Student-Created Playlists: An Engaging Reading Strategy for ELA Teachers

By Tracee Orman

 Are you tired of giving chapter check quizzes with terrible results or seeing blank stares when you try to stir up a discussion about your current literature unit? 

One of my favorite ways to combat this is using an activity I created when iPods became popular in the early 2000’s: creating playlists related to the text. It does not matter what we are reading, whether it is Shakespeare or The Hunger Games, students absolutely LOVE incorporating music into class.

Here are four ways you can use my playlist idea in class:

1. Chapter (or Section) Review

After students read a chapter(s) or section of the text, have them choose 1-3 songs that relate to the text. It can relate through a character (personality, dialogue, actions), an event, or even through a theme, symbol, or abstract idea. 

This can be done as a bell-ringer, exit slip, or anytime throughout the class period. The key is to make sure students can EXPLAIN how the song relates to the chapter. 

Here’s an example from To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 7, by Harper Lee:

Mr. Radley cements the knothole at the end of the chapter, thereby ending the connection the children have to the gift-giver. The song “End of Beginning” by Djo can relate to this because their communication with the gift-giver was just beginning, and now it has ended, just like the speaker in the song reminisces about how things were before.

2. Character Analysis

Have students do a deep dive into characterization by assigning them to choose 1-3 songs that describe or encompass the character. They may find a song that seems like it would be perfectly sung by the character themselves. Make sure they explain the relevance between the two.

An example for Romeo Montague in Act I of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare:

“Perfect” by Ed Sheeran includes the lines “I found a love for me, / Darling just dive right in...I found a girl, / Beautiful and sweet” which seem rather appropriate for Romeo to sing about Juliet. In scene 5, Romeo says of Juliet, “"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, / For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.”  

This activity forces students to reread the text to find connections between the lyrics and the character. When you require them to use quotes from both the lyrics and the text, you get them to read double the material, but in a way that they don’t mind at all. 

3. Review of the Plot/Events

You can assign the same thing, but instead of finding a song that relates to a character, have students choose a song that embodies one (or more) of the important events in the text. 

Have them copy down the lyrics to a song and, line-by-line, compare it to the events of the novel, story, or play.

Look at this example from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare using Taylor Swift’s song “Look What You Made Me Do”:

  “I don’t like your little games / Don’t like your tilted stage / The role you made me play of the fool / No, I don’t like you” from the song can express Cassius’s feeling toward Caesar’s growing popularity with the people and rise to authoritarianism. From Act I, scene ii, Cassius says to Brutus “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like a Colossus, and we petty men / Walk under his huge legs and peep about / To find ourselves dishonorable graves.”

 

  Later in the song, the lines “...all I think about is karma...but one thing’s for sure / Maybe I got mine, but you’ll all get yours” could be straight from Marc Antony’s mouth when he vows to get revenge on all the conspirators for killing Caesar. “Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood” (Act III, scene i).

4. End of Text Review/Summary

At the end of the book, story, or play, have students create a movie soundtrack. Each song they select should reflect a certain scene from the story. Have them explain the scene and why they chose it. They can include quotes from the story and the song to relate the two.

This is an example soundtrack from Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (see image):

This activity allows students to replay the story in their mind, setting it to music. It’s a fantastic way to review the story or as an end of the unit project.

Another way to summarize the story is having students create the album artwork for their playlists. You can have them include symbols from the story, recreate a scene, or touch on one of the themes.

My students always want to share their playlists with the class. Of course, it’s impossible to share all of the songs during class, but I have let students choose one song from their playlist and play it in class (as long as it’s appropriate). You can do this while they are creating the album artwork.  

You don’t need to purchase anything to implement this idea, but if you want the handouts and online shareable activity already done for you, you can check out my pack Character Playlists for Any Book or Story. It’s highly rated and teacher-tested. It is included in my bundle of creative worksheets to use with any text found here: 

You might also like these creative activities to use with any story:

One-Pager Assignment for Any Book by Presto Plans

Theme Park Literary Analysis Activity for Any Book by The Daring English Teacher

Thanks for reading!

