to help you design writing units that let your students move through the material at their own pace, reviewing and repeating lessons when they want to, skipping ahead when they're ready.  Let's dive in. Go Further:  Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Snag three free weeks of community-building attendance question slides Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram.  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!  Related Links: Explore Classrooms using MCP pedagogy: https://www.modernclassrooms.org/exemplars  Take the Full Free Course to learn about MCP: https://learn.modernclassrooms.org/  See the Progress Tracker Templates from MCP: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1i46SSU3PozMk3bQ06-d1Od09vqZLqIx_2St7FTX8A50/edit  Discover Rob's Book, Meet Every Learner's Needs: https://www.meeteverylearnersneeds.org/ 

It all started with 1984, as so many things do. I wanted students to see how the ideas in the book were splashed across the world around them - yes, in their magazines and ads, but also in the current events they saw on the news and the news sites covering them. So I asked them to create collages, connecting 1984 to their lives. As we put the collages up across one wall on the classroom, the startling connections between what they were reading and what they were seeing in the world around them sprang out in bright colors. Sitting beside us as we discussed and wrote about the novel, they provided a constant reminder that Orwell’s writing was as relevant as it gets, many decades later. So am I suggesting you do a context collage next time YOU teach Orwell? Nope, today I want to suggest that a context collage as a stellar go-to anytime you’re trying to help students see the connections between a text and their lives. Let me walk you through it. Go Further:  Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Grab the free Better Discussions toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram.  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!   

Discover the concept of 'glue' that binds students to their learning experience. The host shares a personal story about launching a poetry unit, highlighting the importance of finding engaging elements. Real-world connections and showcase projects play a crucial role in capturing student interest. Tune in for insights on how to create engaging lessons that spark creativity and enthusiasm in the classroom!

Dive into the nostalgic charm of a classic memory game and discover how it can revolutionize ELA reviews. Learn innovative ways to customize memory cards for any material, boosting student engagement and retention. Hear personal stories of family fun and the competitive spirit that makes game playing so memorable. This episode explores the intersection of play and learning, showing how gamification can transform traditional classroom activities into exciting experiences.

Teaching an ELA elective that you've dreamed up yourself is such a joy. Today I want to stir up some ideas together for the next time you've got the chance to put your own spin on an older course or propose a new course altogether. So let's start with a few questions: Would you rather take a course called "Theater" or "Contemporary Theater: The Triumphs of Hamilton & Wicked "? "Creative Writing" or "Writing for Change across Platforms"? "Film & Literature" or "How the Oscars got it Wrong"? "Argument Writing" or "How to Get What You Want (with your Writing)." "Digital Literacy" or "Understanding Spin: How the Sites You Choose Impact What You Believe." While many schools continue to run electives like "Creative Writing" and "Poetry," which are often wonderful courses, I believe it's time for a shift in framing. Writing is EVERYWHERE today, playing a vital role in our politics, our science, our businesses, our media creation and consumption, our entertainment, and our understanding of the world. To help our students see that, we can tap into modern platforms and media to hook our students, teaching similar key skills and texts in a new context, alongside more contemporary voices. Go Further:  Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Get my popular free hexagonal thinking digital toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram.  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you! 

Like most of us, Christina Schneider didn't find teaching writing one bit easy at first. Despite her background as a journalist, putting all the puzzle pieces together in the classroom to help her students understand how to build a thesis, introduce and analyze evidence, and express their ideas felt like a pretty tough task. But over time she had one breakthrough after another with her high school students in California. She figured out how to meet them where they are and guide them through the process of building their academic writing skills day by day throughout the school year. Now she steps up to the plate each August with her new students feeling confident that she can take them where they need to go. She's recently written a new book, Building Strong Writers, where she shares everything she's learned in step-by-step walkthroughs to make it easy for you to try too. Today on the pod, we'll be exploring three of her top writing scaffolds, and how you can get started with them tomorrow to make argument writing instruction simpler and more successful in your classroom. Connect with Christina, from The Daring English Teacher Hi! I’m Christina. I’m a full-time high school English and journalism teacher, wife, and mom. I’ve taught every high school grade level, and I love sharing my ideas, lesson plans, and ELA resources with other teachers. One of my passions is providing engaging, robust, and differentiated learning experiences to my students while helping other teachers do the same. Explore more of Christina's work on her website: https://thedaringenglishteacher.com/  Grab your copy of her new book, Building Strong Writers: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Strong-Writers-Strategies-Scaffolds/dp/1956306854  Follow along with her tips and ideas on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedaringenglishteacher/  Go Further:  Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Get my popular free hexagonal thinking digital toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram.  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!  

