ELA Essentials

We all know that independent reading is essential in developing critical literacy skills in our students. In my first few years of teaching, I struggled with portioning out time for students to read independently even though I knew its importance. I tried a handful of ways to provide more accountability so that it wouldn't feel like I was using time unwisely, but nothing really stuck. The items featured in this bundle have helped me a great deal in not only keeping my students accountable for

This weekly reading log is way for students to not only keep track of what they are reading but also use reading comprehension strategies that are necessary to develop competent readers. This is a 3-page document that includes a place to record title, author, pages, and key information for each reading session. It also includes a space for self-selected vocabulary, summary along with reminders regarding what information to include in a summary. The most important piece of this reading log is a

Add a dose of relevance to your students' reading projects! This project walks students through the process of choosing quotes from their novels that are personally meaningful and teach valuable life lessons. File includes the following: -assignment sheet with written instructions for students -printable planning template for student use -printable scoring guide for easy grading Project is aligned to 9-12 CCSS but can easily be adapted to younger grades.

Checklist-style form students can fill out to get them thinking about themselves as readers. Paste into a reader's notebook or use as a springboard for discussions and goal setting.

This is a graphic organizer that focuses on the aspects of Shakespearean Tragedy including the tragic hero, fatal flaw, catastrophic event(s), dramatic irony, and theme. It also shows the relationship among each of these aspects. This organizer is especially great for the purposes of reviewing a piece of lit. and identifying each dramatic element of tragedy.