How to Add More Rigor to Blackout Poetry in Middle and High School ELA

By The Daring English Teacher

Blackout poetry is often introduced to students as a low-stress, high-engagement activity, and for good reason. It’s creative, accessible, and a powerful way to get students truly interacting with words on the page. However, blackout poetry doesn’t have to stop at “fun.” With a few intentional shifts, it can become a rigorous, standards-aligned poetry and literary analysis task that challenges students to think deeply about theme, tone, symbolism, imagery, and author’s craft. If you’ve ever worried that blackout poetry feels too easy for your students or more like an art project than an academic one for your English class, this post is for you.

Start With a Clear Purpose and Text Selection

Rigor, especially in terms of assigning blackout poetry, begins before students ever pick up a marker. Instead of letting students choose random pages, consider:

• Assigning a shared text excerpt connected to a current unit
• Using passages from thematically rich short stories, speeches, or nonfiction
• Selecting texts with strong diction, imagery, or figurative language

This ensures that students are working within meaningful constraints rather than relying on the chance that their chosen page might contain substance and academic merit. Teacher tip: If students are analyzing a novel or short story, use an excerpt that reflects a major conflict or turning point from the story. This naturally pushes theme and tone analysis. Plus, it’ll also work as a close read activity also!

Require Students to Identify and Develop a Theme

One of the simplest ways to increase rigor is to move blackout poetry from “finding cool words” to communicating a central idea. Before students begin blacking out words, have them:

• Identify a theme or thematic statement
• Write it at the top of their page or on a planning sheet
• Explain how their poem will convey that theme

Then, require the final poem to clearly reflect that idea. Examples of thematic prompts:

• Loss of innocence
• Power and corruption
• Identity and belonging
• Freedom vs. control

This transforms blackout poetry into an act of interpretation, not just creation.

Focus on Mood and Tone Development

Another way to elevate the blackout poetry is to explicitly connect blackout poetry to mood and tone. Have students:

• Choose a specific mood (melancholy, hopeful, tense, ironic, ominous)
• Select words that consistently support that mood
• Explain how diction and phrasing contribute to the emotional effect

You can also push students to consider how what they black out is just as important as what they keep. Reflection prompt: How does your word choice shape the mood of your poem? What emotional response do you want your reader to have?

Incorporate Symbolism and Imagery

To add another layer of complexity, challenge students to intentionally include symbolism and imagery in their blackout poem. Students might:

• Use a repeated word or image as a symbol
• Create visual emphasis by circling or boxing symbolic words
• Connect their symbolism back to the original text’s meaning

This is a great opportunity to reinforce figurative language skills and author’s craft analysis. Students will also see firsthand just how important and impactful symbols and imagery are. Extension idea: Ask students to write a brief paragraph explaining what their symbol represents and how it connects to the theme.

Require a Planning Phase

Rigor increases when students are required to think before creating. Plus, adding a planning phase also encourages students to work through more of the writing process. Instead of jumping straight into blackout mode, have students: Annotate the text for key words, phrases, and ideas Draft a rough version of the poem in a notebook Identify theme, mood, and literary devices in advance This mirrors the writing process and reinforces that poetry is crafted, not accidental.

Pair the Poem With Analytical Writing

One of the most effective ways to raise the academic level of blackout poetry is to pair it with analysis. In addition to the blackout poem that students turn in, have them complete an additional component with the project to increase the rigor. Consider requiring:

• A short written reflection
• An explanatory paragraph
• A mini literary analysis response

Possible prompts include:

• Explain how your blackout poem reflects the theme of the text.
• Analyze how diction and imagery contribute to the poem’s mood.
• Justify your word choices using evidence from the original passage.

This transforms blackout poetry into a hybrid creative-analytical task rather than a seemingly easy art project.

Use a Rubric With Academic Criteria

If you want students to treat blackout poetry seriously, your grading criteria should reflect that. Rather than every student receiving a credit/no credit grade for the assignment, consider using a rubric to add in the rigor. A rigorous blackout poetry rubric might assess some of the following criteria:

• Clarity and depth of theme
• Intentional word choice
• Use of imagery and symbolism
• Mood or tone consistency
• Quality of written explanation or reflection

When students know what you’re looking for, it provides them with more clarity and guidance.

Creative Does Not Mean Low-Rigor

Blackout poetry is more than a fun filler activity to assign students at the end of a term or between units. When intentionally designed, it becomes a powerful way to teach theme and central ideas, diction and tone, symbolism and imagery, and/or analytical thinking. By adding structure, purpose, and reflection, you can transform blackout poetry into a rigorous, meaningful assignment that works just as well in middle school ELA as it does in high school English classrooms.

