As a high school English teacher in the South Bronx, I've come to see that one of the most critical reading strategies to teach my students who have trouble accessing a challenging text (such as The Great Gatsby) is visualization. Giving students the confidence and ability to make a text come to life by visualizing memorable moments or scenes creates tremendous buy-in and interest. Over the years, I've perfected teaching this skill to struggling students by creating scaffolds that ensure students can be successful "artists." This graphic organizer and visualization strategy has three components: 1) Brainstorm it. 2) Draw it. 3) Reflect on it. The organizer and directions are generic, so it can be used while teaching any literary text, whether a poem, short story or a novel. Please rate it and leave feedback! :) Includes: PDF version as well as Microsoft Document version for customizations

If you're that meticulous and over-zealous English teacher who wants to get to know his or her students' interests and abilities from Day 1, this fun and extensive student survey is a must for you! It will inspire your students to think creatively as well as lead them to self-reflect about their own academic strengths and weaknesses in an English classroom setting. There are 21 questions in total, though some questions contain multiple parts, require the circling of several items or ask students to rate themselves in various areas. I give out this 1-page (front to back) survey to my students on the first day as an extended Do Now every year and save the completed surveys in a central binder. The information you collect from these surveys is very helpful in creating engaging lessons and addressing the many diverse needs of a large population of students. You will also collect information that can assist you with making seating assignments, planning partner and group work and addressing behavioral problems.

This packet allows your students to explore ethics and journalism. Through this activity they view three controversial photographs that were taken and published by professional journalists but stirred up controversy due to the graphic content or story topic. This activity is very thought-provoking and engaging. Students view each photograph, read a short paragraph or two about the context surrounding its taking and publishing, and finally analyze each one for the ethical questions it raises and the aspects that make it controversial. Students then must decide whether or not they would have published each photo themselves as an editor of a major newspaper. A journal reflection prompt and an extension activity are also included. This activity opens up excellent meaningful discussion about moral issues and common ethical dilemmas faced by journalists. It is a great standalone activity for a high school lesson on ethics or it can easily be incorporated into a journalism unit or life skills unit. Moreover, this is an excellent activity for your newspaper staff if you are a newspaper advisor. The photos are engaging and the critical thinking questions spark intellectual classroom discussion and debate! If you found this product helpful, please rate it and leave feedback! Thanks in advance. :)

Help teens explore writing and incorporate it into part of their weekly routine. The packet includes one creative themed prompt for each day of the week - Monday through Friday. Each handout is in full-color and consists of a meaningful picture to go with the day's theme and provide focus, clear directions, lines for drafting and an inspiring quote relatable to the prompt. There are many ways to use this packet. 1. I post each handout on my classroom "Journal Wall" near the students' journals for focus and motivation. 2. For resistant writers who lack motivation or require extra support, these handouts can be given out as a weekly packet for extra credit. 3. If doing a 4-6 week creative writing unit, make these packets part of the students' homework grade. 4. Require students to write a daily journal for the entire year and have the students bind the pages into a creative writing book as a project grade at the end of the year. This will build confidence and develop a sense of pride within the students for their writing, as this will become their first book! This packet is extremely meaningful and well worth investing in! If you found this product helpful, please rate it and leave feedback! Thanks in advance. :)

This 18-page Survival Guide (including the cover) for the NYS English Regents Exam is an amazing resource for students. It includes strategies, methods, graphic organizers and models for each part of the exam. I print this survival guide for my students on bright colored green paper to help them recognize the importance of it. This packet is an incredible resource in particular for students who require extra support and/or differentiation. The New York State English Regents as well as this survival guide is comprised of 4 parts. I've uploaded this guide as a Word document to allow teachers to make customizations if they so choose. I hope you find it helpful in preparing your students for New York State Regents exam! Please leave feedback! :) Includes: PDF version as well as Microsoft doc. version for customizations

This 24-page Survival Guide (including the cover) for the NYS Common Core English Regents Exam is an amazing resource for students. It includes strategies, methods, graphic organizers and models for each part of the exam. I print this survival guide for my students on bright colored yellow paper to help them recognize the importance of it. This packet is an incredible resource in particular for students who require extra support and/or differentiation. I teach in the worst congressional district in the United States (in the South Bronx) and used the strategies I include in this packet to help prepare my students for this rigorous exam. This June, 85% of my students passed the Common Core Regents. The Common Core English Regents as well as this survival guide is comprised of 3 parts. I've uploaded this guide as a Word document to allow teachers to make customizations if they so choose. I hope you find it helpful in preparing your students for this challenging exam! Please leave feedback! :) Includes: PDF version as well as Microsoft doc. version for customizations

Whether you're prepping your students for a rigorous state exam or teaching an argumentative writing unit for 3-4 weeks, this 33-page fully editable Survival Guide for the Common Core Argumentative Essay is packed with proven strategies, methods, organizers, models and checklists that will lead both you and your students through every step of the argumentative writing process. The many resources will make teaching the argument a stress-free breeze. ALL the work is DONE for you! Ideal for high school, this survival guide is particularly helpful for struggling writers and students with disabilities, so it can also be easily molded to fit a middle school classroom. The entire process is scaffolded, leading even the most struggling writers to a successful academic paper. Also included are close reading strategies, handouts and resources that will help you teach students how to read challenging texts to gather evidence for their own position as well as the counter. Consider giving this out to your students at the start of an Argumentative Essay Writing Unit to work through the pieces as you go or distribute it as a Boot Camp Study Guide a few weeks before an Argumentative Essay State Exam or Final Exam. You might also prefer selecting various pieces to give out as handouts at different points during a unit of study. The best part is I am providing this bundle as a Word document, so everything I have already perfected, you can still customize if you so choose. I know that for me, as a type-A teacher, being able to customize something to better fit my own language or style is very important! NOTE: IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PURCHASED MY COMMON CORE ENGLISH REGENTS NYS SURVIVAL GUIDE, SOME OF THE RESOURCES PERTAINING TO THE ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY SECTION OF THAT TEST WILL BE REPEATED IN THIS GUIDE. HOWEVER THERE ARE MANY MORE RESOURCES INCLUDED IN THIS BUNDLE THAT BREAK DOWN ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING INTO A CLEAR, MANAGEABLE PROCESS. Includes: PDF version (for better viewing prior to purchase, but some items have been cut-off) Microsoft doc. version for customizations and perfect printing after purchasing