In my last post on poetry, “ Poetry Matters // The Case for Teaching Poetry in Every ELA Classroom ,” I argued that poetry is an essential part of an English Language Arts education. I said that “poetry illuminates experience”—it can be the light within a microscope that helps us pause and...

“The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” ~James Baldwin I can recall encountering this quote from the late James Baldwin in my earliest years as a teacher and feeling as though I had...

Darby Evans works as the associate program director at the Center for Literacy Education. Darby taught English and literature to grades 6–8 in Fort Worth, Texas as a member of the ACE Teaching Fellows, and went on to teach middle school ELA in Harlem, New York. She especially enjoys teaching poetry...

For this installment of the Lessons in Literacy series, the CLE is pleased to spotlight an incredible educator, Dana Deradoorian. Ms. Deradoorian is a member of AmeriCorps and teaches English Language Arts at St. Augustine Catholic High School in Tucson, AZ. She graduated from the University of...