Looking for an All-in-One Blackout Poetry Resource?

If you’re looking for a ready-to-use way to bring structure and deeper thinking to your blackout poetry lessons, check out my Blackout Poetry, Found Poetry Unit with Poetry Analysis resource on Teachers Pay Teachers.

This comprehensive unit includes a 19-slide instructional presentation, clear teacher instructions, an assignment sheet, a standards-based rubric (with an editable digital version), and 60 ready-to-print blackout poetry pages, giving you everything you need to teach, assess, and extend this creative activity with intentional depth. Whether you’re introducing students to found poetry or reinforcing close reading and analytical skills, this resource helps scaffold the process while saving planning time, and it’s been highly rated by fellow ELA teachers.

How to Teach Blackout Poetry

Other Creative and Rigorous Poetry Activities and Resources:

- The blackout poem - A type of found poetry by Room 213

- Poetry Assignments for Any Poem by Presto Plans

- Guided Poetry Presentation and Handouts by Tracee Orman

10 High-Interest Nonfiction Topics for Middle & High School ELA

by Presto Plans

Does reading comprehension practice feel like an uphill battle in your ELA classroom? Trust me, I know the feeling! Over the years, I’ve learned that one of the easiest ways to strengthen reading comprehension is to give students something they actually want to read. My solution? High-interest nonfiction articles! 

I find that a brief article on the right topic pulls students in with surprising facts, real-world issues, or information that feels just a little unbelievable. In my experience, when students are genuinely curious, they are more willing to slow down, reread, and think about what the text is really saying. These kinds of articles create natural opportunities to practice core comprehension skills, like identifying tone, making inferences, tracking cause and effect, and interpreting details or data.

Here are 10 of my favorite high-interest nonfiction topics that are always a hit with middle and high school ELA students!

The History of Emojis

If your students use emojis as a second language (and let’s be honest, they do!), why not explore the history behind these tiny symbols? It’s fun to trace the evolution from the early sideways emoticons :-) which were used to signal jokes on early message boards. Students can learn more about the original purpose of emojis (to make digital communication clearer and more expressive), and reflect on how they are used today. 

What I love about this topic is that it naturally leads into all kinds of meaningful skill work, including analyzing how symbols carry meaning, how facial expressions can impact the tone of text, and why inclusive emoji design matters in today’s digital world. 

Laws in Singapore

If your students think laws are boring, learning about Singapore's legal system might make them think again. From fines for not flushing public toilets to strict rules around chewing gum, these real-world laws immediately spark middle school students’ curiosity.

As they learn more about the unique laws of Singapore, students have the opportunity to analyze tone and purpose, infer what the laws suggest about cultural values, and examine how writers shape facts for different audiences. This topic is an engaging way to show students that nonfiction texts aren’t just about information. They can also help us understand how language shapes our experiences of power, culture, and everyday life.

Hot Dog Eating Contests

Hot dog eating contests are competitive, fun, and just a little weird - the perfect combination to keep a pre-teen or teenage audience engaged. I find that this type of topic is a natural fit for middle school ELA tasks, because it encourages careful reading without feeling overly academic.

Real details - like record-breaking performances and Fourth of July traditions - keep the text grounded and credible. As they unpack figurative language and analyze the author’s playful tone, students practice valuable close reading and inference skills. You can even add in a natural way to practice data analysis as students interpret graphs of hot dog eating contest records over the years! Best of all? You can try this one for free!

Mystery of Oak Island

If your students are drawn to strange and mysterious real-life events, the story of Oak Island is an easy way to pull them in to nonfiction. For more than two centuries, people have searched this small island off the coast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia for a “hidden treasure.” There are questions about whether the treasure even exists, and every discovery seems to raise more questions than answers! 

The mystery of Oak Island is a natural fit for ELA because it is “unsolved.” Readers must weigh evidence and decide for themselves - not just absorb facts! The long history of theories, setbacks, and speculation also pushes students to think critically about how stories grow over time and why some mysteries continue to capture our attention through the years.