It's February, the perfect time to feature work by contemporary Black authors in your book talks, poetry clip showings, First Chapter Fridays, book displays, and bulletin boards. It's also a good time to look ahead to next year and consider whether you want to order some of these books for book clubs and whole class texts in the 2025-2026 school year.boo Of course, I know you know every month is the perfect time to feature these books in all kinds of ways. But today let's talk about five authors you might want to highlight especially right now, and why. As always, you know your classroom best, so be sure to preview books before teaching them to be sure they're the right fit for your students' ages and your community. Go Further:  Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit. Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram.  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!   

How many times have you sat in a PD meeting that didn't apply to you? One where you were learning an 11 letter acronym for a strategy you'd never use, a 3 point plan for a new program that wouldn't fit with your curriculum, or a training you'd already had? A PD meeting that was... irrelevant.  In their book, Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters, Kylene Beers and Bob Probst use one word to describe a key component we need in our in our curriculum in order to keep students' attention: relevance (115).   Relevance hit home for me, conceptually.  For many years, I've argued here for authentic audience, more contemporary texts featuring diverse voices, real-world projects like genius hour and podcasting, exploring modern mediums for communication, and student-led discussion.  Relevance - in the words of the latest visual trend on Insta - fits the #vibesibringtothefunction here at Spark Creativity. I want it for you, of course, in your professional learning, and that's why I'm here. And I want it for your students, in their learning in your classroom. When Beers and Probst polled high school students on what issues they'd be interested in exploring, the issues that feel relevant to them, they named things like solving hate/bullying, fighting racism, ending discrimination around mental illness, and protecting the environment (117). It's not easy to dive into issues like these if you're tied to an aggressive standardized curriculum.  As Beers and Probst put it, it's easier to create a learning environment that matters to students "if the question begins, 'What do kids want to know?' rather than 'What does the curriculum say we must cover?'" (116).  And yet, there are inroads you can make in your classroom toward relevance, while you have larger conversations with your colleagues and administration about the wider curriculum and the freedom (or lack thereof) it allows you as you design your units.  So today, I want to explore ways to build more relevance into the curriculum, even if you don't have carte blanche to teach whatever you want, however you want to. Links Mentioned: Kylene Beers and Bob Probst's Book: Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters David Kelley's Incredible Ted Talk: How to Build your Creative Confidence Jared Amato's Book: Just Read It Go Further:  Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Grab the free Better Discussions toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram.  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!   

I've been reading Kylene Beers and Bob Probst's Disrupting Thinking: How Why We Read Matters this week, and one of their points that has really come home for me is how often the standards and the pressure to boil books down to skills leads to pulling plot-based facts and point-based evidence out of a book, blocking opportunities for students to think about what the book means in the context of their lives. How it might change them, influence them, give them something new to think about in the way they approach the world. It reminded me of a comment my son's history teacher made recently, asking for him to focus not just on the events of history, but on "making meaning" out of them. I loved this directive, and at the same time, I knew a lot of follow-up was required. "Making meaning" out of what we learn is right up there at the top of Bloom's taxonomy, a combination of "evaluate" and "create," and not something that will just happen by itself. So how DO we bring our students from memorizing plot details to creating a dialogue with books that help to shape who they become? Today I want to share a story with you, about a time I taught a novel without considering the implications in the lives of my students, and how their reaction changed me as a teacher. As you'll see from my story, helping students make meaning from reading isn't as simple as some catchy acronym or a certain type of double-sided journal. But I will share some ideas for starting points you can use in class, strategies, discussion questions, and project possibilities that can help students ask a text: what do you want from me? And why? What do I want from you? You can listen in below, or read on for the written version. Go Further:  Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Grab the free Better Discussions toolkit Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook. Come hang out on Instagram.  Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!