Ahh. December. The time everyone busts out their Spotify Wrapped and their Goodreads Wrapped and their list of XYZ that they did (or didn’t) get accomplished this year. (Guilty of the reading wrapped – although I’m partial to StoryGraph. I love the charts.)
Every year around this time, I like to sit down and reflect on the previous year – what went well in my business, what I’d like to do more of, and what I plan to cut back on. I also spend part of winter break reflecting on the first semester of the school year and preparing/making adjustments for the second semester.
I’m a big dreamer and admittedly, an overly ambitious planner, meaning I practically never accomplish all I had mapped out. The best laid plans of mice and men and all that. (That must-plan-out-everything mentality is a work in progress.)
So, without further ado – Windows into Literature 2024 Wrapped.
The first casualty of the aforementioned overly ambitious planning – the blog. 2024 brought a new school and with it, curriculum autonomy. Which of course meant I had to redo everything I’ve ever done. And then redo it all again this fall. Big plans.
Unfortunately, that meant the blog was a bit neglected. Here are the top 5 previously published blog posts that resonated with y’all this year:
TOP 5 MOST READ BLOG POSTS:
- 5 Engaging Characterization Activities for High School Students to Try Today: This post is consistently one of my most popular. It includes several of my favorite activities for teaching and analyzing characters. It’s actually part 2 of a teaching characterization series.
- 7 Units for a Complete American Lit Curriculum: Although I’ve been revamping my American Lit curriculum, this post outlines the sequence I’ve used in the past and is great for any first-time American Lit teachers.
- 8 Engaging Ideas for Teaching Animal Farm: It’s been a while since I taught Animal Farm, but it was always one of my favorites. This post includes some of my go-to activities for teaching this allegorical novel.
- 18 Poetry Pairings for Secondary Students: Universal themes anyone? This post includes poems paired with short stories and novels.
- 9 Unique Short Story Pairings for “The Gift of the Magi”: If you’re looking to change up your short story unit, check out these paired short stories.
NEW BLOG POSTS
While I wasn’t as active as I’d hoped to be, I was able to get a few new posts up:
- Ideas You Need for a Smooth Back to School Season: A roundup of posts to help you make the summer-to-school transition a bit smoother.
- Fun and Interactive Activities for Teaching The Crucible: Another one of my favorite texts. Here you’ll find activities for introducing the text, completing after each act, and reviewing.
- Creating Diversity in American Literature: As part of my goal of revamping my curriculum, I’ve outlined ways to increase diversity and provide different perspectives and voices.
- 5 Ideas for Teaching Literature: Ideas and activities for any text.
Several resources got small updates, such as combining print and digital versions into one listing. The biggest updates came to my introduction virtual field trips. Both my Shakespeare Introduction Activity and The Canterbury Tales Introduction got makeovers to include a new Genially version for non-Google users.
In addition to a few updates, I added several new resources – including dabbling with seasonal ones.
- Of Mice and Men Character Analysis Graphic Organizers, Characterization Activity
- Of Mice and Men Introduction, Pre-Reading Stations
- Hamlet Character Analysis Graphic Organizers, Characterization Activity
- Christmas Coloring Sheets – Christmas Grammar, Figurative Language Coloring Pages
- Christmas Escape Room – Logic Puzzle, Inferencing Winter Holiday Activity
- The Oval Portrait Lesson Plan
- Hispanic Heritage Month Interactive Bulletin Board, Inspirational Quote Posters
- 9th, 10th Grade Grammar Unit – Sentence Types, Notes, Practice, Bell Ringers
- The Crucible Unit – Activities, Introduction, Character Analysis
As I mentioned, not only is December a time for reflection, it’s a time for planning as well. Here’s what’s on deck for 2025:
- Of Mice and Men Unit: Comprehensive unit including lesson plans, student workbook, and more
- Hamlet Unit: Including intro stations, activities for each act, student workbook, and more
- Updates & additions to current units: The plan is to add more resources to make these units ready-to-go from start to finish –
- Romeo and Juliet
- The Great Gatsby
- Animal Farm
- Audience suggestions: I’m always open to hearing what you need. Have a suggestion for a resource or unit you’d like to see? Hit “Reply” and let me know! Or head over to IG and message me there.
As we head into 2025, I just want to take a moment to thank you again for your readership. Whether you’re new to the blog or a returning reader, your support is truly appreciated.
Here’s to 2025 🥂🥂