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Creative Ways to Bring Nonfiction into Middle School ELA



Are you looking for creative ways to incorporate more nonfiction texts in middle school ELA? I find nonfiction can offer really valuable opportunities to support students with information literacy, research skills, comprehension, structuring arguments, and other essential ELA skills. One thing I especially love about nonfiction is how it can be seamlessly integrated into so many different units of study! Nonfiction texts can be paired alongside novel and film studies, explored on their own, or used as a springboard to inspire creative student projects.

Whether you’re looking for natural opportunities to incorporate more nonfiction into your existing lessons, or fresh ideas for standalone units, I have lots of ideas to help you bring more nonfiction into your classroom! Here are five creative ways to bring nonfiction into middle school ELA.

1. Nonfiction Article of the Week

Incorporating regular, structured opportunities for students to engage with nonfiction text can be a great way to help them build essential ELA skills, like reading comprehension and making connections. Once a week, I like to share a high-interest nonfiction text - such as an article or video - with ELA students. Usually, I begin by focusing the class with a series of question prompts, which they can respond to in writing or through a whole-class discussion. Next, we read the article or watch the video together. From here, the possibilities are endless! 

One week, reading an engaging newspaper article could spark a lively classroom debate. Another week, students might view a nonfiction video before making a text-to-self connection in a written response. By the end of the school year, students will have had 40 weeks of exposure to various nonfiction texts, and plenty of practice responding to articles and videos in a variety of different ways.

If you’d like to try out a nonfiction article and activity in your middle school ELA classroom, check out this free resource about the history of hot dog eating contests!

2. Infuse Nonfiction into Book Clubs

Another way to infuse nonfiction into middle school ELA is by pairing historical information, primary sources, or even news articles with a related novel study. There are several different ways to approach this type of blended learning, depending on the needs of your particular class. 

Connecting students with opportunities to carry out meaningful, relevant research related to their reading is one way to bring nonfiction into your existing literacy program. If you are doing a whole-class novel study of The Giver by Lois Lowry, for example, you might want to have your students carry out some research about the mathematical, scientific, or philosophical concepts explored in the novel while they are reading. Working in groups, students could explore a variety of different concepts through their research, and then share their findings with their classmates.

If students in your class read at a variety of different levels, you might also want to consider running “book clubs” in small groups. In this case, you may select a variety of books for your students that center around a similar topic or theme. For example, you may structure your book clubs around broad concepts like “survival” or “dystopian societies,” or you could instead focus on novels that are all set in similar time periods. Taking this approach, students reading either Number the Stars by Lois Lowry or Refugee by Alan Gratz could collaborate on a historical research project about WWII or the Holocaust to complement their fiction reading.



3. Debates on Current Issues

If you’re looking for a collaborative way to incorporate nonfiction into your middle school ELA class, why not try a debate on a current event or research-based issue? Debates are a great way for students to flex their critical thinking muscles, practice working in teams toward a common goal, and learn how to effectively craft an argument.

If I’m running a formal debate unit, I like to use classroom debates as a springboard for teaching effective research practices. This includes evaluating credible sources and ensuring arguments are supported with valid evidence and examples. However, if you want all the fun of a debate unit without the time commitment, you can also incorporate impromptu debates into your morning routine! 

For this approach, I like to begin by getting students to take an “agree” or “disagree” position on a statement (like “a hot dog is a sandwich”). From here, you could give the “agree” and “disagree” sides ten minutes to craft their arguments, based on quick nonfiction reading or research. After the brief debate is over, your class can evaluate the data presented by each side and declare a winner!



4. TED Talks or Podcasts

TED Talks and podcasts are two really useful tools in any ELA teacher’s toolkit. Both can be really effective ways of exploring learning outcomes related to speaking and listening. They also offer alternative ways for middle schoolers to experience nonfiction texts beyond traditional reading.

If you’re wondering where to start, I recommend curating a list of links to student-friendly videos or podcasts that you can share with your class throughout the year. Once every week or two, I like to make time to view a TED talk, listen to a podcast, or engage with other nonfiction media. Once the class has finished the video, students can then respond to a related writing prompt writing prompt. You might like to have each student keep a video journal and check it periodically to assess ELA skills, including comprehension, as well as use evidence from the text to support ideas and opinions.

