I can count on one hand the number of times when I felt like I had exactly the right amount of time left before we took our winter break.

So what do you do with students when you’re done with Unit A and you don’t want to start Unit B until you’re back from your school’s break? Here are some ideas.

My first instinct this week was to round up writings that light a spark…but they didn’t feel right for December. And so, instead of pulling away from the winter solstice, I decided to bundle up and lean in.

Sometimes we get lucky—the day we’re out falls on a day when students have a work day for a paper or project, but more often than not, we have to figure out how to fill 45-90 minutes for our students with a substitute who may or may not be equipped to help them with their learning. It’s the worst kind of planning, and so we’ve put together these emergency sub plans for you and your students.

We almost titled this blog: Stories with endings that make you say: “Wait, what?”

This is a great essay for practicing summarization skills, identifying fact and opinion, delineating arguments, or just getting students to think about the way they interact in the world.

Teaching students about the art and analysis of book cover design should be part of your repertoire, and we’ve collected the resources you need to get started.