StoryboardThat.com

I came across this resource on Sharemylesson.com - it's all about using storyboards in the ELA classroom.  This particular site featured is StoryboardThat.com and while checking it out I found a ton of free resources for many of the works I know you read with classes.  They have a free version, as well as a discounted version for educators. Even if you don't use this particular tool, we can do similar things in Comic Life and other free resources but the pedagogy behind it and free resources I thought would interest you all.

Here are a few resources you can explore: 

• 30-minute webinar on how how to do storyboarding with Romeo and Juliet via storyboardthat.com. http://vimeo.com/11031848 
• There is a PDF in my Google Drive with an overview of the tool, examples and teaching strategy as well as loads of resources
• Teacher Guides to Shakespeare Plays with pre-made examples you can use in class (including R&J, Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet...)

And here is a list of all of StoryboardThat's free resources including narrative structures, literary elements, characters, etc.  Click on the blue titles to go to the page with the resources for that topic.

Teacher Guides 

• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Bud, Not Buddy
• Cask of Amontillado
• Greek Mythology
• Hamlet
• Holes
• Macbeth
• Monsters on Maple Street
• Of Mice and Men
• Othello
• Romeo and Juliet
• Teaching Spanish
• The Giver
• The Great Gatsby
• The Odyssey
• The Outsiders
• The Raven
• The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Wedding Dance

Narrative Structures

• Cause & Effect on Plot
• Dystopia
• Elements of an Epic
• Five Act Play
• Modern Day Adaptations
• Parodies
• Parts of a Story
• Plot Diagrams
• Shakespearean Play Genres
• The Hero's Journey

Literary Elements 

• Dilemmas
• Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
• Literary Conflict
• Poetry Analysis with TP-CASTT
• Setting Map
• Themes, Symbols and Motifs
• Types of Irony

Characters 

• Character Map
• Hero vs. Antihero
• Tragic Hero

Parts of Speech & Grammar 

• Advanced Grammar
• Denotation vs. Connotation
• Homophones
• Punctuation
• Vocabulary Board

Free Technology for Teachers: Analyzing Shakespeare With Storyboards

Free Technology for Teachers: Analyzing Shakespeare With Storyboards Creating a storyboard can be a good way to organize a story and plan a video project. As Rebecca Ray shares in the slides below, creating storyboards can also be a good way to deconstruct and analyze a story.[...]

Source: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/03/analyzing-shakespeare-with-storyboards.html

Teach Thought: 6 Tech Ideas for Nat'l Poetry Month

6 Technology-Based Poetry Ideas For Students That Think They Hate Poetry It’s safe to say that of all the genres of literature we study in school, poetry is the most scary–and not just for the students. Sometimes poetry gets a bad rap for being too dense, too pretentious, too much of an acquired taste for mainstream consumption. While it’s true that I could name many a poem that fits those descriptors, it’s also true that working with poetry can be a most whimsical, intriguing, dare I say light-hearted experience for you and your students. Try one of these six strategies during National Poetry Month to invite your students to explore the jungle of this most-feared genre. [...]