To extend your students’ understanding of nonfiction media, you might even create an opportunity for them to create their own videos to entertain, inspire, and educate an audience! This can be a great way for students to practice working together, learn how to write a script, and build their confidence in public speaking.

5. Text Structures Challenges

When students understand some of the common structures used by authors to organize nonfiction writing, it can help them focus on important ideas and anticipate what is to come. I like to begin by sharing some of the most common types of nonfiction text structures, including:

  • Cause and Effect
  • Problem and Solution
  • Compare and Contrast
  • Sequence
  • Description

Once students have a solid understanding of the basic features of each text structure, it’s time for them to apply their skills! I love reading challenges because they encourage students to put their new learning into practice in a collaborative, engaging (and maybe even a little bit competitive!) way. In the Deserted Island Reading Mystery, students must correctly identify various informational text structures to reveal a secret passphrase!


I hope these ideas give you some fresh ways to incorporate nonfiction into your middle school ELA class!

Need other ideas for bringing nonfiction into middle school ELA? Check out some of the other Coffee Shop Blogger ideas below:

5 Ways to Analyze Nonfiction and Rhetoric by The Daring English Teacher

Spring Break Activities for English Language Arts

 

Tip #1 from Tracee Orman - Leading up to and coming back from breaks can be so hard to get students back into the swing of things. That's why I had no shame in showing a movie to ease our way back in. I tried to plan watching movies based on (or related to) the literature we just read. And because I wanted to hold my students accountable for watching, I created these handouts (I usually picked a different one each day so as not to overwhelm them with too much work so they could still enjoy the movie) to use with ANY movie. 

Tip #2 from Room 213 - It can be hard to keep everyone - teachers and students alike - engaged and focused in the days leading up to spring break. That's why I never planned anything too dull or difficult for that time. However, I also don't think we should take the time "off" and plan a bunch of filler. If we do that, students might just take those days off as they think they don't count. So, I used that time to work on skills that needed some fine-tuning using games and challenges. You can find out more and grab some ideas and strategies on this post.
 

Tip #3 from The Classroom Sparrow - One of the ways that I keep my students engaged during the last week before s the break is using team-building activities. Not only does it give students a fund send-off for their time away, but this is also a great opportunity to allow students in a classroom to work with different peers. I think working with different students is really important for social development and it is highly encouraged in my classroom. One way I get everyone interacting and engaging with their peers are through these spring break escape room-style games I created. They are perfect for the week before or after the break and you can use one or all of them, depending on the time available in your classroom!


Tip #4 from Presto Plans - Students tend to have a little extra energy in the days before - and after - Spring Break. Once activity that you can use to stay on task is a Spring-themed reading mystery, which will have students up and moving around the classroom and working collaboratively to examine evidence. The Mystery of the Stolen Flowers is not only timely, but it will also help your students develop their close reading, inference, and text evidence skills at the same time. The backstory involves a newly established high school gardening program - and the sudden disappearance of one teachers' beloved pink lilies. Click here to learn more about this engaging Spring reading mystery!


Tip #5 from Nouvelle ELA - Spring has sprung, so if your student are starting to closer resemble squirrels by the day, then this pop culture resource will make your students go nuts! Students get to engage in 15 standards-aligned activities that center awesome short texts to hook them. So, if your students love video games, short films, TV episodes, music, and more, you can leverage their interests to transform that squirrelly Spring behavior into productive, academic conversations!


Whether you're still waiting for your break or you're back from your break, we hope that you will find something in this post that will help you get back into the swing of things!

Prepare for the Unexpected with these Engaging Emergency Sub Plans

 


With sick-season upon us and life hitting us from all angles, it is great practice to have some ready-to-go resources for those emergency sub plan kind of days. Our teachers lined up some of their favorite sub plans. 
Why are these their favorite? Well, when these resources get left on a sub day, the students actually do them! All of these resources are great for engaging students and supporting the success of their learning, even if we can't be there.



Unless you have a planned absence and have all the time in the world for making sub plans (who does?), it is always wise to keep some lessons on hand for when you need them at the last moment. Tracee Orman loves to use this activity for sub plans--it’s fun, a great review for figurative language, and perfectly easy for a sub to implement! Just print and go!



