New Year's Activities

One year I asked my students about their resolutions and was shocked at how many of them didn’t even know what I was talking about. I made a commitment right then that I would incorporate goal setting into our classroom. It’s a valuable skill to learn how to analyze where you are and visualize where you want to be.

​If you want to help your students learn to make goals, here are four activities you can do to help them start their journey.

You can take the ideas and adapt them to your classroom, or click on the link for a ready-to-go resource.

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Savannah Kepley
How to Use Pop Challenges to Promote Independent Thinking

I’m not sure if it’s all students across the country, or if it is just my little corner of the world, but I have noticed that my middle schoolers struggle to think on their own.

As soon as we start an assignment, hands go up across the classroom, and each student seems to want a personal explanation of what to do and how to do it.

It seems as if they have a hard time trusting themselves to think through steps on their own.

In order to teach my students how to think independently, I came up with something called The Pop Challenge!

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Savannah Kepley
What to Include in Your Class Welcome Letter

If you’re a parent to a school-aged child, then you know the struggles of the first day of school paperwork.

After a long day, we sit down with our favorite drink, open the bulging brown envelope, and pull out the thick stack of papers the size of a law student’s dissertation. We are faced with a mountain of information and forms that have to be filled out before the next day.

I know the pain of parents, so in order to make life somewhat easier, I created a concise one-page welcome letter that contains everything parents need to know about the class and gathers all of the information I need from the parents.

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Savannah Kepley
Three Meet the Teacher Ideas

There have been many research studies that have shown that academic success depends on positive relationships between teachers and students.

I think one of the first steps we can take to build those positive relationships is with Getting to Know You activities.

And not just ones that focus on the students.

It’s important that students get to know some of our interests outside of the classroom, so I’m here with three engaging and interactive teacher introduction activities.

Click to read more!

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Savannah Kepley
5 Routines and Procedures for the First Week

Through the years, I’ve learned structure helps you avoid burnout since you are not constantly battling your students, and it allows room for your creative juices to flow. I truly believe teachers like you want to make a difference, and effective and consistent routines and procedures will help you to fully embrace your passion for why you started teaching.

Here are the routines I teach in my middle school classroom the first week of school-

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Savannah Kepley
Last Minute Review Plan

I am not one that likes to teach to a test, but just as an athlete prepares for game day with a scrimmage and a dancer for a performance with a dress rehearsal, I understand the value of practicing for game day.

This weekend I sat down with my calendar and came up with a plan that is going to help my students review the power standards and concepts before the big test.

If you’re in the same boat with me and are looking for a last minute review plan, get ready to take some notes! We are about to hash out our last couple of days!

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Savannah Kepley
6 Engaging and Relevant Poems for Middle School Students

Do you ever wonder what poems to read with your middle schoolers that will keep them engaged while taking a deep dive into meaning, form, structure, and theme?

While I’m still on the hunt for “The Perfect Poem” that will check all of those boxes, I have compiled a list of poems that I do like reading with my middle schoolers.

Here are 6 poems that are perfect to read with your middle schoolers…


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Savannah Kepley
5 Day Plan to Review Figurative Language

If you’re looking for a jumping off point for poetry or a way to review figurative language, then this post is for you!

Before we start reading and analyzing poetry as a class, one of the things that I have to make sure of is that my students know how to identify and analyze the meaning of figurative language.

In order to ensure my students have a strong foundation, I developed a week-long plan to review the basics of figurative language.

Click to read about what I do each day!

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Savannah Kepley
Two Engaging and Fun Activities to Teach Compare and Contrast

The other day, I asked my students to compare and contrast three of the characters in our book.

I was expecting really insightful answers like how they respond to conflicts is different even though they all have taken on an adult role.

However, what I got was, “Ummm….two of them are boys and the other one is a girl”

As I find myself doing sometimes, I expected my students to already be an expert in the concept.

In order to teach my students how to dive deep into the story and characters, I came up with two activities to practice comparing and contrasting.

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Savannah Kepley
How to Teach Argument and Claims

I think almost every teenager knows how to argue.

At least, that has been my experience with my personal teenager and the 1,000+ I have taught throughout the years.

However, when they are asked to locate an argument in a text, they are suddenly not the experts we thought they were.

Here are the 4 steps (plus one bonus step at the beginning) I use to teach my students the basics of how to identify and analyze arguments and claims. 👉


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Savannah Kepley
4 Steps to Teach Central Idea

Raise your hand if teaching central idea makes you want to bang your head against the wall?! 🤦‍♀️

I have found that when you ask students to tell you the central idea of an article, there are two types of responses: The one where they retell every single detail from the article and the one where they just respond with one or two words related to the topic. You might have that rare unicorn of a student who knows how to drill down to the central idea, but more than likely your students can use some help with this concept.

If so, I’m here with 4 steps you can follow to teach central idea to your middle school students!

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Savannah Kepley
Goal Setting and Motivation Ideas for Middle Schoolers

One year I asked my students about their resolutions, and was shocked at how many of them didn’t even know what I was talking about. I made a commitment right then that I would incorporate goal setting into our classroom. It’s a valuable skill to learn how to analyze where you are and visualize where you want to be. Click to read the activities I do with my students to help them with goal setting and motivation.

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Savannah Kepley