The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA

Want to love walking into your ELA classroom each day? Excited about innovative strategies like PBL, escape rooms, hexagonal thinking, sketchnotes, one-pagers, student podcasting, genius hour, and more? Want a thriving choice reading program and a shelf full of compelling diverse texts? You're in the right place! Here you'll find interviews with top authors from the ELA field, workshops with strategies you can use in class immediately, and quick tips to ignite your English teacher creativity. Love teaching poetry? Explore blackout poems, book spine poems, I am from poems, performance poetry, lessons for contemporary poets, and more. Excited to get started with hexagonal thinking? Find out how to build your first deck of hexagons, guide your students through their first discussion, and even expand into hexagonal one-pagers. Into visual learning? Me too! Learn about sketchnotes, one-pagers, and the writing makerspace. Want to get your students podcasting? Get the top technology recs you need to make it happen, and find out what tips a podcaster would give to students starting out. Wish your students would fall for choice reading? Explore top titles and how to fund them, learn to make your library more appealing, and find out how to be a top P.R. agent for books in your classroom. In it for the interviews? Fabulous! Find out about project-based-learning, innovative school design, what really helps kids learn deeply, design thinking, how to choose diverse texts, when to scaffold sketchnotes lessons, building your first writing makerspace, cultivating writer's notebooks, getting started with genius hour, and so much more, from our wonderful guests. Here at The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, discover you're not alone as a creative English teacher. You're part of a vast community welcoming students to their next escape room, rolling out contemporary poetry and reading aloud on First Chapter Fridays, engaging kids with social media projects and real-world ELA units. As your host (hi, I'm Betsy), I'm here to help you ENJOY your days at school and feel inspired by all the creative ways to teach both contemporary works and the classics your school may be pushing. I taught ELA at the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade levels both in the United States and overseas for almost a decade, and I didn't always get support for my creativity. Now I'm here to make sure YOU get the creative support you deserve, and it brings me so much joy. Welcome to The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies!

395: The American Dream: A Multimedia Introduction Lesson for ELA 09/17/2025

395: The American Dream: A Multimedia Introduction Lesson for ELA 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): (Royal Shakespeare Company) (Painting at The Art Institute of Chicago) (Video on Youtube) (Movie Trailer) (Video from the Beltway Poetry Slam on Youtube) (Poem by Langston Hughes at Poets.org) (Photos from Ellis Island at the National Park Service) (Poem by Joy Harjo at Poets.org) (Mural by Shepard Fairey and Vils, Photo at Obey Giant) - you'd want to pull the photo out of the blog post (Photo by Keith Jacobshagen at the Spencer Museum of Art) (Punto Urban Art Museum) (PBS: Bill Moyer's Becoming American: The Chinese Experience") "" (Amanda Gorman on PBS Youtube) (Poem by Walt Whitman at The Poetry Foundation) Start-up Story: (The Immigrant Learning Center) Multimedia collage response example (one illustration, one quotation, and an interpretive 6 word memoir): Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/38251560

394: Quick Win: Build your Reading Culture with this Fun Fall ELA Display 09/10/2025

394: Quick Win: Build your Reading Culture with this Fun Fall ELA Display 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 () 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 , and a , 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. Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/38151585

393: Research-Based Practices to Ignite Creativity, with Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle 09/03/2025

392: A Mentor-Based Grammar Lesson Blueprint 08/27/2025

392: A Mentor-Based Grammar Lesson Blueprint 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 "" 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: Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Snag three Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/37974630

391: A Done-For-You Literary Food Truck Lesson 🎁 08/21/2025

390: A Lesson for Book Clubs with a Genius Hour Twist 08/13/2025

390: A Lesson for Book Clubs with a Genius Hour Twist 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:" Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/37792765

389: A First Week Project Lesson: Building Research Skills + Community 08/06/2025

