teaching

Countdown to Kickoff – Ten Touchdown Worthy Football Lesson Plans

Are you ready to bring the excitement of football season into your ELA classroom? To capitalize on the hype with your students, check out these ten football lesson plans designed to engage them while building critical reading, writing, and analytical skills. These football lesson plans are perfect for ELA teachers looking to tap into the… Continue reading

Resources

education, learning, reading, teaching, technology, writing
Six Ideas for Building Background Knowledge in your Secondary Classroom

Background knowledge is one of the components of Scarborough’s Reading Rope and a necessary part of reading comprehension. Without relevant background knowledge, students have nothing to spark that brain power necessary for understanding what they read. One of our go-to strategies for teaching comprehension is asking students to make connections to what they are reading.… Continue reading

Resources

#SoRin2ndary, literacy, reading, teaching
Understanding Comprehension: A Key to Learning

What Does It Really Mean to Comprehend? To be completely honest, when I first started looking into how to help my older students comprehend, I don’t think I fully understood what it meant to comprehend. Read words.Understand what they say. The end. But it is actually way more complex than that. The amount of work… Continue reading

Philosophy, Research

#SoRin2ndary, education, learning, literacy, reading, science-of-reading, teaching
Utilizing Reading Diagnostic Data to Support Students’ Reading Progress

This post was originally posted on September 21, 2023 on my old blog. Reading is a fundamental skill that opens doors to almost everything else in life. For educators and parents, understanding a student’s reading level and progress is essential to provide effective support and ensure they reach their full potential. One valuable tool in… Continue reading

Philosophy

data, literacy, reading, teaching
Planning a Science of Reading Aligned Unit for Secondary ELA

One question that I always asked when I was getting into SoR was “HOOOOOW do I incorporate these things in my SECONDARY classroom?” I promise that I asked it just like that every single time too. Because… like, this is all well and good but I’m not going to have my teenagers breaking down phonemes… Continue reading

#SoR Planning, education

#SoRin2ndary, education, literacy, reading, science-of-reading, teaching

About Me

Welcome! I am a middle school English teacher and have been teaching since 2012. My blog is dedicated to bringing the Science of Reading research into the secondary classroom.

I am passionate about teaching and believe that creativity and critical thinking are key for a successful learning experience. I enjoy sharing my experiences as an educator and providing helpful tips to make English learning fun and exciting. So explore my blog and join me on this journey to help our students become the best that they can be.