Category: Writing Inspiration
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Shenandoah Sunrise
October 2023 Many mornings before the sun came over the Blue Ridge Mountains,I ventured out into the brisk air. This was the season when the bumble bee abandoned the flower, When the leaves, frost-crisp’d, were hewn down. “Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.” *…
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Why Students Struggle with Classic Literature
I received an interesting email from a teacher, Carrie M. Santo-Thomas, who writes on Substack called “The Atlantic Did Me Dirty.” Santo-Thomas is responding to an article in which she was interviewed by Rose Horowitch, who writes for the Atlantic, about the dying number of students not willing to read longer novels in college. After…
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From Wondering to Writing
What do you wonder about? Spend ten minutes making a list. It can be anything from Komodo dragons, to how babies learn, to what happens in our brains when we cry. Anything you’ve ever wondered about. Because wondering can be the best beginning for writing. (This was a writing prompt from Teacher Write). These are…
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Michelangelo
I am really excited to be traveling to Italy next week with my youngest daughter. The last time I was in Italy was in 2018. For this trip, we start in Venice, then Florence, Rome, and Sorrento. I have not seen the David by Michelangelo since I was 19, though. So, I am looking forward…
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Teaching Whole Class Novels
I have been thinking about how many novels and Shakespeare plays I have taught over the years. Most English teachers I know LOVE to teach novels. This is where we shine, and we want to start immediately. Before a school year begins, we consider how many novels we can fit into the curriculum. What do…
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Writing Prompt: Unexpected Joy
This Writing Prompt came from a Summer Teacher Write a few years ago. For those who attend Teacher Write, most writers are working on a novel, and we are encouraged to think of one of our characters to use. Write a scene that captures your main character experiencing a moment of unexpected joy. How do…
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What Is Your Earliest Disney Memory?
Entering Main Street USA in Disneyland is magical! The smells, the music, the Dapper Dans, the firetruck, the parades, and the fireworks are what I looked forward to when I was little. It is like stepping into an early 20th-century small town in America. Based on Walt Disney’s childhood town, Marceline, Missouri, Main Street USA…