GilTeach
1,518 Followers
Rutledge, Missouri, United States
About the store
After sixteen years in the classroom--taking risks, researching new methods, and working hard to figure out how to teach my students to think for themselves--I know what works.
I have written my own curriculum for over 25 books; I have prepared students for the MCAS, SAT, and AP tests; I have helped hundreds of students write successful college essays.
If you want to learn how to find success in just about any kind of writing; if you want to learn how to approach a challenging text and understand it; if you want to learn why studying English is so much fun and really worth your time, I can teach you what you need.
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Media Bias & Digital Media Literacy Unit: Reliable, Credible Sources v Fake News
Want to teach your high school students how to stop the spread of fake news? It's essential that teens learn the skills they need to evaluate sources, but they can't truly decide if a source or website is biased or trustworthy with a checklist. In fact, when the famous Stanford study on Students' Civic Online Reasoning was repeated in 2019, they found that students who had been taught to use a checklist like the C.R.A.P method for evaluating sources could be misled "by focusing their attentio
8th - 12th
English Language Arts, Informational Text
CCSS
RI.9-10.1
, RI.9-10.2
, RI.9-10.3
+15
Elements of Poetry Unit High School: Poetry Terms & Elements, Literary Analysis
Need your students to understand how poetic elements create meaning in a text? So often, students are able to identify and define, but they don’t fully understand why literary elements are important or why they are such an essential part of literature. The kind of instruction that focuses on memorizing definitions kills the joy in literature and only serves to make students see English class as a boring waste of time. But when students understand that literary devices are a wonderful way to add
9th - 12th
Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
CCSS
RL.11-12.4
, SL.11-12.1
Harlem Renaissance Unit: Art, Music, Lit. | African American Literature Unit
Tired of superficial resources on the Harlem Renaissance that just go through the motions when it comes to adding diversity to your plans? So often, in an attempt to study more than dead white males, teachers seek out texts by people of color. But lacking the time or energy to really engage in the research required to plan a great unit, they incorporate a few lackluster biographies and add some short pieces to their plans and leave it at that. The addition of those inane powerpoints, superficial
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Literature
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.3
+52
The Crucible Unit Act 1, 2, 3, 4 Quizzes, Questions, Activities Honors, Standard
Do you want your unit on The Crucible to inspire independent thinkers who see the play’s relevance to their own lives? If your students’ experience of Miller’s classic play involves filling out meaningless worksheets, sitting silently while you give powerpoint lectures, or waiting for you to explain the play to them, you’re doing them a great disservice. You're encouraging them to accept your answers rather than seeking them out themselves. In fact, by giving your classes the message that their
9th - 12th
English Language Arts, Literature, Writing
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+18
Growth Mindset Activities High School: Growth vs Fixed Mindset Quiz & TED Talk
Looking for some engaging no-prep activities to introduce your classes to growth mindset? Teachers know how important it is to teach students about growth mindset, but it’s not enough to hang some posters or teach them some popular catch phrases about effort. This kind of well-intentioned instruction will only lead to students who feel bad about themselves and are a challenge to teach. Growth mindset is more than just a belief in effort. Students need to understand the brain science behind the
9th - 12th
Character Education, English Language Arts, Informational Text
CCSS
SL.11-12.1
, SL.11-12.1c
, SL.11-12.1d
+1
The Great Gatsby Unit & The American Dream | Differentiated Standard & Honors
Tired of superficial resources on The Great Gatsby that just go through the motions when it comes to truly examining the important questions? Why do we lie to ourselves and others? Should we do everything for love? What is the American Dream? How do factors such as race, class, or gender help or hinder people from achieving their dreams? Fitzgerald’s classic novel is classic for a reason—in this short, lovely text, he asks some of the biggest questions of our times. But you need to make sur
9th - 12th
Creative Writing, English Language Arts, Literature
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.3
+24
American Literature Full Year ELA Curriculum: High School English 10th 11th 12th
Looking for a full-year American Literature curriculum that will engage your most reluctant learners while still challenging your most advanced honors students? Spanning American literature from Puritans to young authors writing today, this truly diverse curriculum has differentiated plans for honors and standard level classes. From the Salem Witch Trials to the Harlem Renaissance, from Puritan sermons to Indigenous poetry, from personal identity to public myth, and from the legacy of slavery t
