The Word LOVE Has Many Meanings

The Valentine's Day holiday season is often brimming with talk of "love," and for many, that word conjures up images of romantic relationships and grand gestures. But what if we, as educators, could help our students understand that "love" is a beautiful, multifaceted concept that extends far beyond just that one idea? 

By exploring its various forms, we can empower our students to see the holidays, and indeed life itself, as a celebration of connection and warmth for everyone.

Think about it! "Love" is a tiny word with an enormous range of meaning. In addition to romantic love:

• There's familial love, the deep, unconditional bond we share with our parents, siblings, grandparents, and extended family. 
• There's platonic love, the fierce loyalty and joy we feel for our friends. 
• We also experience self-love, which is perhaps one of the most crucial forms. This isn't about vanity, but about self-respect, self-care, and understanding our own worth. 
• Then there’s altruistic or compassionate love which includes the desire to help others and make the world a better place. 

By engaging our students in conversations about these different shades of "love," we can broaden their understanding and help them recognize that the holiday spirit isn't exclusive to one type of relationship. It's about connection, kindness, empathy, and joy in all its forms. 

I always enjoyed helping my high school students realize that they could celebrate Valentine's Day even if they were not romantically involved. We wrote notes and cards to express our gratitude to someone in our lives for whom we were thankful. If they wished, they could read their notes aloud to the class. I was surprised and touched by the notes they read aloud. 

 

On a personal note, Valentine’s Day is truly special for me. It's the day that forty years ago, I married the love of my life in 1986. Jerry Tess is the wonderful person who will get my thank-you note. 

Happy Valentine’s Day to each of you. I have five FREE Valentine's Day resources on TeacherPayTeachers.com. 

Please download and enjoy. 

Thanks for reading,

Charlene

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As the year draws to a close, thank you for the countless ways you’ve nurtured your students’ voices, thinking, and confidence with the power of language. 

Your work, often unseen, truly matters, and it shapes how your students view the world and themselves long after they leave your classroom.

Wishing you a peaceful, restorative break filled with good books, cozy moments, and time away from the grading pile. 

May the new year bring you renewed energy, fresh inspiration, and classes that remind you why you chose this profession in the first place.

Warmest wishes for a joyful holiday season and a bright start to the new year.

I am including links to free resources I hope you can use to end this year or to start the new one.

Thanks for reading,
Charlene

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How the Thanksgiving Season Enriches ELA Classrooms

 

As the air turns crisp and the scent of cinnamon and pumpkin pie invites thoughts of home, gratitude, and harvest, secondary ELA classrooms can seize the Thanksgiving season as a meaningful opportunity to blend creative writing with emotional literacy. Thanksgiving gives students space to pause, reflect, and express themselves and gives teachers the chance to grow their writers through authentic, heartfelt tasks that resonate beyond the classroom.

 

A lesson plan idea!

Thankfulness as a Writing Mindset

Gratitude writing is more than a feel-good exercise. It develops emotional awareness and refines students’ voices. 

 

1) As a preliminary exercise, ask student to prepare a short list of people to whom they are grateful and list the reasons why their influence has touched them. Then choose one of those people and list as many reasons as they can think of for their gratitude toward this person.

 

2) Consider having your high school writers choose someone who has made an impact on them (teachers, mentors, coaches, or family members) and write a letter of gratitude they can present to them.

 

Writing the letter will not only fulfill academic goals like structure and clarity but also gives a student a purposeful reason to write beyond assignment points. Imagine your classroom filled with the quiet scratch of pens composing genuine thanks.

 

For students who are hesitant to write such a personal expression of their feelings, explain that they do not have to give their letter to anyone but you, if they so choose.

I have two no-prep resources that I always used before the Thanksgiving break. My students enjoyed them. Perhaps your students will also.

 

Good writers vary their sentence patterns by sometimes placing phrases or clauses at the beginning of their sentences. The twenty Thanksgiving-themed sentences in this exercise all begin with the subject and the verb.

 

Teach your students to rewrite sentences without changing their meaning to achieve sentence variety. At the same time, they will be reminded of things that are associated with Thanksgiving.

Click here for this resource.

 

This is a fun exercise that helps students practice Higher Order Thinking Skills as they work in small groups to classify items into general and specific categories.

Students will examine ten groups of four items and determine into which general category they fit. Then, they will determine which item is different in some way from the other three and remove it. What remains will be a specific category that they will identify.

I used this exercise on one of the days before Thanksgiving to give my students' minds a workout and to celebrate the holiday.

Click here for this resource.

Thanks for reading my blog post. Here’s a FREE and fun activity your students will enjoy while exercising their Higher Order Thinking Skills.

 A fun and challenging exercise to enhance Higher Order Thinking Skills. Students will find the word that matches each definition by replacing only one letter in the previous word. 

Only one letter is replaced in each step. All other letters will remain in their original position.

My students enjoyed working in pairs to complete this exercise.

 

Download your FREE resource here.

May your holiday bring warmth, rest, and renewal along with countless reasons to be thankful for the transformative power of words.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! May your students' engagement in these activities remind you why teaching writing is a gift that keeps giving.

 

All the best,

Charlene

 

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How to Write Spooktacular Sentences

Halloween is such a great time to bring a little fun and creativity into the classroom, and it’s even better when learning gets a seasonal twist! 

One really effective way to enhance students’ writing skills is by focusing on sentence variety which is an essential tool for good writing. Mastering this skill can be tricky for students to master in a meaningful way. 

Creating Halloween-themed activities will make the process engaging and memorable for students, all while sneaking in a little autumn spirit.

Why Sentence Variety Matters

Writing is more than just stringing words together. It’s about rhythm, flow, and keeping readers interested. Encouraging students to rewrite sentences and shake up their usual subject-verb construction helps them recognize the impact of phrasing and structure. 

If you teach your students to place phrases or clauses at the front of a sentence, rather than always leading with the subject and verb,  it will opens door to more dynamic storytelling and communication.

Creating holiday-themed lessons and activities for your students will help impove their interest and engagement. If you have time to create them yourself, it will be rewarding. If you prefer, I have a holiday themed exercise that requires no preparation.

If you would like to try a FREE resource to see if this type of writing activity would work for your students click here.

LEARN MORE HERE

Use Halloween Themes for Engagement

This exercise includes twenty sentences steeped in Halloween imagery, including pumpkins, costumes, and spooky fun.

Instead of simply memorizing grammar skills, students get to interact with content that feels fresh and timely. This approach isn’t just about having seasonal fun; it’s about associating learning with things that matter and resonate at the moment.

Practical Use in the Classroom

Whether you prefer to print activities for your students or assign them digitally, the versatility here makes all the difference. This resource is easy to use with Google Drive, so students can submit their work electronically making it great for remote or hybrid learning setups. 

For those who love interactive options, the exercise also works well with Easel by TpT, making it adaptable for all kinds of classrooms and teaching styles.

Supported Learning

Best of all, every step is supported with clear instructions and answers, keeping the focus on guided growth rather than guesswork. Students work independently, but with just enough structure to feel confident as they experiment with sentence variety. It’s a gentle nudge toward strong writing, all wrapped up in a theme that’s sure to spark a little extra enthusiasm.

Bringing a holiday theme into the learning process can be the trick that leads to a treat, which is students who are truly engaged and making real progress in their writing skills.

Click here to learn more about this resource.

 I hope your school year is Spooktacular! Thanks for reading,

Charlene

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