Whimsy and Rigor

"I am really freaking myself out!" "Me too!" "This is fun but terrifying!" That is what my secondary ELA students said as we worked through this activity! Creating tension and suspense is a skill that takes work to develop and refine. And this resource is the perfect place to start! A series of 13 questions (For example, What unusual smell did the character notice? What questions were racing through the character's mind?) guides the writer as they build suspense. This Google Slide has 2 built

Expose students to the power of poetry using Kobe Bryant's letter to basketball as a model. After leading students on an analysis of Bryant's moving poem and maybe even listening to a YouTube video of his recitation of the poem, have students consider what they are passionate about. Use the poetry frame in this download to help students craft their own poem to their passion. When they are finished, students can type their poem and hang them in hallway, add to their digital portfolio, or share a

Want to help your students write a real novel in 30 days in the spirit of National Novel Writing Month? Well this is what you need! After teaching this whirlwind unit for 10 years, I have learned all the tips and tricks you need to be successful! From those pesky first words to the final edits, this resource has everything you need. You will have access to 43 pages of teacher directions and student handouts (ready to print!). Before each topic (creating a character, designing a plot, writing the

Give students 21 unique ways to show what they are thinking about while they are reading ANY novel. From what a character would leave on a voicemail to what questions they want to ask the author, this download will get students thinking creatively and critically about what they are reading. The assignment is currently formatted so students choose from a list of 4-6 activities per week over a 4 week period, but could easily be modified to fit your pacing. This EDITABLE Google Doc will let you cha

Podcasts are becoming more and more popular and it's time to harness that energy and help students find their voice and broadcast it to an authentic audience! This download includes everything you need to get your students interested in, knowledgeable about, and ready to record their own podcast. You will get: 12 pages of handouts and directions, with embedded links to tutorials. A detailed scoring guide to help assess student work. A listening and feedback guide for the audience. An incredible

Get those creative and critical thinking skills going with this activity designed to help students analyze and deeply understand a character's conflict by asking them to create an app (that does not yet exist!) that could have greatly benefited a character. This handout creates space and prompts for students to analyze the character's problem, back it up with evidence from the text, design an app that would have helped the character, and then explain how it would have changed the character's jo

Need an engaging way for your students to dig into critical reading, argumentative writing, AND public speaking? This fairy tale on trial unit is exactly what you need. Students form two teams-Prosecution and Defense. The Prosecution is charging Goldilocks with a host of crimes, including trespassing and criminal damage to property. The Defense must go over the evidence and create a reasonable defense for Goldi. The project culminates in a trial, where the teacher acts as judge and colleagues an

Tired of book reports, essays, and other B-O-R-I-N-G assessments? My middle school students and I were too, so I created a bunch (9, to be exact!) of engaging and whimsically rigorous assessments to use with ANY novel!They are bundled here for you, so you can download and go during or after any novel your students read in class. Excellent to use in the middle of a novel to see how students are understanding the protagonist or the plot. Superb to use as an end-of-novel assessment that student

The "...And One" activity is a collaborative learning tool that helps students build a comprehensive understanding of a topic. This resource includes a ready-to-go handout that guides students through the process. All you have to do is pair it with ANY text or video, print, and go!Students begin by recalling facts independently, then pass their work to peers who add details, new points, or connections. After reviewing and summarizing the collective ideas, students revisit the original materi

Based on the New York Times game, Connections, this resource challenges students to create groups of 4 words that all share a common theme. Then they challenge their classmates to form the correct connections. For example, when my students finished reading Lord of the Flies, one team of students grouped the words CHIEF, CONCH, GLASSES, FIRE under the category "SYMBOLS OF CIVILIZATION." This download gives you a slide deck to introduce the activity to your students, handouts for students to brai

Walk With Me-Creative Writing-Multiple Perspectives-Point of View-Analysis Get students to think analytically, make inferences, and practice creative writing by having them metaphorically walk in the footsteps of a real or fictional character. This completely EDITABLE download can be sued for ANY text-a newspaper article, a novel, a short story, or an independent reading book. After reading an assignment for class, students carefully and thoughtfully choose a boot print to represent their chose

Get your students thinking critically and deeply about any topic by asking them to generate a list of 50 objects relevant to your subject. You can begin by having them brainstorm independently and then with a small group and then as a whole class. Yay for collaboration! To deepen their understanding of the topic even more, this handout asks them to narrow their list to 5 objects and then to 1 single object that best represents the concept/historical event/character, etc. I would love to hear

Yes! You can make ONE spectacular rubric and use it for ALL written assignments for the whole year! This resource contains two fully EDITABLE rubrics (one for essays and one for creative writing) that you can use all year long to assess students on their skills. The essay rubric incorporates:the intro paragraphbody paragraphscitations basic grammar (end punctuation, commas, etc) anda reflection.The creative writing rubric includes these categories:the leadparagraph breaks and organizationchar

Need an engaging (and aesthetically pleasing) way to introduce Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451? This is it! This set of 20 posters (designed to print on 8.5 x 11 paper, so it's school-printer friendly!) can be used to create a hallway display to pique interest or taped around the classroom to spark curiosity. The best part? As soon as you finish Part 1 of the novel, you can use the posters as an assessment tool! Have students choose 2 posters and explain their significance to the reading. All les

Remember that incredible fortune telling game we'd play with paper when we were kids? You know, the one where you pick a color, pick a number, pick another number, and then lift the flap to reveal who you marry, where you will live, and how many kids you would have? Well, now you can bring that memory to life in the classroom with this reading check-in activity!Instead of predicting if kids will live near the beach or the mountains, the students will complete an activity to demonstrate deeper

40 SAT-based vocabulary words in the form of an easy-to-read sign? That includes the part of speech, the definition, and how the word can help a writer make a point or convey an idea? Yes, please! This PDF download includes 40 vocabulary words that are ready to print and display in your classroom. There are two versions: one with illustrations to support the students' understanding and one without illustrations. (That means this is an 80 page document!) Just print and go! Secondary ELA teachers

Ready to impress your students as you bring pop music into the classroom? Well, maybe not impress, but at least engage them! This Google Slides has 4 examples of similes and metaphors in popular music, featuring Hamilton (prepare for a sing-a-long), Pink, Shawn Mendes, and Foreigner (kids always know this oldie but goodie!). Each slide has a link to a video that plays the music AND shows the lyrics so students can read along as they listen. After each video plays, you can lead the student

Get to know your students by having them design a mask! This is an incredibly unusual time, so this back to school activity fits perfectly to capture the moment. Using this blank template, students can either digitally or on paper, design a mask that represents their interests. Images, drawings, photos, and text all come together to tell the story of each student. More detailed instructions can be found on my blog whimsyandrigor.wordpress.com Tag me @whimsyandrigor so I can see all of their cre

What would a character's screen time report look like? This critical thinking and creative character analysis activity gets students thinking deeply about a character from ANY text. How many hours per day would the character spend on their phone? What are their most used apps? By getting students to answer these questions, they begin to think in a more complex way about the character in the novel or short story they are reading. Plus, each choice must be backed up with evidence directly from

Need an easy and ongoing way for students to reflect on their work? This is what you are looking for! This slide deck has space for students to reflect on both their process and their product. Plus, an area where they can give advice to future students who are starting the assignment. This download gets students thinking critically and reflectively about their work habits and their work, which leads to improved student learning and more effective teaching. Win win! Want more ideas like this?