Today we’re presenting a toolbox of products middle school ELA teachers should have ready to go for back-to-school to make planning and prep so much easier!
Although I’ve taught for a long time, it seems that every year is a brand new year where things change, and I have to figure out how everything on my middle school ELA teacher mental checklist is going to get done.
Now, we totally get it. You’re a professional, you already know the standards, and you have some ideas for lessons, but sometimes it’s nice to have something sitting in your back pocket, ready to go, just in case.
That is why having the right resources ready to go is important to both your organization and your mental strength. So today, we’re going to get really specific about the 3 products middle school ELA teachers should have ready to go for back-to-school. These products were all made by middle school ELA teachers, based on middle school ELA standards, and designed to fit into a middle school schedule.
You have to ensure you’re hitting the standards, and if you are missing something, you need to know sooner rather than later.
Using these standards-based checklists at the beginning and throughout the year as you fine-tune lessons and plans will help you be certain that everything that needs to be covered is being taken care of.
We have developed a full resource line that includes a full unit on EVERY ELA standard for 6th, 7th and 8th grade.
These units are completely built out with learning targets, standard breakdowns, posters, projects, handouts, answer keys, and assessments for EVERY middle school ELA standard.
If you want to learn more, we have also written blog posts on these standards-based units, simply click on the standard you want to learn more about from the list below and you’ll go directly to a blog post all about that resource.
Writing Standards (for Middle School)
Reading Literature
Reading Informative Texts
Language Standards
Speaking and Listening Standards
Paired passages are a middle school ELA teacher’s secret weapon.
The paired passages themselves are awesome lessons if you need a quick sub plan, or if you need a passage for students to practice a skill on. Still, they are also awesome for citing sources, practicing using context clues, seeking out parts of speech or sentence patterns, and so much more. With two passages written on every topic and the topics focusing on high-interest topics for middle school students, you will have a bunch of content that you can use as is or mix and match into other units throughout the year.
4th-5th Grade Paired Passage Bundle
6th-7th Grade Paired Passage Bundle
8th-9th Grade Paired Passage Bundle
Although these are not one of the 3 products middle school ELA teachers SHOULD have ready to go for back to school, they are definitely a product that makes life a whole lot easier and quite a bit more fun.
Digital Escape Rooms, like those in The Sparkly Notebook store, are all about practicing ELA skills in an engaging and thought-provoking way.
Many of our Digital Escape Rooms are based on holiday or seasonal themes and are a great way to add in some seasonal fun without getting too far away from standards-based review.
When you invest in these 3 products, middle school teachers should be ready to go for back-to-school. You get back a lot of time spent organizing and creating new resources. By picking up just these 3 resources, you’ll have enough content to last the whole year, and you’ll know students are covering, reviewing, and being assessed on all the standards as well!
