100% Engagement: 33 Lessons to Promote Participation, Beat Boredom, and Deepen Learning in the ELA Classroom

by Brian Sztabnik, Susan Barber

Classroom-tested lessons to help you strive for 100% engagement in your ELA classroom


For educators, it can be a constant challenge to keep students engaged and motivated in the classroom. With the rise of technology and shortened attention spans, we have to go beyond traditional teaching methods, especially in the English Language Arts (ELA) classroom where students may perceive reading and writing as tedious tasks.


100% 33 Lessons to Promote Participation, Beat Boredom, and Deepen Learning in the ELA Classroom offers captivating and interactive lessons that will help students thrive in their ELA studies. Authors Brian Sztabnik and Susan Barber provide practical guidance and inspiration to make ELA learning more meaningful and enjoyable for students in Grades 6-12. The book’s 33 lessons are organized by genres including Poetry, Short Fiction, Novels & Dramas, and Writing and are adaptable to support different learning styles, ensuring that all students feel valued and engaged in the classroom. The lessons get students out of their seats, participating in discussion, collaborating, and working across mediums to build their literacy skills.


Providing tips and tricks to achieve 100% engagement, this



Fosters a classroom where student motivation is high, and interactions are based on mutual respect and appreciation
Challenges learners to think critically and creatively by incorporating collaborative, cross-genre activities
Offers adaptations to help teachers tailor the lessons based on their individual classroom needs, making it easier for all students to participate fully
Offers downloadable templates and handouts for easy implementation

100% Engagement is the ultimate toolkit for teachers looking to foster motivation, creativity, and active participation that deepens learning for every student in their ELA classroom.

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 28, 2025

Reviews

[Lisa Penninga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! Both of the authors I have the ultimate respect for and I have purchased their former books as well. I just planned my first month with their activities listed in here, and updated many of my units with their ideas. Definitely recommend it!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brimfull of ideas you can implement in your classroom tomorrow! I’ve followed Brian and Susan online and in AP Lit circle for a few years and they have been so generous in sharing their wisdom. But so many of those ideas are somewhere in the ether. I know I read the post somewhere, sometime but is it there when I need it? Not always. This book pulls together many of the ideas they’ve shared (and many others!) and ALL of them are great. They explain clearly how they’ve used the ideas in their own classrooms, provide QR codes for sample videos and links, and even suggest ways to expand the lesson. Everything is tangible, classroom tested, accessible, and most of all FUN. I can’t wait to see my students engage with these great ideas!! I’ve read many teaching books, but this one is the most practical, especially for ELA. I’m so glad I have it as a resource!

[Maeve Bolin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will definitely use these lesson plans in my classes. Thank you!

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ideas!

[Tamatha Picolla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love their website muchadoaboutteaching.com. This is much easier to navigate. I am looking forward to using these strategies in the future.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've followed Susan and Brian's work for years (and had the pleasure of meeting Susan a few times!). They have always been generous in sharing what's working in their classrooms, and this book follows that pattern. Divided into four sections of easy-to-digest lesson plans, this book gives readers a variety of strategies to draw from to help students develop their skills in poetry analysis, writing development, and prose analysis (both short and long-form). While it is perhaps more applicable for AP or advanced lessons, many of the strategies would equally work in an on-level class. If you want a PD book that gives you ready-to-go plans, this is it!

Some of the lessons are larger and would require more time or feel like a "project," but an equal number are simple to implement. Reading the book helped me to remember that "engagement" doesn't need to mean a fancy lesson plan or making learning into a complex game. Instead, "engagement" is shifting the intellectual burden from the teacher to the student. The common thread for many of the lessons is facilitating opportunities for the students to investigate and construct the answers. I could certainly do more of that, and I look forward to trying out a few of these lessons in my own classroom.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teachers seeking ways to diversify their approaches to teaching literature and writing are likely to find something fresh and engaging in these pages. While many of the activities highlighted in these lessons are familiar to me, Barker and Sztabnik’s suggestions for adapting these activities have me thinking about how modify my current approaches.

These lessons are ideal for high school students, though the cover indicates a recommended grade range of 6-12. I have trouble imagining most of these lessons working for sixth graders. Some activities may be simplified for younger students, but the text doesn’t offer guidance for how to do that.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore and respect the authors of this book. I give this book 3 stars because it doesn’t meet MY needs as a quite creative veteran teacher who has done many variations of these activities through the years. For a younger teacher or people who feel they are in a rut, it would be 4 stars. The strength of the activities in the book are that they are transferable across genres, texts, and student ages.

[Melissa Braden · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few original ideas, but the rest I'm already familiar with. Disappointed at how much I spent on this one.

[Wendy Blankinship · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas for the classroom! Looking forward to implementing some of these in upcoming school year

[Shannon Adams plechas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great teacher resource and a great reminder to mix things up.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite its eduspeak title, this is one of the better PD books I’ve read in a while, with a handful of solid ideas I’ll implement.