If you teach American literature, chances are you're touching on the theme of the American Dream somehow, through book clubs, a poetry unit, a look at Gatsby, or an essential question that binds together a variety of genres and perspectives. So when I received this request for our Plan my Lesson series, "How about a fun way to introduce the American Dream unit for juniors, about 36 of them," I was ready. In today's episode, we're going to talk about how you might introduce the concept of The American Dream through a series of multimedia activities, first letting students choose which ones to explore, then letting them respond with multimedia of their own, creating a collage of dream experiences for the class to view.

American Dream Text Possibilities (Starter List):

• Death of a Salesman Trailer (Royal Shakespeare Company)
• American Gothic Painting (Painting at The Art Institute of Chicago)
• Reyna Grande: A Migrant's Story (Video on Youtube)
• The Sun is Also a Star (Movie Trailer)
• "American Dream" (Video from the Beltway Poetry Slam on Youtube)
• "Let America be America Again" (Poem by Langston Hughes at Poets.org)
• "Immigrant Photos by Augustus Sherman" (Photos from Ellis Island at the National Park Service)
• "An American Sunrise" (Poem by Joy Harjo at Poets.org)
• "American Dreamers Mural" (Mural by Shepard Fairey and Vils, Photo at Obey Giant) - you'd want to pull the photo out of the blog post
• "Lincoln, Nebraska 1977" (Photo by Keith Jacobshagen at the Spencer Museum of Art)
• American Dream Exhibit (Punto Urban Art Museum)
• "Gold Mountain Dreams" (PBS: Bill Moyer's Becoming American: The Chinese Experience")
• "This Hill we Climb" (Amanda Gorman on PBS Youtube)
• "I hear America Singing" (Poem by Walt Whitman at The Poetry Foundation)
• Start-up Story: "Jerry Yang" (The Immigrant Learning Center)

Multimedia collage response example (one illustration, one quotation, and an interpretive 6 word memoir):

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I worked at the cutest little bookstore coffee shop last week. In that small space, the collection had to be heavily curated, with just one or two books by popular authors and launching points for popular series books for kids. But the shop still held one full bookshelf for staff recommendations, covers out. Each employee had their shelf: "Sarah recommends....," "Tia recommends...., "William recommends...," etc.

And while I had plenty of my own ideas about what authors I might like to read, I found myself spending a good chunk of my browsing time finding out what Sarah, Tia, William, and the rest of the crew recommended. After all, if someone took the time to share their top favorites of all time, I knew they must be worth MY time.

It's this bees-to-honey concept that makes me return, time and again, to the importance of the classroom library and the way you display it. While it's easy to brush off the aesthetics of the library, I repeatedly find that they matter a lot. Fresh displays, careful displays, displays that center books that students love the most... these things support your reading program from the outside in. Students can't become readers without the right books, and the physical space of the library is our chance to show off those books.

So this week I've got a fun fall display for you (make your copy here) and I want to walk you through how to put it up, in hopes that this can be a big win for your readers heading into this season of reading. Soon you can add a banned books display, and a Hispanic Heritage Month Display, but for now, we're focusing on putting student favorites at the center.

Let's dive in.

Remember to grab your copy of the display (and see all the visuals from today's walkthrough) over in the full blog post for today's show at nowsparkcreativity.com.

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We know employers want creative thinkers. We know creative thinking is necessary to solve the problems we see everywhere in our world. We know we want our students to learn to be more creative.

But what does that mean exactly? Where does the science of creativity meet the cultural definition we all build for ourselves just by swimming in the 21st century stream?

My guest today is Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle. Let me share her bio with you: "With more than 25 years as a scientist studying creativity, Zorana brings insights into the nature of the creative process, from the first decision to engage with new ideas to its culmination in creative performances and products. She is a scientist at Yale University, author, and speaker. Zorana's work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, ArtNet, US News, Education Week, Science Daily, El Pais, and others, and she is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and Creativity Post.”

Today, we’re talking about how science defines creativity, and how research shows us we can guide our students - and ourselves - to develop more creative confidence. You’ll learn what’s important in designing your space, launching and building creative units, speaking with students about the hurdles that get in their path, and assessing creative work in a way that’s meaningful for student development along the way, not just at the end.

Honestly, I started Zorana’s book, The Creativity Choice, searching for everything I could find to help me understand classroom creativity better. But I finished with fresh ideas not only for constructing curriculum and classroom spaces, but also for how I tackle projects, run my company, and talk to my own children about their ideas.

Explore Zorana's Website: https://www.zorana-ivcevic-pringle.com/

Zorana’s Substack: https://creativitydecision.substack.com/

When it comes to teaching grammar, the research is clear. Drill and kill is not what we're looking for. You don't want to march through a series of grammar lessons unrelated to your students' writing and reading.

