Each month, we share five things we love as part of our Footnotes Newsletter. Take a look at some of our favorite English language arts articles we read in October!

1. To Foster Confidence and Motivation in Young Readers, Consider This

When students aren’t confident readers, they’re more likely to struggle with reading comprehension. In turn, when comprehension skills suffer, so does reading ability. In this article, Kimberly Rues shares tips on how to break this cycle and foster a supportive reading environment in the classroom.

2. The Writing Process: Prewriting

Over at NCTE, Lisa Fink shares five free prewriting resources you can use to help your students brainstorm, plan, structure, and organize any writing assignment.

3. Teaching Rhetoric in Social Media

One of the best ways to learn about rhetoric is to study its use in everyday communication. For today’s students, that’s social media! At her blog, Lindsay Ann outlines a number of ways in which students can practice rhetorical analysis by looking at factors like word choice, tone, and author credibility within social media messages.

4. Great Short Stories to Teach to High-Schoolers

Looking to expand your selection for your short story unit? Zachary and Rachel Hamby have you covered! Head to their blog to discover six short stories—all appropriate for the high school classroom—from famous authors like Roald Dahl and Truman Capote.

5. Headline Poetry for High School Students

For your next poetry unit, why not adapt this lesson idea from Marilyn Yung? Creating poetry from newspaper clippings, magazine headlines, pieces of junk mail, and other found materials is not only a ton of fun but also a unique way to experiment with language.