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Writing
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.3
+65
72 High School Poems: Poetry Units 9th 10th 11th & 12th Grade English Curriculum
Tired of students groaning and rolling their eyes whenever they hear the word “poetry”? You can’t really be surprised they act this way when they’ve been lead to believe that reading poetry means trying to figure out some inane, irrelevant puzzle. And when they’ve only experienced poetry written by old white men who died one hundred years ago, it’s no wonder that they are bored out of their minds. On the other hand, poetry units that are billed as fun and entertaining are often just flashy, v
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Poetry
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+37
Puritan & Colonial American Literature | Salem Witch Trials | Anne Bradstreet
Want to teach a Puritan literature unit that will get your students engaging independently with texts, making connections to contemporary issues, and excited to discuss essential questions that really matter? From their world view to their religious beliefs to their daily life, the people of the early colonial period lived lives very different from those of contemporary Americans. The texts included in this unit will give students a glimpse into those lives. Three of the pieces included in thi
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Poetry
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+22
Danger of a Single Story TED Talk, World Literature Short Story, & Irony Writing
Want your students to learn real empathy? All over the world, people are becoming more divided, more fractured, and more out of touch with other human beings. If we want to go forward together to solve the problems that we face, we need to come to a deeper understanding of others as full human beings. Now more than ever, it is vitally important encourage your students to become more compassionate citizens who will take care of one another in the future. Studying Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s fab
9th - 12th
Close Reading, Creative Writing, Literature
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.3
+29
Shakespeare's The Tempest Complete Unit: Race, Gender, Class, & Colonialism
With themes ranging from colonial oppression to romantic love, from art to slavery, and from family betrayal to the beauty of nature—this play offers so much to explore. But if you want your classes to get excited about reading this challenging text, your students will need to be excited to delve into the book and feel empowered to tackle the difficult language on their own. You’ll also need to help your classes to make connections between their own lives and those of these fictional characte
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Literature
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.3
+45
27 American Dream Poems: High School Poetry 10th, 11th, & 12th Grade English
Want to immerse your students in the diversity of this country by studying engaging poetry together? Your students will learn so much when they explore the essential questions of American Literature with these ready-to-go lessons. A collection of questions on 27 poems, spanning from Puritan poetry to the 20th century, this bundle will provide you with over a month of rigorous, engaging, and ready-to-go lessons. The themes explored in these units--materialism, love, race, family dynamics, class
9th - 12th
Literature, Poetry, Writing
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+28
The Lottery Shirley Jackson | Dystopian Short Story High School | Questions
Looking for a complete unit on “The Lottery” that will challenge and inspire your students to make a difference in today's troubled times? By making connections among bullying, genocide, the Nuremberg trials, Stanley Milgrim’s obedience study, and a classic poem about the Holocaust, your students will be inspired to take their study of Jackson’s powerful story past the pages of the text.When you teach “The Lottery” with this unit you will: be sure that your students won’t miss any of the impor
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Literature
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+21
Langston Hughes Poetry "I, Too" & Walt Whitman "I Hear America Singing" Paired
Looking for poems to explore the American experience on a deeper level? While Walt Whitman's poem "I Hear America Singing" is joyful and celebratory, Langston Hughes' poem is more questioning of America's history--though it too is not without hope. Exploring themes of class, race, privilege, and point of view, these two poems are well worth examination. When you teach these timeless and important poems with this unit you will: Start your class period with bellringer freewrite prompts that wi
11th - 12th
Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+8
Shakespeare Sonnets 18, 73, 130 & Love Songs: Fun Introduction to Shakespeare