There are two types of sub plans: the ones you have the time to make and the ones that need to get done quickly because you woke up sick and need something fast. Usually, those awful sick days come at a time when you’re doing something in class that is hard for a sub to just take over.


That’s why Jackie from ROOM 213 likes to keep a few one-off lessons for those days. These would be lessons that are easily implemented, that focus on some kind of learning, and that don’t scream “FILLER” to the students. You can grab a few of the ones I used here.




The Missing Teacher substitute lesson plan from Presto Plans is ready-to-use for any day off!The assignment is about your inexplicable absence and puts students in charge (by the principal) of investigating the reason you are not at school.


Students will create a Missing Teacher poster and an investigative police case file that has them examine evidence and witness testimonies. You will come back to school to an assignment that will definitely get you laughing! Click here to check it out!




Sick day? Snow day? No worries! The Classroom Sparrow has you covered for those days where you are too sick to do the planning. This Emergency Sub Plan Bundle for ELA will give you access to tons of materials where you can quickly print and go!




What do music, TV, and “how to” articles have in common? These are all incredible activities included in Danielle from Nouvelle ELA’s Independent Writing Activity Bundle. This resource makes for PERFECT emergency sub plans, independent work days, and/or snow days. With these digital literacy-based activities, students will ACTUALLY complete the work you leave for them because they enjoy it!




One of the most practical pieces of advice Christina, The Daring English Teacher, has when it comes to planning for a sub is to have a bit.ly link attached to a sub slide deck. This way, teachers can edit their sub plans without needing to worry about getting a colleague to print plans out. You can read more about the sub slide deck in this blog post.



Need a last-minute lesson?  Addie Williams has you covered with this fun poetry activity! It's a print-and-go resource that your students will love - they get to write a poem based on their pet peeve!  It's one of her favorite activities to do with the kids as the results are often hilarious!  Grab a copy of the activity HERE.

We hope you find just the right fit for your go-to emergency sub plans!



Using Pop Culture to Teach Rhetorical Analysis: Song, Movie, and Modern Speech Recommendations

Using Pop Culture to Teach Rhetorical Analysis: Song, Movie, and Modern Speech Recommendations

Hi, everyone! The Daring English Teacher here! Today, I am sharing how to teach rhetorical analysis using pop culture.


As a high school English teacher, I love teaching rhetoric and rhetorical analysis to my students. Not to totally geek out over here, but I love how words have so much power and how speakers and authors can purposefully craft their arguments to enhance the meaning behind the text.

I live for that moment when students have that ah-ha moment and see just how powerful words, word choice, and syntax can be, especially when used together intentionally.

So, before I dive in and share how to teach rhetorical analysis to your students using the nontraditional route of incorporating pop culture into the classroom, I’m first going to share a little bit about how I teach rhetorical analysis in my classroom.
 

What is rhetorical analysis?

When I introduce rhetorical analysis to my students, one of the first things I do for them is define rhetoric and rhetorical analysis. While this seems so simplistic, words and phrases like “rhetoric” and “rhetorical analysis” are a part of academic vocabulary that many students might not be familiar with.

  • Rhetoric: the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques
  • Rhetorical Analysis: analyzing the effectiveness of the written and spoken word

How to Teach Rhetorical Analysis

Teaching rhetorical analysis
rhetorical analysis unit
When introducing my students to rhetorical analysis, I start with direct instruction and use this rhetorical analysis unit

In addition to providing students with definitions, sharing plenty of examples with them and walking students through a class rhetorical analysis activity is essential.

This unit familiarizes students with the subject by introducing and teaching them about rhetorical analysis, rhetorical appeals, and rhetorical devices. Furthermore, providing students with examples helps them grasp the concept.

It is helpful to teach students about rhetorical devices and appeals in teaching rhetorical analysis. When introducing rhetorical devices, I like to stick to a few, like anaphora, parallel structure, and figurative language.

Key elements in teaching rhetorical analysis

Another helpful way to help students gain confidence in their rhetorical analysis skills is to use helpful acronyms that give students an order for analysis. In addition to teaching ethos, pathos, and logos, there are three very common rhetorical analysis acronyms are great to use in middle school ELA and high school English classrooms: PAPA, SOAPStone, and SPACEcat.

