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    The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA

    Want to love walking into your ELA classroom each day? Excited about innovative strategies like PBL, escape rooms, hexagonal thinking, sketchnotes, one-pagers, student podcasting, genius hour, and more? Want a thriving choice reading program and a shelf full of compelling diverse texts?

    You’re in the right place!

    Here you’ll find interviews with top authors from the ELA field, workshops with strategies you can use in class immediately, and quick tips to ignite your English teacher creativity.

    Love teaching poetry? Explore blackout poems, book spine poems, I am from poems, performance poetry, lessons for contemporary poets, and more.

    Excited to get started with hexagonal thinking? Find out how to build your first deck of hexagons, guide your students through their first discussion, and even expand into hexagonal one-pagers.

    Into visual learning? Me too! Learn about sketchnotes, one-pagers, and the writing makerspace.

    Want to get your students podcasting? Get the top technology recs you need to make it happen, and find out what tips a podcaster would give to students starting out.

    Wish your students would fall for choice reading? Explore top titles and how to fund them, learn to make your library more appealing, and find out how to be a top P.R. agent for books in your classroom.

    In it for the interviews? Fabulous! Find out about project-based-learning, innovative school design, what really helps kids learn deeply, design thinking, how to choose diverse texts, when to scaffold sketchnotes lessons, building your first writing makerspace, cultivating writer’s notebooks, getting started with genius hour, and so much more, from our wonderful guests.

    Here at The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, discover you’re not alone as a creative English teacher. You’re part of a vast community welcoming students to their next escape room, rolling out contemporary poetry and reading aloud on First Chapter Fridays, engaging kids with social media projects and real-world ELA units.

    As your host (hi, I’m Betsy), I’m here to help you ENJOY your days at school and feel inspired by all the creative ways to teach both contemporary works and the classics your school may be pushing. I taught ELA at the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade levels both in the United States and overseas for almost a decade, and I didn’t always get support for my creativity. Now I’m here to make sure YOU get the creative support you deserve, and it brings me so much joy.

    Welcome to The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies!

    Advertise

    Copyright: © Betsy Potash

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    Latest Episodes:
    394: Quick Win: Build your Reading Culture with this Fun Fall ELA Display Sep 10, 2025
    Show notes

    I worked at the cutest little bookstore coffee shop last week. In that small space, the collection had to be heavily curated, with just one or two books by popular authors and launching points for popular series books for kids. But the shop still held one full bookshelf for staff recommendations, covers out. Each employee had their shelf: "Sarah recommends....," "Tia recommends...., "William recommends...," etc.

    And while I had plenty of my own ideas about what authors I might like to read, I found myself spending a good chunk of my browsing time finding out what Sarah, Tia, William, and the rest of the crew recommended. After all, if someone took the time to share their top favorites of all time, I knew they must be worth MY time.

    It's this bees-to-honey concept that makes me return, time and again, to the importance of the classroom library and the way you display it. While it's easy to brush off the aesthetics of the library, I repeatedly find that they matter a lot. Fresh displays, careful displays, displays that center books that students love the most... these things support your reading program from the outside in. Students can't become readers without the right books, and the physical space of the library is our chance to show off those books.

    So this week I've got a fun fall display for you (make your copy here) and I want to walk you through how to put it up, in hopes that this can be a big win for your readers heading into this season of reading. Soon you can add a banned books display, and a Hispanic Heritage Month Display, but for now, we're focusing on putting student favorites at the center.

    Let's dive in.

    Remember to grab your copy of the display (and see all the visuals from today's walkthrough) over in the full blog post for today's show at nowsparkcreativity.com.

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit.

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

    393: Research-Based Practices to Ignite Creativity, with Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle Sep 03, 2025
    Show notes

    We know employers want creative thinkers. We know creative thinking is necessary to solve the problems we see everywhere in our world. We know we want our students to learn to be more creative.

    But what does that mean exactly? Where does the science of creativity meet the cultural definition we all build for ourselves just by swimming in the 21st century stream?