Looking for a compelling way to introduce your Shakespeare Unit? The same old boring power point lectures on when Shakespeare was born, when he died, and where he lived are not going to get your classes excited to start a challenging play. If you want to get your classes excited to read the often challenging work of one of our greatest writers, you need a unit that will help them to truly read and understand the words, engage independently with texts, and build the skills they need to read cha
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Poetry
CCSS
K.CC.A.1
, K.CC.A.2
, K.CC.A.3
+24
Zora Neale Hurston Short Story "Sweat": African American Literature & Spirituals
This widely-anthologized story of a hardworking washerwoman and her abusive husband is a deceptively simple tale of good and evil, suffering and redemption, and reaping what you sow. However, when read in the context of the many biblical allusions in the story as well as the African American Spiritual, the seemingly-straightforward story becomes much more nuanced and complex. This fascinating mini unit will take your students through recordings of Zora Neale Hurston singing songs she learned
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Literature
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.3
+19
Introduction to Shakespeare: Sonnet 73 & Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Looking for engaging lessons that will give your students the confidence and skills they need to read Shakespeare independently? So often, teachers think that the only way they can introduce their classes to the Bard is by working through the same old boring power point lectures on when Shakespeare was born, when he died, and where he lived. But Shakespeare’s work is popular 500 years after he died for a reason. The universal themes and questions of his poetry and plays are still very much rel
9th - 12th
Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+3
"How it Feels to be Colored Me" Zora Neale Hurston | Figurative Language Lesson
Looking for a unit on this classic essay that will get your students engaging independently with the text, discussing big ideas, and sharpening their close reading and critical thinking skills?“How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston is a great choice for engaging your classes in discussions around race, identity, gender, and artistic expression. It’s also a wonderful essay for exploring figurative language and how writers create meaning through comparisons. When you teach “How it
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Literature
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+27
End of the Year ELA Project | High School Poetry Analysis | Slam & Spoken Word
Want your students to stay engaged with poetry, build real skills, and work more independently through the end of the school year—without constant hand-holding or flashy gimmicks?Too often, students hear the word “poetry” and immediately tune out. It’s no wonder—when their only experience has been puzzling over cryptic lines from poets who died a century ago, or sitting through so-called fun lessons that look impressive but don’t actually teach them anything. By the end of the year, that diseng
9th - 12th
Creative Writing, English Language Arts, Poetry
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+17
Indigenous Poetry | Native American Literature Unit | Satire & Slam Poetry Unit
Why are stereotypes dangerous? What is our role in breaking down stereotypes? Students might know some of the stereotypes surrounding Indigenous people, but they likely don’t fully understand where they come from, why they are harmful, or why positive stereotypes can be equally painful as negative ones. This 90-minute lesson will get them examining some of those assumptions when they explore videos featuring teens talking about stereotypes, a powerful slam poem performance, an accessible and
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Poetry
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+9
Showing 1-20 of 54 results
About the store
Experience
After sixteen years in the classroom--taking risks, researching new methods, and working hard to figure out how to teach my students to think for themselves--I know what works.
I have written my own curriculum for over 25 books; I have prepared students for the MCAS, SAT, and AP tests; I have helped hundreds of students write successful college essays.
If you want to learn how to find success in just about any kind of writing; if you want to learn how to approach a challenging text and understand it; if you want to learn why studying English is so much fun and really worth your time, I can teach you what you need.
Teaching style
One of the best pieces of advice that I ever received as a teacher was that at the end of the day, the students should have worked harder than I did. I don't do the "sage on the stage" lecture. Instead, I empower students with the skills to find their own answers. In the end, what they've learned is to think for themselves.
My own education history
I have a MA from Stanford in English Literature and a BA from Barnard College, also in English literature.
Additional biographical information
After many years as a public school teacher, I have moved my family to a rural eco village. When I'm not busy homeschooling my kids, I am hauling water to our off-grid home or meeting with neighbors about how best to work together.
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