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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
In my American Seminar classes, the advanced 11th grade course on American literature, I did a mini-unit on Anne Bradstreet poetry. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
So how do you start teaching The Scarlet Letter? Where do you begin? Continue reading
One of my first assignments for my 11th grade American Literature class was called ‘What Is My America?’. This is something that my cooperating teacher has done in the past with her classes and I love it! From the very first day, the kids get involved with the topic–they have to think about their own opinions on America and how those cultural lenses can shape how they read a text. They also can compare their ideas to ideas expressed in the time period of the literature they are reading. Continue reading