    My guest today is Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle. Let me share her bio with you: "With more than 25 years as a scientist studying creativity, Zorana brings insights into the nature of the creative process, from the first decision to engage with new ideas to its culmination in creative performances and products. She is a scientist at Yale University, author, and speaker. Zorana's work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, ArtNet, US News, Education Week, Science Daily, El Pais, and others, and she is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and Creativity Post."

    Today, we're talking about how science defines creativity, and how research shows us we can guide our students - and ourselves - to develop more creative confidence. You'll learn what's important in designing your space, launching and building creative units, speaking with students about the hurdles that get in their path, and assessing creative work in a way that's meaningful for student development along the way, not just at the end.

    Honestly, I started Zorana's book, The Creativity Choice, searching for everything I could find to help me understand classroom creativity better. But I finished with fresh ideas not only for constructing curriculum and classroom spaces, but also for how I tackle projects, run my company, and talk to my own children about their ideas.

    Explore Zorana's Website: https://www.zorana-ivcevic-pringle.com/

    Zorana's Substack: https://creativitydecision.substack.com/

    392: A Mentor-Based Grammar Lesson Blueprint Aug 27, 2025
    Show notes

    When it comes to teaching grammar, the research is clear. Drill and kill is not what we're looking for. You don't want to march through a series of grammar lessons unrelated to your students' writing and reading.

    Here's what NCTE's "Resolution on Grammar Exercises to Teach Speaking and Writing" has to say about it:

    "This resolution was prompted by the continuing use of repetitive grammar drills and exercises in the teaching of English in many schools. Proposers pointed out that ample evidence from 50 years of research has shown that the teaching of grammar in isolation does not lead to improvement in students' speaking and writing, and that, in fact, it hinders the development of students' oral and written language. Be it therefore resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English affirm the position that the use of isolated grammar and usage exercises not supported by theory and research is a deterrent to the improvement of students' speaking and writing and that, in order to improve both of these, class time at all levels must be devoted to opportunities for meaningful listening, speaking, reading, and writing; and that NCTE urge the discontinuance of testing practices that encourage the teaching of grammar rather than English language arts instruction."

    So how can we teach students about writer's craft moves, and the rich palette of options that grammar provides them in making meaning?

    Well, that's our subject for today's "Plan My Lesson" episode. I received several requests for lessons to make grammar more fun, so today we're talking about ideas for making grammar moments more effective AND more interesting when it comes to lesson planning. You won't find any multiple-choice here, but you will find ideas you could try weaving into your lessons, regardless of where your students are in their writing journey.

    Sources Mentioned:

    Deborah Dean's "Grammar for Writing" Post at NCTE

    NCTE's Resolution on Grammar Exercises to teach Speaking and Writing

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Snag three free weeks of community-building attendance question slides

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

    391: A Done-For-You Literary Food Truck Lesson 🎁​ Aug 21, 2025
    Show notes

    Think of your favorite book.

    Now think of your favorite food.

    Now match those two together - your favorite book and your favorite food - into some kind of experience. Maybe you've slipped into the world of the book and you're eating your favorite food with your favorite characters.

    Are you smiling yet?

    Today's "Plan my Lesson" episode is all about launching your first literary food truck festival. I recently got a note from a teacher who had listened to our episode during the pandemic about hosting an online literary food truck festival, but she really wanted to hear about how to run one in person.

    Challenge, accepted.

    Let's talk about a project that's a perfect add for summer reading books, book club units, choice reading finales, or even whole class novels. I've even heard from a professor who used the project for a Greek Chariot Festival to explore Greek myths (so cool!) and a teacher who used it for short stories (a great option if you're looking for a speed-version).

    The literary food truck festival is just plain and simply memorable literary analysis fun, and I've just spent a dozen or so hours completely updating and expanding this free resource for you (grab it below), so let's walk through how to use it this year!

    Grab the Free Curriculum for this Project: https://sparkcreativity.kartra.com/page/literaryfoodtrucks

    See Photos of this Project in Action in other Classrooms: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2020/01/literary-food-truck-festivals-photo-tour.html

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Get my popular free hexagonal thinking digital toolkit

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

    390: A Lesson for Book Clubs with a Genius Hour Twist Aug 13, 2025
    Show notes

    Have you been hooked by the idea of book clubs lately? Wondering how you can integrate book clubs with essential questions, supplementary short stories and podcasts, and everything else you're up to? Then today's episode is for you. Today's "Plan my Lesson" request comes from a creative teacher trying to blend a lot of wonderful things into her new plan for the year.

