US/Global 
CAN
The Engaging ELA Classroom
Twenty-Five Essential Practices to Inspire Secondary Students
Equipped with 25 essential practices, educators can use this guide to reinvigorate their ELA classrooms. These strategies cultivate engagement and independent learning, helping students strengthen literary analysis of texts, pursue inquiries, and cultivate their voice as readers and writers.
Vital strategies for student engagement and literacy
What if your ELA classroom could spark deeper and more meaningful learning? Authors Beth Pandolpho and Margaret Lane Dunne offer 25 foundational learning opportunities for student engagement and self-directed learning. This practical resource helps educators foster student choice, allowing secondary students to develop their authentic voice through critical reading and literary analysis. Research based and standards aligned, these practices support life skills learning and are adaptable to any curricular framework.
Grades 6–12 teachers can use this book to:
- Design classroom-ready, standards-based learning experiences that prioritize student relationships, belonging, and a supportive classroom community
- Create opportunities for scaffolding and differentiation
- Foster student independence through project-based learning
- Deepen literary analysis skills through shared reading and collaboration
- Help students explore their own questions and goals through inquiry-based learning
Related Topics
Diversity & EquityLife SkillsLiteracyStudent Engagement
Additional Information
“The Engaging ELA Classroom is packed with standards-aligned activities and clear ideas for how to implement them in the classroom. Time-pressed English anguage arts teachers will find ideas they can use tomorrow.”
“The Engaging ELA Classroom delivers just what it promises: an easy-to-use powerhouse of strategies in one well-organized place! English teachers desirous of continuous learning and growth will truly embrace these practical, inspired teaching practices that they can implement and assess in their classrooms tomorrow. With just the right number of high-quality resources to illustrate each essential practice, teachers can see each practice in action, plan standards-based lessons, access ready-to-use reproducibles, and brush up on research-based, high-impact instructional moves. The tables and glossary provide additional information that supports and extends the chapter content. Every essential practice is tied to an assessment, answering the question ‘How do I measure this?’ Finally, the authors keep students at the center of every practice, with an emphasis on increased engagement in a welcoming learning environment. The Engaging ELA Classroom, charged with high cognitive energy, is a pick-up-and-go treasure for new and veteran teachers alike.”
“This is a terrific resource for novice as well as experienced teachers. I love the way the book is organized and provides support for teachers as they partner with students to build classroom culture, read and analyze texts, collaborate in book clubs, and develop student writing. I also love that you can read the chapters individually or sequentially, depending on your immediate needs. Throughout, I found myself regularly pausing to reflect on and reassess the whys and hows of my own teaching. Thank you to Beth and Margaret for this timely, well-researched, immediately usable book!”
