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 resources, articles, videos, and more we found in March!

1. 5 Simple Steps for Teaching Limericks to High Schoolers

Who doesn’t love a good limerick? These short poems seem simple at first, but constructing them may be harder than you think. At It's Lit Teaching, Heather Cianci shares her five-step strategy for helping students write their own limericks in class.

2. Middle Schoolers Love to Write Flash Fiction

One of the best ways for students to flex their creativity is by writing flash fiction. This genre is defined by its brevity, with most stories containing 1,000 words or less. In this post for MiddleWeb, former teacher Linda Rief covers the basics of flash fiction and outlines how she incorporated this writing format into her middle school curriculum.

3. 3 Creative Ways to Teach Characterization to Secondary ELA Students

Studying characterization is an essential part of exploring literary texts. At her website, English teacher Dr. Jenna Copper shares three activities you can use in the classroom to help students analyze the ways in which authors develop their characters!

4. TED-Ed Video: One of the Most Banned Books of All Time

A timely video, this short TED-Ed presentation discusses the history of a book that’s been banned countless times in schools across the US. Though controversial, the story told within its pages offers powerful lessons on identity, family, and love. But what’s the book in question? Watch to find out!

5. An interview with Meg Medina, the Eighth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

On January 24, 2023, bestselling children's author and former teacher Meg Medina was inaugurated as the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. In this recently published interview, she talks about her teaching experiences and why it’s so important to give children space for telling stories of their own.