    Here's what she writes: "Hi, Betsy! I am a huge fan and avid listener! As a teacher who is nearing retirement, I found myself in a slump. You've been an inspiration! I have completely changed my curriculum for next year (we are mid-process in curriculum writing). For the first time, all of my classes are completely novel-based using lit circles. I have selected five titles for students to choose from each quarter, with plans to supplement like crazy with nonfiction pieces, TED talks, podcasts, etc. I have created an overarching essential question for each semester to tie all the pieces together. It's a bit overwhelming, but I am super excited to get started! Any ideas you have specific to lit circles would be much appreciated! And if I can figure out a way to intertwine genius hour, I would be thrilled 😊"

    So today we're diving into this wonderful creative planning process. We'll start by looking at a big picture structure that can help support all these wonderful pieces while creating consistency throughout the term, then dive into a single day in the life lesson for balancing all of these elements.

    Book Club Warm-Up Examples:

    Book Club Activity Examples:

    Genius Hour Curriculum Examples:

    Tune in to episode 291, "When Genius Hour Works:" https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2024/04/when-genius-hour-works.html

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit.

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

    389: A First Week Project Lesson: Building Research Skills + Community Aug 06, 2025
    Show notes

    Today's request for "Plan My Lesson" is from a teacher searching for a first week project that helps students get to know each other AND introduces a few key skills along the way. Perhaps you can relate?

    Here's what she writes: "It's time to switch up the first project I do in English 10… For the last few years I've had the kiddos research their first name, practicing basic research skills, as well as us getting to know them and them doing some self exploration. I want a similar caliber project, but on a different topic."

    So our goal for the lesson is to introduce key elements for a project that will give students a chance to share something important to them as you build community, learn and practice basic research skills, and get them adjusted to a key platform (in my opinion) for the school year, Canva. As usual, it's a struggle for me to pack it all into one lesson, so feel free to spread this over several depending on how much time you have in your period!

    Take the Free Canva Confidence Mini-Course: https://sparkcreativity.kartra.com/page/getCanvaconfidence

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit.

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

    388: A Low-Stress (Dare I say Fun?) Lesson Plan for Day One Jul 30, 2025
    Show notes

    If there's one thing I want for your first day of school, it's for the pressure to be off you. You've got enough to worry about without needing to pull off a 45 minute lecture that magically holds students' attention before they even know you five times in a row.

    That's why for this lesson, requested for our summer "Plan my Lesson" series, our goal will be to hit all the day-one must-dos while also building community and keeping things engaging and low-stress. This is your chance to start connecting with your students and helping them feel comfortable in your classroom, while at the same time showing them what your class is going to be like.

    Grab the Syllabus Templates: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/free-syllabus-templates

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Snag three free weeks of community-building attendance question slides

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

    387: A Summer Reading Lesson with Clear Creative Purpose Jul 23, 2025
    Show notes

    A summer reading lesson is a nice chance to start off the year with a creative tone, while creating some of the norms you want to establish. For today's "Plan my Lesson" series episode, I'm answering requests from two different teachers in search of a back-to-school lesson on summer reading. One teacher's class will have read Scythe, another's The Hunger Games. Both are interested in reviewing the basics of literature as a springboard into the year.

    So how can we capture students' interest, review some key basics, like symbol, theme, and the hero's journey, give students a chance to show their understanding of the text, and establish a positive, creative tone for the year in a class period?

    Let's give it a shot together. One of my teacher requesters today is teaching on a block schedule, so we're going to go ahead and plan a longer period. If you're NOT teaching on a block schedule, feel free to split this plan over two class periods.

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit.

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

    386: An Essay-less Argument Lesson Tapping Humor & Visuals Jul 16, 2025
    Show notes

    Students need to be able to make a great argument to find success at school, and in many professions. They need to come up with an idea, find evidence, analyze their evidence, and tie it all together with a well-written bow.

