Well-Versed ELA

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  • Connotation vs. Denotation: Because Words Refuse to Behave

    If you’ve ever tried to teach students that words have meanings (yes, really), you’ve probably had to explain the difference between connotation and denotation. Spoiler: this is one of those ELA lessons where teenagers suddenly become philosophers—“But technically, doesn’t ‘fire’ also mean passion? So if I call my dog ‘fire,’ am I wrong?” Deep sigh. Long sip of coffee.

    Let’s break it down anyway, because apparently dictionaries aren’t enough:

    Denotation = the dictionary definition. Cold. Hard. Sterile. (Like the fluorescent lights in your classroom.)

    Connotation = the emotional baggage the word drags around with it. Sometimes glamorous, sometimes tragic, sometimes the verbal equivalent of that one student who insists literally can mean figuratively.

    So when you compare ‘slim,’ ‘skinny,’ and ‘svelte,’ they technically all point to the same denotation: “not carrying extra weight.” But the connotations? Slim is polite. Skinny is judgy. Svelte is vogue. Same base meaning, wildly different vibes. Welcome to ELA.

    —

    Connotation and Denotation Examples (a.k.a. Student Headaches)

    Want connotation vs denotation examples that go beyond the tired “house vs. home”? Here’s a taste:

    Cheap / Affordable / Economical

    Childish / Youthful / Innocent

    Nosy / Curious / Inquisitive

    See how the denotation stays the same, but the connotation swings from insult to compliment faster than your principal can say, “Data-driven instruction”?

    —

    Teaching Connotation and Denotation Without Losing Your Sanity

    I put together a resource that does the heavy lifting for you:

    Connotation vs. Denotation Handouts (Teachers Pay Teachers)

    It includes:

    -5 handouts with 10 sets of words each (that’s 150 words, but who’s counting… besides your students).

    -A task that requires sorting into positive connotation, negative connotation, and denotation—because nothing says “fun Friday” like word classification.

    -A student glossary (AKA differentiated handout) for students with limited vocabulary, so no one gets left behind when everyone else is arguing over whether “eccentric” is charming or creepy.

    Flexible use: these handouts can double as bellringers for quick practice or expand into a week-long mini-unit if you’d like to dig deeper.

    I’ve even included a detailed teacher’s guide for easy whole-group review and/or small-group instruction.

    —

    Final Thought

    Words are slippery little things. Denotation is the meaning you’d get if you Googled it; connotation is the meaning your students will argue about until you beg them to stop. Together, they explain why calling someone ‘thrifty’ feels like a compliment, but calling them ‘cheap’ might earn you a death glare.

    Save yourself the headache—teach it once, teach it well, and let the handouts do the heavy lifting.

    Lit happens. Stay well-versed.

  • Georgia ELA Standards 2025: Now in English You Can Actually Read

    So, the Georgia ELA standards have changed. Again. Before you start Googling “How many clauses can one standard have?” take a breath—you don’t need a law degree to understand this.

    Meet the Georgia ELA Standards 2025 Printable Poster, designed to make your life slightly less chaotic. It’s a clean, classroom-ready reference with every 9th grade standard rewritten in language that students (and teachers) can actually follow. Organized by domain—Practices, Texts, and Language & Grammar—this PDF makes standards easy to reference, whether you’re lesson planning, designing curriculum, or just trying to keep your IEP documentation straight.

    Since all grammar standards are remediated at the high school level, I’ve gone ahead and included all K–12 grammar standards. Yes, all of them. Because apparently students can forget everything from commas in kindergarten to semicolons in ninth grade.

    What’s Inside:

    • Full list of 9th grade Georgia ELA standards AND expectations
    • Covers all domains: Practices, Texts, Language & Grammar
    • All K–12 grammar standards included for easy reference
    • Aligned to the new Georgia ELA standards 2025 in PDF format
    • Clear, easy-to-read layout designed for teachers and students
    • Perfect for classroom display, curriculum design, or literacy coaching

    Ideal For:

    • Georgia high school ELA teachers
    • Instructional coaches and curriculum coordinators
    • Anyone transitioning to the new Georgia ELA standards 2025-2026

    If you like having your standards all in one place, check out the 9–12 Georgia ELA Standards Bundle—a lifesaver for high school teachers who want everything from freshman to senior year at a glance. And if you’re looking for grade-specific references, I also offer individual posters for 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, all in the same clean, student-friendly style. No more flipping between PDFs at midnight.

