
Middle School Café - Empowering Secondary ELA Teachers
Are you an ELA teacher striving to help your middle and high school students become confident, capable readers and writers? Middle School Cafe is your go-to podcast for practical strategies, proven methods, and inspiration to close the reading gap and unlock every student's potential.
In each episode, I will share real-world insights and actionable tips drawn from years of classroom experience to help you meet students where they are and guide them toward growth. From implementing the workshop model to fostering student ownership of learning, you'll discover ideas and strategies that make a real impact.
Join the community of educators working to create classrooms where every student thrives. Visit www.middleschoolcafe.com to learn more and start building the readers and writers we know your students can be.
Middle School Café - Empowering Secondary ELA Teachers
Unique Reading Engagement Ideas with Katie from Mochas and Markbooks
Imagine turning your classroom into a hip coffee shop or observing your students actively browsing through your classroom bookshelves to create poetry. This is exactly what we are talking about in this episode! Katie Saj from Mochas and Markbooks stops by for a fun interview about creative ideas she uses to engage her students in reading!
Katie shared her amazing classroom transformation inspired by the cozy vibes of Tim Horton's, the beloved Canadian coffee shop. She creatively turned her classroom into a unique coffee shop experience that entices students to immerse themselves in the world of books. By creating a warm and inviting atmosphere reminiscent of a coffee shop, students feel comfortable exploring new genres, selecting books for their personal reading pleasure, and above all, experiencing the sheer joy of reading without any pressure or judgment. Additionally, Katie introduced an engaging activity called Book Spine Poetry, where students arrange book spines to create poems. This activity not only allows students to connect with the class library but also encourages their creativity to soar and ignites their imaginations.
Episode Highlights
- A book tasting is a room transformation activity where students sample books from different genres in a themed environment.
- Book spine poetry involves arranging books' spines to create a poem.
- First Chapter Friday is an activity where teachers read or play the first chapter of a book to engage students.
Connect with Katie
Don’t forget to play along in the Summer Series Challenge. You can find all the details on Instagram @middleschoolcafe -look for the highlight!
Be sure to join the Secondary ELA Facebook group where we will be continuing the conversation about fun, engaging activities to entice teens to read!
Tune in on your favorite podcast apps Apple, Google, Amazon, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! If you’re loving this podcast, please rate, review and follow!
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