    Thus, for many decades, students have written essays. We've taught them to write thesis statements, organizing sentences, transitions, topic sentences, and conclusions. We've taught them how to punctuate their quotations and how to analyze them. We've typed up fixes for common errors, guided peer editing workshops, created revision stations, and so much more to help them write better essays.

    Then they go home.

    And so often they just don't see the relevance of their essays to their lives. They see argument all around them - in the children's books they read their little siblings, the political ads on Youtube, Instagram carousels on big issues, polarized podcasts playing in the background of their lives, infographics hither and yon, Tik-Tok videos trying to convince them to dump their gummy bears in Sprite and stick it in the freezer, and in a million other places.

    So what if, mixed in with our essays, we pushed students to NOTICE how argument surrounds them. To learn from new ways ideas are shared and supported, outside the traditional essay sphere.

    Today's request for this summer's "Plan My Lesson" series comes from a teacher looking for ways to practice argument that don't revolve around an essay.

    This is a fun one for me, because I've designed SO many projects like this. But it's also challenging, because I've designed so many projects around this!

    I'd like to give you about 50 ways to practice argument without an essay, and I probably could. We could get into designing literary food trucks and arguing for each detail as a reflection of the book, hexagonal thinking for argument, designing infographics, recording podcasts, holding mock trials, creating visual research carousels to argue for an issue, real-world quick prompts with real-world audiences, argument one-pagers... honestly, there are so many ways to go.

    But we've covered a lot of this on the pod already, and we have just ONE class period to plan here. So instead of diving back into one of these topics, let's explore a new one - using children's books to search out fresh craft moves when it comes to argument.

    Today we'll explore one lesson in which students see how an author can combine visuals, humor, argument, and counterargument to make a clear, persuasive case on an issue. Sure, to children. But the same rules could apply for any argument! After exploring some fabulous mentor texts, students will try it out for themselves, focusing on the hesitations of their audience (or in other words, counterargument).

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Snag three free weeks of community-building attendance question slides

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

    385: Re-engaging Rusty Readers: A Stamina Building Lesson Jul 09, 2025
    Show notes

    There's a lot of conversation happening lately around student reading stamina. Rose Horowitch's Atlantic article, "The Elite College Students who Can't Read Books," helped stir the pot. I'm sure you've seen evidence of the same issues she brings up - that students are struggling to stay focused through books, and often come to you having read a lot of excerpts and short pieces rather than full novels. Test-prep, phone culture, COVID - there are all kinds of reasons, but the bottom line for you as a teacher is, what can you do about it?

    Today's request for our new "Plan My Lesson" series comes from a teacher looking for ways to help her students build their reading stamina. She's wondering how she can help her students work toward longer reads and more of 'em.

    Perhaps you're wondering the same? This is a big question, and we're just planning one lesson. But let's zoom in on a snapshot of a class that could help students move toward longer, more-engaged reading sessions. We'll start, like The Odyssey, in medias res.

    Related Links:

    Episode 196: How Caitlin's Verse Novel Book Clubs Engaged Seniors 'Til the End: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2023/06/how-caitlins-verse-novel-book-clubs-engaged-seniors-til-the-end.html

    How to Host a Book Tasting: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2019/03/how-to-host-book-tasting-free-resource.html

    Episode 204: Students Need Diverse Texts and Choice, with Dr. Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica and Dr. Allison Briceño: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2023/07/students-need-diverse-texts-and-choice-heres-help.html

    The Dos and Don'ts of Donors Choose: https://nowsparkcreativity.com/2019/01/the-dos-and-donts-of-donors-choose-for.html

    Go Further:

    Explore alllll the Episodes of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast.

    Launch your choice reading program with all my favorite tools and recs, and grab the free toolkit.

    Join our community, Creative High School English, on Facebook.

    Come hang out on Instagram.

    Enjoying the podcast? Please consider sharing it with a friend, snagging a screenshot to share on the 'gram, or tapping those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to help others discover the show. Thank you!

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