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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The American Dream Unit: Literature, Film, Poetry, & Synthesis Essay Writing
Tired of only teaching dead white males in your American Dream unit?The pursuit of the American Dream is a classic theme in literature, but often, when students only examine canonical texts, they get a limited understanding of it. The reasons why the American Dream is not always attainable for all are complicated, but if your lessons don't include texts and sources from people of color, your students will lack depth of understanding. This diverse unit will engage your students with powerful p
9th - 12th
Close Reading, Literature, Writing
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+15
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
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
Cognitive Bias | Implicit Bias | Identifying Bias | Critical Thinking Activities
Tired of students who are afraid to think for themselves? If your goal is to open your students’ minds, to get them to think critically, to help them become more receptive to new ideas, or to show them the importance of examining the evidence before jumping to conclusions, you’ll need this resource. These informative and engaging lessons on cognitive bias will challenge your students to consider fascinating questions about the way that the human brain works. Why is it that when people are face
9th - 12th
English Language Arts, For All Subjects
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+14
Walt Whitman & Emily Dickinson Introduction to Poetry Unit: Graphic Organizer
Looking for an effective, practical guide to teach students to analyze poetry independently? So often, students get the message that poetry is “hard” or “boring,” and it’s no wonder they believe this when they are expected to sit passively while their teacher lectures them on the true meaning of a text. The kind of instruction that bestows knowledge on students creates passive learners who feel disempowered, frustrated, and learn to hate poetry and literary analysis. I have spent many years tea
9th - 11th
Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+7
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
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
U.S. Immigration & The American Dream | Literature & Synthesis Essay Writing
Looking for powerful, accessible texts to help your students better understand the immigrant experience? Even though they might know that opening the “golden door” for those “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” is a foundational value of this country, many students don’t have first-hand experience with immigration. Seeing the stories in the news or knowing some facts and figures won’t help them relate to the human beings who are working so hard to make it here and won’t challenge them to c
9th - 12th
Creative Writing, English Language Arts, Literature
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+22
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
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost | Poetry Analysis & Close Reading High School
The close reading questions on Robert Frost’s iconic poem “The Road Not Taken” will get your students thinking about big ideas and questions that matter, as well as noticing how the smallest details of a poem contribute to meaning.This poem is one that everyone thinks they know, but they don’t really. It is likely that your students know the title of the poem and the last three lines—which have been quoted in everything from graduation speeches to needlepointed pillows. In fact, the title of
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Poetry
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+11
Reading Response Journal Prompts High School: Independent Reading & Analysis
Want your students to read, analyze, and write about literature on their own? You want your classes to become thoughtful, independent readers and writers—but it’s not easy to give them the structure that actually builds those skills. If you hand them a blank page, they freeze. If you give them formulaic prompts, they go through the motions without really thinking. And if you try to grade every single response, you’ll burn out long before they improve. What you need is a simple, flexible system
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Writing
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.4
, RL.11-12.1
+9
High School Close Reading Annotation Guide: Analysis Literary Nonfiction Fiction
Tired of useless close reading handouts that do nothing more than teach your students to hate literary analysis? Simply instructing your classes to go through a checklist or point out literary elements doesn’t teach them any skills. In fact, if you teach the wrong kind of close reading lesson, you’ll discourage critical thinking and teach students that reading great literature is just about ticking off lists of literary devices. That kind of disempowering instruction creates a generation of pa
9th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Literature
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+9
Growth Mindset Activity Middle School: Intro TED Talk, Questions, & Fun Quiz
Looking for some engaging no-prep activities to introduce your middle school students 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 scie
6th - 8th
English Language Arts, For All Subjects, Informational Text
CCSS
RI.7.1
, RI.7.2
, RI.7.3
+11
Langston Hughes Poetry | Let America Be America Again | American Dream Analysis
Want to get your students thinking deeper about The American Dream? This poem expresses disillusionment as well as hope. While Hughes points out all the problems, all the ways that less powerful groups suffer in the United States, he also has hope that the people will one day rise up and make the country great, fulfilling its potential in a way that they have not done yet. When you teach Hughes’ classic poem with this fun and rigorous unit you will: Start your class period with bellringer free
9th - 12th
Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+4
Trail of Tears | Native American Literature Unit | Indian Removal | Heritage Day
Looking for a resource on the Trail of Tears that will help your students understand why that tragedy is still relevant today?This innovative unit will take your students beyond a general understanding of the events of the 1830s to a more comprehensive understanding of why history matters. Students will start out by exploring two engaging videos: one on the history of the Trail of Tears and one on why treaties still matter today. Then, they’ll move on to a creative exploration of some first-hand
9th - 12th
English Language Arts
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+21
Fake News Quiz: Social Media Literacy & Evaluating Online Sources | Journalism
What do your students really know about fake news? You might be surprised at how lacking your classes are in media literacy. Students who don't know about manipulative media are easily duped into buying products they don't need, believing fear-based stories about groups of people, or even voting for politicians who don't have their best interests in mind. If you want to help stop the spread of fake news on social media, you'll need practical resources to help your classes understand their bl
9th - 12th
3 Poems: Harlem Renaissance | Black History Month Poetry | We Wear the Mask
Looking for a challenging but accessible poetry unit to deepen students’ understanding of the Harlem Renaissance and the American Dream?Langston Hughes’s “Harlem” (also known as “Dreams” or “A Dream Deferred”), Helene Johnson’s “Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem,” and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” ask students to confront the tension between hope and limitation, visibility and silence, opportunity and exclusion. Together, these poems invite close examination of race, culture, and the live
9th - 12th
Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+8
The Man in the Well by Ira Sher | High School Short Story Unit Plan | Close Read
Looking for an innovative short story unit that will get your students writing, analyzing, and discussing big questions around why people do bad things? This short unit on “The Man in the Well” by Ira Sher will challenge your students to dig deep and think hard about what it takes to speak out against an immoral majority. “The Man in the Well” by Ira Sher is a very compelling and fairly horrifying story of a group of kids who, without even discussing it, decide to let a man die. With themes ar
9th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Short Stories
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+10
Anne Bradstreet: Upon the Burning of Our House & To My Dear And Loving Husband
Looking for a unit on Puritan literature that will help your students to understand the worldview of the time without being overwhelmed by the challenging language? This unit will take your classes through two classic poems with enough scaffolding to support their analysis. "To My Dear and Loving Husband" and "Upon the Burning of our House" are great poems to introduce colonial america, Puritan world view, and early American Literature. As one of the first poets of the nation, Bradstreet’s i
9th - 12th
Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
CCSS
RL.11-12.1
, RL.11-12.2
, RL.11-12.4
+8
Holocaust Resistance Research Project Night by Elie Wiesel Activities Anne Frank
Looking for a compelling mini unit to get your students exploring real-life stories of resistance during the Holocaust? This engaging 90-minute lesson introduces students to the many ways people resisted Nazi oppression during World War II. Through poetry, a TED Talk on nonviolent resistance, Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, and research on real Holocaust resistance movements, students will examine what it truly means to resist injustice. These lessons are an excellent supple
7th - 12th
Close Reading, English Language Arts, Social Studies
CCSS
RL.9-10.1
, RL.9-10.2
, RL.9-10.4
+11
Showing 1-20 of 121 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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