Here's what NCTE's "Resolution on Grammar Exercises to Teach Speaking and Writing" has to say about it:

"This resolution was prompted by the continuing use of repetitive grammar drills and exercises in the teaching of English in many schools. Proposers pointed out that ample evidence from 50 years of research has shown that the teaching of grammar in isolation does not lead to improvement in students’ speaking and writing, and that, in fact, it hinders the development of students’ oral and written language. Be it therefore resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English affirm the position that the use of isolated grammar and usage exercises not supported by theory and research is a deterrent to the improvement of students’ speaking and writing and that, in order to improve both of these, class time at all levels must be devoted to opportunities for meaningful listening, speaking, reading, and writing; and that NCTE urge the discontinuance of testing practices that encourage the teaching of grammar rather than English language arts instruction."

So how can we teach students about writer's craft moves, and the rich palette of options that grammar provides them in making meaning?

Well, that's our subject for today's "Plan My Lesson" episode. I received several requests for lessons to make grammar more fun, so today we're talking about ideas for making grammar moments more effective AND more interesting when it comes to lesson planning. You won't find any multiple-choice here, but you will find ideas you could try weaving into your lessons, regardless of where your students are in their writing journey.

Sources Mentioned:

Deborah Dean's "Grammar for Writing" Post at NCTE

NCTE's Resolution on Grammar Exercises to teach Speaking and Writing

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Think of your favorite book.

Now think of your favorite food.

Now match those two together - your favorite book and your favorite food - into some kind of experience. Maybe you've slipped into the world of the book and you're eating your favorite food with your favorite characters.

Are you smiling yet?

Today's "Plan my Lesson" episode is all about launching your first literary food truck festival. I recently got a note from a teacher who had listened to our episode during the pandemic about hosting an online literary food truck festival, but she really wanted to hear about how to run one in person.

Challenge, accepted.

Let's talk about a project that's a perfect add for summer reading books, book club units, choice reading finales, or even whole class novels. I've even heard from a professor who used the project for a Greek Chariot Festival to explore Greek myths (so cool!) and a teacher who used it for short stories (a great option if you're looking for a speed-version).

The literary food truck festival is just plain and simply memorable literary analysis fun, and I've just spent a dozen or so hours completely updating and expanding this free resource for you (grab it below), so let's walk through how to use it this year!

Grab the Free Curriculum for this Project: https://sparkcreativity.kartra.com/page/literaryfoodtrucks

See Photos of this Project in Action in other Classrooms: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2020/01/literary-food-truck-festivals-photo-tour.html

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Have you been hooked by the idea of book clubs lately? Wondering how you can integrate book clubs with essential questions, supplementary short stories and podcasts, and everything else you're up to? Then today's episode is for you. Today's "Plan my Lesson" request comes from a creative teacher trying to blend a lot of wonderful things into her new plan for the year.

Here's what she writes: "Hi, Betsy! I am a huge fan and avid listener! As a teacher who is nearing retirement, I found myself in a slump. You’ve been an inspiration! I have completely changed my curriculum for next year (we are mid-process in curriculum writing). For the first time, all of my classes are completely novel-based using lit circles. I have selected five titles for students to choose from each quarter, with plans to supplement like crazy with nonfiction pieces, TED talks, podcasts, etc. I have created an overarching essential question for each semester to tie all the pieces together. It’s a bit overwhelming, but I am super excited to get started! Any ideas you have specific to lit circles would be much appreciated! And if I can figure out a way to intertwine genius hour, I would be thrilled 😊"

So today we're diving into this wonderful creative planning process. We'll start by looking at a big picture structure that can help support all these wonderful pieces while creating consistency throughout the term, then dive into a single day in the life lesson for balancing all of these elements.

Book Club Warm-Up Examples:

Book Club Activity Examples:

Genius Hour Curriculum Examples:

Tune in to episode 291, "When Genius Hour Works:" https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2024/04/when-genius-hour-works.html

Go Further:

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Today's request for "Plan My Lesson" is from a teacher searching for a first week project that helps students get to know each other AND introduces a few key skills along the way. Perhaps you can relate?

Here's what she writes: "It’s time to switch up the first project I do in English 10… For the last few years I’ve had the kiddos research their first name, practicing basic research skills, as well as us getting to know them and them doing some self exploration. I want a similar caliber project, but on a different topic."

So our goal for the lesson is to introduce key elements for a project that will give students a chance to share something important to them as you build community, learn and practice basic research skills, and get them adjusted to a key platform (in my opinion) for the school year, Canva. As usual, it's a struggle for me to pack it all into one lesson, so feel free to spread this over several depending on how much time you have in your period!

Take the Free Canva Confidence Mini-Course: https://sparkcreativity.kartra.com/page/getCanvaconfidence

Go Further:

Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit.

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Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

If there's one thing I want for your first day of school, it's for the pressure to be off you. You've got enough to worry about without needing to pull off a 45 minute lecture that magically holds students' attention before they even know you five times in a row.

That's why for this lesson, requested for our summer "Plan my Lesson" series, our goal will be to hit all the day-one must-dos while also building community and keeping things engaging and low-stress. This is your chance to start connecting with your students and helping them feel comfortable in your classroom, while at the same time showing them what your class is going to be like.

Grab the Syllabus Templates: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/free-syllabus-templates

Go Further:

Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

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Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the ‘gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!