Video Game Competitions

Video game competitions are one of those nonfiction topics that instantly feel relevant to middle school students - especially those who don’t easily connect to more traditional topics. Many students are surprised to learn that professional gaming competitions fill stadiums, attract millions of online viewers, and offer real careers beyond casual play. 

I find this topic is ideal for analyzing tone, especially when authors use humor to challenge common assumptions about gaming. Students can practice inference by unpacking idioms, interpreting claims about money and fame, and evaluating whether the perks described in the article are deserved. Students can also apply critical thinking skills through discussions about future careers, changing industries, and the real risks behind competitive success. If your class finds this topic particularly engaging, you can add in extension tasks like short response writing, debates, or even designing a “game world” of their own!

Bizarre World Records

The longest fingernails. The fastest hula-hooper. The weirdest sandwich ever eaten. Bizarre World Records hook students because they are outrageous, surprising, and attention-grabbing. After reading an article about some of the most unusual world records, students can practice inference by unpacking loaded phrases like “This is serious business” and determining what the author really means. 

The topic of bizarre world records also supports critical thinking skills. I like to use the quest to be the “best” as a springboard for lively discussions. Students can consider the extent to which ethical and safety limits should be enforced when trying to break a world record and what qualifies something as a meaningful achievement! Natural extension activities include additional student research into unusual records. This can keep comprehension work engaging, without feeling heavy.

Tiny House Movement

What is success supposed to look like? The tiny house movement grabs attention because it often challenges their preconceived ideas about comfort and wealth. As they explore the idea of living in houses measuring only 100–400 square feet, they can grapple with the concepts of freedom and sustainability.

The unconventional topic of the tiny house movement presents opportunities for close reading, as well as discussion around personal values, priorities, and trade-offs. Through data comparisons, cause-and-effect reasoning, and text-to-self connections, students can also practice critical thinking skills. The tiny house movement can also be an interesting starting point for reflective writing, especially when students consider the value of time, money, and a person’s long-term goals. 

Effects of Social Media

Nonfiction articles about the impact of social media hit close to home - after all, many middle school students are already navigating this every day. This topic cuts straight to real and relevant issues: comparison, pressure, cyberbullying, and the feeling that nothing online is truly private. 

This particular topic provides authentic opportunities to analyze and evaluate tone. Authors balance statistics with cautionary, sometimes urgent language. I also like to encourage students to question the reliability of data and practice distinguishing fact from opinion. Of course, exploring the impact of social media also provides genuine critical thinking opportunities. I like to invite students to consider how online behavior affects mental health and real-world relationships. Wrapping up the reading with a brief debate on screen-time limits can bring new focus and purpose to the topic. I find this also encourages close reading (and re-reading) skills!

Toxic Friendships

The topic of toxic friendships often resonates with middle school students. Many can recognize these dynamics within their peer group and in popular media. As students read, I like to invite them to look for signs of unhealthy relationships (like manipulation, constant negativity, or unreliability). They can also use their inference skills to interpret behaviors and determine what makes a relationship unhealthy. 

This is a great crossover lesson to support social-emotional learning! To extend students’ understanding, they can apply summarization and synthesis skills, using evidence to define different “toxic friend types.” Your middle schoolers can also apply critical thinking skills by comparing “toxic” and “supportive” responses to the same situation and create scenario-style personal responses of their own.

Self-Driving Cars

Blending technology, ethics, and the future of transportation, the topic of self-driving cars is a guaranteed way to hook middle school students! I find this topic is a great way to introduce and help students identify claims, counterclaims, and supporting evidence. As students engage with arguments for and against driverless vehicles, they must consider questions about safety, trust, and control. 

As they work with this topic, middle school readers can also strengthen their ability to determine the meaning of unfamiliar or technical terms (like “autonomous” and “ameliorate”) through context clues. To wrap up, small-group and whole-class discussions, as well as short writing tasks, can encourage critical thinking about ethics, jobs, and future technology.

You can grab all these articles (and many more!) in my full-year Nonfiction Article of the Week Full-Year Program!

For more ideas to support nonfiction and reading comprehension in middle or high school ELA, check out these other posts from my friends at the Secondary English Coffee Shop!

Nonfiction Writing Assignments with Mentor Texts by Room 213

Paraphrasing, Quoting, and Summarizing by The Daring English Teacher

TikTok Banning Pro Con Argument Nonfiction Reading Activity by Tracee Orman