388: A Low-Stress (Dare I say Fun?) Lesson Plan for Day One 07/30/2025

387: A Summer Reading Lesson with Clear Creative Purpose 07/23/2025

386: An Essay-less Argument Lesson Tapping Humor & Visuals 07/16/2025

386: An Essay-less Argument Lesson Tapping Humor & Visuals Students need to be able to make a great argument to find success at school, and in many professions. They need to come up with an idea, find evidence, analyze their evidence, and tie it all together with a well-written bow. Thus, for many decades, students have written essays. We've taught them to write thesis statements, organizing sentences, transitions, topic sentences, and conclusions. We've taught them how to punctuate their quotations and how to analyze them. We've typed up , guided , created and so much more to help them write better essays. Then they go home. And so often they just don't of their essays to their lives. They see argument all around them - in the children's books they read their little siblings, the political ads on Youtube, Instagram carousels on big issues, polarized podcasts playing in the background of their lives, infographics hither and yon, Tik-Tok videos trying to convince them to dump their gummy bears in Sprite and stick it in the freezer, and in a million other places. So what if, mixed in with our essays, we pushed students to NOTICE how argument surrounds them. To learn from new ways ideas are shared and supported, outside the traditional essay sphere. Today’s request for this summer's “Plan My Lesson” series comes from a teacher looking for ways to practice argument that don't revolve around an essay. This is a fun one for me, because I've designed SO many projects like this. But it's also challenging, because I've designed so many projects around this! I'd like to give you about 50 ways to practice argument without an essay, and I probably could. We could get into designing and arguing for each detail as a reflection of the book, , designing , , holding , creating visual to argue for an issue, , ... honestly, there are so many ways to go. But we've covered a lot of this on the pod already, and we have just ONE class period to plan here. So instead of diving back into one of these topics, let's explore a new one - using children's books to search out fresh craft moves when it comes to argument. Today we'll explore one lesson in which students see how an author can combine visuals, humor, argument, and counterargument to make a clear, persuasive case on an issue. Sure, to children. But the same rules could apply for any argument! After exploring some fabulous mentor texts, students will try it out for themselves, focusing on the hesitations of their audience (or in other words, counterargument). Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Snag three Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/37423635

385: Re-engaging Rusty Readers: A Stamina Building Lesson 07/09/2025

384: A Lesson for "The Paper Menagerie"(and the Cultural Revolution) 06/25/2025

384: A Lesson for "The Paper Menagerie"(and the Cultural Revolution) Ken Liu's short story, "The Paper Menagerie," is an easy and powerful add to your curriculum. Not only does it explore family relationships, The American Dream, and identity (themes you can easily connect to other texts as you build units), it introduces - briefly, painfully, powerfully - China's Cultural Revolution. I'll admit I've never studied the history of communism in China with much depth until recently. In college, I took a Socialist-Realist literature course that kicked off a life-long interest in how people are influenced by propaganda for me. Later, I lived in Bulgaria after the fall of communism there and my interest only increased as I taught 1984 to students whose families had lived through Communism. I visited , home to dozens of Communist sculptures and a terrifying video exhibit about the way the government watched its citizens. I visited the , which walks visitors through daily life under communism as well as showing its frightening extremes. I moved to Slovakia, where I listened to my son's best friend's father tell me how wonderful aspects of life under Communism had been years before in the very neighborhood where our family was living. Yet despite my interest in learning about Communism and propaganda, it was Ken Liu who first made me pay attention to The Cultural Revolution. When his main character reads a letter from his mother about her life in China before she escaped to The United States as a bride in a catalogue, it woke me up dramatically. None of the other books I'd ever read throughout so many years of studying and then teaching English had ever really explored this huge event in world history. I thought of the story immediately when a teacher wrote in with her request for our new "Plan My Lesson" series, asking for a bridge to help her students prepare to read Red Scarf Girl, A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution. Since then I've dipped into Red Scarf Girl (until I got so sad I had to take a break) and done a deep dive into The New York Times' exploration of The Cultural Revolution, including three particularly striking stories: one in which (like the narrator of Red Scarf Girl), and as a middle schooler during the Cultural Revolution. But knowing many classrooms wouldn't have access to The New York Times, I continued into resources on the BBC and Crash Course, the Asian Society and Getty Images, which I eventually built into today's curriculum. Today, I'm going to walk you through a lesson on "The Paper Menagerie" that you can use on its own, or as a transition toward Red Scarf Girl. Our goal is to help students build some understanding of The Cultural Revolution at the same time that they explore related literature. To be honest, I really fell down the rabbit hole on this one, and could easily now spend a month building curriculum around how we know what is true, how propaganda wields influence, the cultural revolution, Ken Liu's short story, and Red Scarf Girl. And because the history surrounding these stories is so painful, and the repercussions so very real in our world, it's hard not to feel a tremendous responsibility for students to explore these questions and texts. But at the moment, we're talking about one short lesson period - probably about 38 minutes of available time. So let's focus on that, starting now. Grab your copy of the agenda and webquest curriculum: Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Grab the Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/37128960

