Activities, strategies, lessons, and planning pertaining to my eleventh grade American Seminar/American Literature Honors classes.
Saying Goodbye to My American Seminar Kids - Saying goodbye to my American Seminar students came first--this was the first class I gave back to Stanton, and while they were moving beyond The Scarlet Letter, I slaved over their grades in the back of the room. 😛
Unit Planning – American Seminar - Planning for classes became a daily, weekly, and monthly ritual as I started student teaching. As my first placement comes to a close, it's been exciting to see how far I've come from the first day and reflect on my curriculum planning.
Today’s Goals - In my classroom, I have my "I Can" board which states the classroom standards and 'I Can' statements pertaining to those standards. However, I wanted to branch out from the classroom standards and make something specific, for each day. So I created "Today's Goals".
Modern-Day Scarlet Letters - I truly believe that students learn best when they are asked to relate content to their personal lives. That was my goal with this ending, fun activity–Modern-Day Scarlet Letters–applying the theme of hidden vs. exposed sin to students’ own lives.
The Scarlet Letter Final Essay - Every good unit ends with a paper (says every English teacher in the world!). And for The Scarlet Letter, I couldn't agree more!
Finishing The Scarlet Letter - As my American Seminar students read The Scarlet Letter, we had some great whole-class discussions. Wrapping up the book was no different.
My 504 Writing Student - From the beginning of my student teaching placement, I've had experience with and learned about 504 plans. It wasn't until my final week, however, that I received the official documentation of one of my student's 504 Plans. This document really helped me to see and understand how 504 accommodations worked in a classroom.
My Kids Say the Darndest Things, Pt. 2 - Being a teacher means you're constantly surrounded by kiddos---and some of them are going to make you laugh out loud. In my American Seminar class, I had an essay question as part of our Mid-Book Quest (Quiz-Test) and here's something one of my kids wrote that made me chuckle. 
Forest Scene Story - Okay, I'll admit it...sometimes reading The Scarlet Letter and its Old English can be difficult, and a little dry. I wanted my students to take a break for a minute and do something creative!
Scarlet Letter Discussion Groups - My American Seminar students have read up through chapter 18 in The Scarlet Letter. This point in the novel is filled with important themes, changes, symbols, and relationships, and to make sure my students were noticing and understanding these, I made a group discussion activity for them.
Even the Best Plans May Fail - Well, I thought my ideas/lesson on Anne Bradstreet poetry were awesome. And I thought the students would hit the small-group presentations on Bradstreet poetry right out of the park! I was wrong.
Anne Bradstreet Poetry - In my American Seminar classes, the advanced 11th grade course on American literature, I did a mini-unit on Anne Bradstreet poetry.
Scarlet Letter Quiz - Tests and quizzes are great for making sure students have read and for assessing their comprehension. Across my classes, I've done plenty of formative assessments, but for my American Seminar class specifically, I needed to mix in a summative assessment to see how much the students had actually retained from reading and discussion and to see what parts of the book I needed to discuss.
Intro to the Scarlet Letter - So how do you start teaching The Scarlet Letter? Where do you begin?
What Is My America? - One of my first assignments for my 11th grade American Literature class was called 'What Is My America?'.