  • PAPA rhetorical analysis stands for persona, argument, purpose, and audience. With this acronym, students analyze a text those four elements. When my students analyze text rhetorically, one fun activity I like to have them complete is the artistic PAPA square.
  • SOAPStone stands for speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. My rhetorical analysis task cards utilize the SOAPStone acronym as rhetorical analysis method, and rhey work great with any text.
  • SPACEcat stands for speaker, purpose, audience, context, exigence, choices, appeals, and tone.
Rhetorical Analysis Task Cards
rhetorical analysis task cards

Regardless of which rhetorical analysis method you choose is best for your classroom, each one provides students with a consistent framework with which to use.
 

Lights, Camera, Rhetoric: Integrating Pop Culture into Rhetorical Analysis

Once students have a fundamental understanding of rhetorical analysis, it is now time to weave in pop culture to make the unit more engaging and relevant. You can easily integrate pop culture into any part of your rhetorical analysis unit. You can use an example from pop culture as a whole class example, as independent practice, or as a group project.

Songs from Disney and Pixar Movies

Believe it or not, Disney and Pixar songs are excellent texts for students to analyze rhetorically. Typically, these songs come at pivotal moments in the movie where an established argument is made and other characters need persuasion. 

Because, you see, even though the songs come from a fictional plot, students will be analyzing the words from the song.

Here are nine Disney and Pixar songs that work great for rhetorical analysis:
  • “Be Prepared” from Disney’s The Lion King
  • “Be Our Guest” from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
  • “Friends on the Other Side” from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog
  • “Mother Knows Best” from Disney’s Tangled
  • “I’ll Make a Man out of You” from Disney’s Mulan
  • “Friend Like Me” from Disney’s Aladdin
  • “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid
  • “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s Moana
  • “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Pixar’s Toy Story
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    Movie Speeches for Teaching Rhetorical Analysis

    Another great way to teach and practice rhetorical analysis using pop culture is through the use of movie speeches. Afterall, many of these speeches were written by award-winning producers and screenwriters!

    Movie speeches are a great way to practice rhetorical analysis in the classroom because they entertaining, filled with rhetorical devices, and are relatively short. Their length, in particular, make them ideal for the classroom setting because you can show it, analyze it, and review it in one class period.

    Here are five movies speeches that are great for rhetorical analysis

    Modern Speeches

    Finally, modern speeches are a great way to also incoproate elements of popular culture into your rhetorical analysis teaching unit. I love mixing in modern speeches alongside the historical speeches that I include in my unit to show students that rhetorical analysis isn’t just for historical events that happened long before they were alive.

    By incorporating modern speeches, I connect more with my students and show them the relevance of this skill.

    Here are five modern speeches to include in your rhetorical analysis unit

    Rhetorical Analysis Activities for the Secondary ELA Classroom

    Now that you have a bunch of high-interest speeches to use in your classroom, it is time to plan that unit with fun and engaging activities your students will love. Here is a look at some of my favorite rhetorical analysis activities.

    Rhetorical Analysis Mini Flip Book

    Rhetorical Analysis Mini Flip Book
    sticky note rhetorical analysis mini flip book
    Make rhetorical analysis more engaging, hands-on, and fun with this sticky note rhetorical analysis mini flip book

    This project is ideal to complete as you read and after you read nonfiction texts such as speeches and persuasive letters. 

    Students work on pages within the workbook to identify, quote, and explain various rhetorical elements, appeals, and devices from the text.

    Rhetorical Appeals Stations

    I love getting my students up and out of their seats and moving around the classroom. One of the best ways to do that is by having students complete a rhetorical appeals stations activity. This activity works with any speech, and it can be used again and again all year long!

    Grab this FREE Rhetorical Triangle Graphic Organizer

    Engage your students in rhetorical analysis with this free rhetorical triangle graphic organizer. This handout works with any text for rhetorical analysis, and it is perfect for a sub day after you teach the basics of rhetorical analysis to your students!

    Additional Resources for Teaching Rhetorical Analysis:

    For more reading about planning your unit, be sure to check out this blog post about planning your rhetorical analysis unit. You can also read this post that includes 15 questions to ask in your rhetorical analysis unit.

    More Reading:





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