383: Bleeds, Ghosts, & Flash Verse: A Lesson for Long Way Down 06/18/2025

383: Bleeds, Ghosts, & Flash Verse: A Lesson for Long Way Down It’s a rare curriculum book that inspires NO negative comments. Ever. To hear, month after month, year after year, that a certain book turns kids into readers, ignites interest and discussion in class, hooks unengaged students like nothing else has. Long Way Down is one such book. It’s a fast read, a novel-in-verse, by the former U.S. Ambassador for Youth Literature, Jason Reynolds. In my opinion it’s perfect for 9th and 10th graders, but really, there’s a lot there for students of any age. It tells the tale of Will Holloman, a teenager trapped in a cycle of violence by “The Rules” of his neighborhood - No Crying, No Snitching, Get Revenge. He’s watched every man in his life fall to gun violence because of the rules, and now that his brother has been killed, the rules are set to snare him. Until he steps onto a very unexpected elevator ride. In today’s episode of “Plan My Lesson,” we’ll be planning a class period focused on the dialogue between Long Way Down, the novel-in-verse, and Long Way Down, the graphic novel. This week's request comes from an educator teaching a new graphic narratives course - which, by the way, sounds amazing. She’d like help crafting a lesson that guides students in comparing the two texts side-by-side, so that’s what we’re going to do! Whether you teach a version of Long Way Down, a different text that’s been translated into a graphic novel, any other graphic novel, or even none of the above, I think you’ll find new ideas for your lesson planning today. After we walk through the lesson itself, we’ll be talking about helpful takeaways from designing THIS lesson that you can apply to designing ANY lesson, so be sure to stay tuned to the end. Grab the free Long Way Down lesson plan curriculum set here: Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/37051020

382: An Action-Packed Born a Crime Lesson Especially for Gen Alpha (Bet That) 06/11/2025

382: An Action-Packed Born a Crime Lesson Especially for Gen Alpha (Bet That) Trevor Noah's Born a Crime is trending, and for good reason. I'm seeing the evidence everywhere. This spring, as I ran our curriculum book choice tournament across the high school levels and hundreds of teachers weighed in, I watched it soar to the finals in BOTH the 9th/10th category and the 11th/12th category. Then, as summer began and I opened up this new podcast series, "Plan My Lesson" (which starts today, right now), I immediately received three separate requests for Born a Crime lessons. Naturally, with this book soaring in popularity but new to the scene, there isn't that much out there being shared yet. One teacher was searching for ways to get students connecting the text to the of the I.B. curriculum (identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization, and sharing the planet). Another teacher was planning to use it as an anchor for a memoir class, and still another wanted to help students identity rhetorical devices inside while also developing their question-asking skills and connecting key moments in the text with argument claims. Is it possible to fulfill all these needs with one lesson? I think so. What we want is an in-depth lesson on a section of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, with a focus on connecting its big ideas to big ideas in our world today and in students' own lives, exploring text passages carefully along the way for writer's craft moves and theme development. And of course, we want it to be engaging. And fit neatly in one class period. So today, in the first of our summer "Plan My Lesson" series of podcasts, let's dive into planning an engaging, goal-fulfilling lesson for Trevor Noah's Born a Crime. Whether or not you're teaching this book, you'll find lots of ideas for lesson planning here. After we walk through the lesson itself, we'll be talking about helpful takeaways from designing THIS lesson that you can apply to designing ANY lesson, so be sure to stay tuned to the end. I'll also be telling you how to grab all the curriculum for this lesson totally free. So let's dive in! Grab all the materials for today's lesson free here: Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/36948485

381: What if We're thinking Too Small When it Comes to Short Stories? (And Sometimes, Not Small Enough) 06/04/2025

381: What if We're thinking Too Small When it Comes to Short Stories? (And Sometimes, Not Small Enough) I never met a short story I liked back in high school. If I was going to read, I wanted to READ. I wanted to get caught up in the plot, get to know the characters, inhabit the action, spend some time in another world. I certainly didn't want to finish half an hour after I began. No matter how lovely the language or innovative the miniature plot. My eyes just drifted over short story sections at bookstores and libraries like they weren't there, and I honestly can't remember the name of a single story I read in high school that has stayed with me. I know, I know, I should start my podcast with a more chipper intro. But here's the thing - I've got a new take on the world of short stories. Yes, I could talk to you about the stunning language of Hemingway short stories I discovered in grad school. (Here's looking at you, "Hills like White Elephants"). Or I could share Ursula LeGuin's unique Giver-in-miniature, Those Who Walk Away from Omelas (though you might have a little trouble keeping everyone serious during the paragraph about orgies). I could even dig into Poe, that intriguingly murky figure, with his loveably creepy Raven, and But I've shared about . And reviewed for teens too. Even given you a walkthrough of designing an escape room for Poe. Today, my aim is a bit different. As Camp Creative: Your Shiny New Short Story Toolbox, my summer Pd session gets closer (), I've been thinking a lot about different takes on the short story. Flash stories, audio stories, verse stories, graphic stories, multigenre stories. What if we added THESE to our short story toolbox? Go Further: Explore alllll the Episodes of . Grab the Join our community, , on Facebook. Come hang out on . 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! /episode/index/show/sparkcreativity/id/36843915