Since most of us are finishing up our year or just starting our summer, I wanted to share with you something you can do NOW to begin preparing for your secondary ELA class next fall!
One of the MOST important and time-consuming aspects of teaching reading at the secondary level is, well, all that READING! Most of you already know that I’m not a cover-the-entire-anthology kinda girl – so just how do I select the best literature and short stories to teach the dozens of concepts I’ve got to cover?
If I had time, I’d buy dozens of giant anthologies and read them all front to back, sticky-noting those pages all-up! But.. ain’t nobody got time for that!
So, here’s what I do…
I go on Amazon and search for “literature anthology audio CD” or the like. I look for all kinds of textbooks that are close to the grade I teach – since I teach 6th, I’ll buy anything for 5th-8th grades. Here are the most recent ones I’ve ordered:
For around $30 you’ll get hours of stories to listen to! Then, I rip them into iTunes, add them to a playlist by the name of the audio CD, and then add them to my iPhone. Now, when I’m in the car, in the tub, washing the dishes, laundry, or anything like that, I’ll listen to a story. Sometimes they’re so stupid I don’t even finish them. Other times, I’ll have to stop whatever mundane task I’m working on to jot down notes! The thing about this is – it doesn’t require 100% of your attention. If your mind wanders, fine. If you miss something, fine. But overall, your’e going to find some GREAT stories that you’re really excited about sharing with your students. Find a story that you want to use? I’ve never had a problem finding a story, as the majority of them are available online. Now, you’re not stuck to that anthology, and you’ve got a load of stories in your mind to pull from when you need them!
Erin, as always… such great ideas. The pacing charts are great. Plus… I am such a huge fan of audio. The best way to make MORE of your time and cram in extra learning. Makes the most of a commute. Thank you for sharing!
Wonderful tips! Do you happen to have your planning/pacing guide as a blank template? I LOVE how you added a column for resources to use. I always forget where I found this or that.
I love the audio cd idea! Brilliant. I will definitely be trying that out.
Erin,
I have done a lot of reading lately with audio books because of a long commute to work. I am going to try to keep up with it this summer because I can listen while I do other not so fun things (clean, make dinner, fold laundry, etc). I never thought of listening to anthologies though!
Brynn Allison
The Literary Maven
I love listening to stories via Audible. I even have brought them into the classroom for whole class listening. Thanks for the idea of pre listening!
I am a huge fan of audio books and have even gone so far as to record stories in the past just so I'd have audio for my students. Your idea will definitely save me some time! 🙂
-Lisa
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
Another perk of listening to those audio CDs? You can find the best narrators and recommend those to students who listen to audio (either as a preference or an accommodation). I still love Patrick Stewart's reading of A Christmas Carol! 🙂
What a wonderful idea Erin. I currenlty love listening to podcasts while doing all those mundane household tasks, but the thought of audio stories is genius; I will definitely start doing that. I also hope that you have a wonderful summer!
Thanks for the great idea! Amazing.
Erin, I've listened to some books, but I never thought about listening to selections from an anthology. That's a great idea! Thanks for the tip 🙂
Darlene
ELABuffet
Genius! Thank you for sharing such a clever and practical idea!
-Sherri
Literary Sherri
These pacing charts are fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
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