100% Engagement

33 Lessons to Promote Participation, Beat Boredom, and Deepen Learning in the ELA Classroom

Susan Barber author Brian Sztabnik author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:SAGE Publications Inc

Publishing:14th Aug '25

£29.99

This title is due to be published on 14th August, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

100% Engagement cover

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% Engagement: 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 book:

  • 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.

This is the ultimate "grab-and-go" book for ELA teachers—perfect for quick inspiration and engaging lessons. More than just activities, it keeps its promises and offers real teacher insights, adaptable plans, and strategies for 100% engagement. Centered on why literature matters, it′s a must-have resource for all high school ELA educators.

-- Dr. Brandon Abdon

Engaging students is the key to growing their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. For a teacher, there’s no better way to enhance your engagement strategies than to model leading educators who have mastered this art. I turn to Brian Sztabnik and Susan Barber when I have questions in this area, and with 100% Engagement, we can all have their insights at our fingertips.

-- Emily Kirkpatrick

This collection of lessons helped me to envision new strategies for my own classroom. This is a book that gives me hope. The clear objectives, the specificity of the lesson directions, and the reasoning behind them make this book both inspirational and practical. It is clear that the writers are real classroom teachers successfully designing meaningful instruction even in the face of challenges that all teachers experience.

-- Brett Vogelsinger
Too many folks still believe that students are motivated by only certain personalities or gimmicks or race-to-the-bottom engagement hacks. Brian and Susan′s excellent book offers 33 classroom-tested lessons that make rigorous, student-centered learning the norm. As you apprentice yourself to these lessons, just watch what happens to your heart and mind and those of your students. -- Dave Stuart Jr.

There are books about engagement, and then there’s this book—because Sztabnik and Barber aren’t just experienced teachers; they’re engagement scientists who have mapped out the ultimate blueprint for transforming passive students into passionate learners and making every class electric.

-- Todd Finley

Brian and Susan offer dynamic and engaging lessons that are strategically crafted to spark student interest while maximizing learning. 100% Engagement is an invaluable resource for any educator looking to elevate their teaching.

-- Melissa Alter Smith

In this book, Brian Sztabnik and Susan Barber, two experienced and respected teachers, show teachers what it looks like to be engaging and effective—to create a classroom and curriculum through which students not only learn but also come to love what they find in their English classes.

-- Jim Burke

Disaffected students making you tear your hair out? Susan Barber and Brian Sztabnik offer a plan for moving students from compliance and complaint to connection—connection with their peers, connection with engaging literature, and connection with themselves as learners. These 33 lessons are truly electric!

-- Carol Jago

Whether you’re a new educator overwhelmed by all the requirements of the job or a veteran teacher with stale materials, this text will inspire! 100% Engagement helps teachers find engaging strategies to use with quality texts. I found applications in just the first lesson, and by the end the ideas were exploding!

-- Gina Kortuem
This book is an absolute must-read for any English teacher.  Throughout it, Susan and Brian masterfully dispel many contemporary teaching and learning myths by intertwining their own experiences with their content expertise.  Their dynamic lessons provide a flexible yet clear blueprint for developing an engaging classroom where, as they write, student "motivation is high and interactions are based on mutual respect and appreciation."  -- Timm Freitas

Susan Barber and Brian Sztabnik first shred the myths that cause teachers to shy away from classroom engagement—and then proceed to provide dozens and dozens of clear lessons that engage students as the learning is turned over to them. Energy and learning generated in all kinds of classrooms! An immensely enlightening and useful resource.

-- Peggy O′B

ISBN: 9781071961889

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

264 pages