    Because let’s be honest—memorizing obscure codes and multi-clause standards is exhausting. With this poster, everything you need is visible, accessible, and in plain English.

    ✨ Keep your lessons sharp, your students informed, and your sanity intact.

    Lit happens. Stay well-versed.

  • Hi, there.

    I’m René.

    I’ve been in public education for 16 years. Fourteen of those years have been spent teaching high school English, which means I’ve read Romeo and Juliet more times than is healthy and have graded enough essays to qualify as an Olympic endurance sport.

    I studied English Education at Kennesaw State University as an undergraduate and later earned my master’s degree in Instructional Technology with a concentration in Library/Media.

    Life in the ELA Trenches

    Teaching high school ELA is equal parts inspiring and exhausting. One minute, a student is making a brilliant connection between Elie Wiesel and modern-day social justice, and the next, someone has turned in an essay that starts with “This essay is about…” (Send help). Still, at the end of the day, I keep showing up because I know how much language can empower students when it finally clicks.

    Yearbook Adviser = Chaos Coordinator

    On top of teaching, I’m also the yearbook adviser. Picture juggling deadlines, fonts, and teenagers with cameras—all while a printer plots against you. That’s yearbook, but nothing beats watching students hold the finished book for the first time. It’s proof that we all survived another year.

    Paint Over Papers

    When I’m not buried under essays or sticky notes, I paint: canvas, not houses (though if grading keeps piling up, who knows?). Painting is my creative escape—something that’s mine, not tied to a rubric or state standards.

    Why I Do This Work

    Here’s the thing, though: what really keeps me going isn’t just surviving teaching—it’s making ELA work. I want students to see English as something relevant, not a punishment, and I want teachers to have resources that don’t feel like another full-time job to prep.

    So if you’ve ever stared at your lesson plans and thought, “There has to be an easier way,” you’re in the right place. This space is for keeping ELA instruction accessible for students and manageable for teachers—without overcomplicating the work you already do.

  • Making Grammar Stick: Why Context Is the Secret Ingredient

    Let’s be honest: teaching grammar can feel like yelling into the void. You can stand at the board and preach the gospel of clauses until your marker dries up, but students will still write sentences that look like they were stitched together in the dark.

    That’s why I stopped pretending long lectures would fix the problem. Enter the humble bell ringer—the educational equivalent of tricking students into eating vegetables by hiding them in the pasta sauce.

    Grammar in Context (a.k.a. Proof That Authors Use Commas, Too)

    Grammar worksheets full of random sentences feel about as authentic as a stock photo of “students studying.” Students know it, and honestly, so do we. But give them a line from a classic or The Hunger Games, and suddenly grammar is part of the story—not some abstract set of rules that fell from the sky.

    Quick Grammar Mini Lessons: Small Doses, Big Impact

    Five minutes. That’s all it takes. A grammar mini lesson at the start of class resets the room, gets brains moving, and chips away at bad habits. Think of it as flossing for syntax: not glamorous, but necessary if you don’t want a mess later.

    Clauses: The Villains of Student Writing

    Independent and dependent clauses are the tricksters of grammar. Students either glue them together with nothing but hope, or they chop them apart like they’re auditioning for a Tarantino script. The cure? Repeated, quick practice in context until commas stop feeling optional.

    A Bell Ringer Set That Does the Heavy Lifting

    If you’d like to outsource the headache, I put together a Grammar in Context Bell Ringer Set. It’s 20 quick activities (a.k.a. mini lessons in disguise) with:

    -Sentences straight from classic and YA literature

    -An answer key so you can correct without losing your will to live

    -A student record log to prove—yes, Johnny did see this rule 12 times

    -Clean slides that project nicely without screaming “death by PowerPoint”

    In Conclusion (Because All Good Essays Have One)

    Grammar doesn’t have to be a daily battle. With quick, contextual bellringers, students actually start noticing how punctuation works in writing that matters to them—and maybe, just maybe, in their own essays.

    Lit happens. Stay well-versed.