🎯 High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS): Practical Tools to Level Up Your ELA Lessons

As ELA teachers, we wear many hats—reading guides, writing coaches, grammar gurus, and sometimes motivational speakers. But how do we make sure our teaching is actually making an impact? That’s where High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) come in.

These research-backed practices aren’t just educational buzzwords. They’re grounded in what actually works to boost student learning. Whether you’re a veteran educator or just getting your classroom groove, here’s your ultimate guide to HITS—with practical ELA examples you can use tomorrow.

1. 🎯 Setting Goals

What it is: Make learning clear and visible with learning intentions and success criteria.

ELA Example:
Before diving into a poetry analysis, post this on the board:

Learning Target: I can analyze how figurative language contributes to tone in a poem.
Success Criteria: I can identify two examples of figurative language and explain their effect on tone.

Try This: Use “I can” statements or goal slips students tape in their notebooks!

2. 🧠 Structuring Lessons

What it is: Lessons follow a clear flow—from hook to closure.

ELA Example:

• Do Now: Students respond to a quote from Of Mice and Men.
• Mini-Lesson: Direct teaching of theme vs. motif.
• Guided Practice: Group reads a passage and annotates for motifs.
• Exit Ticket: Students summarize how the passage supports a theme.

Try This: Use color-coded slide decks or consistent templates to structure your day.

3. 📣 Explicit Teaching

What it is: Show students how to think, not just what to think.

ELA Example:
Model a rhetorical analysis paragraph by writing live on a doc projected at the front. Think aloud:

“Here’s where I notice ethos… How do I know? Because the speaker talks about their credentials…”

Try This: Create anchor charts of steps in literary analysis or essay writing and refer to them regularly.

4. ✍️ Worked Examples

What it is: Step-by-step breakdowns that show the “how.”

ELA Example:
Break down a thesis statement for The Crucible:

Step 1: Identify a theme
Step 2: Identify a literary device
Step 3: Connect both in a claim

Try This: Provide one worked example and one partial one for students to finish.

5. 🤝 Collaborative Learning

What it is: Students learn with and from each other.

ELA Example:
During a short story unit, assign each group a literary element to track—symbolism, plot structure, tone. After reading, each group presents their findings.

Try This: Use Jigsaw or Literature Circles with job roles like “connector,” “questioner,” and “summarizer.”

6. 🔁 Multiple Exposures

What it is: Revisit key ideas in different formats.

ELA Example:

• Day 1: Introduce irony through definitions and examples.
• Day 2: Watch a short film to spot irony.
• Day 3: Annotate irony in “The Lottery.”
• Day 4: Use irony in student-written flash fiction.

Try This: Use stations, spiral review, or integrate concepts across texts and genres.

7. ❓ Questioning

What it is: Strategic questions spark thinking and check understanding.

ELA Example:
Instead of “What is the theme?”, try “Why would the author choose to end the story this way? What message are they leaving us with?”

Try This: Have students write their own discussion questions using Bloom’s Taxonomy stems.

8. 📝 Feedback

What it is: Actionable, timely feedback that helps students grow.

ELA Example:
On a student’s rough draft, comment:

“You’ve got strong ideas. Next step: add a quote to support this claim.”
Then meet for a 2-minute writing conference.

Try This: Use color-coded feedback slips or sentence starters for peer review.

9. 🧭 Metacognitive Strategies

What it is: Help students reflect on how they learn.

ELA Example:
After a unit on persuasive writing, students complete a reflection:

“What strategies helped me improve? What will I focus on next time?”

Try This: Use learning journals or “traffic light” self-checks (green = got it, yellow = need help, red = still lost).

10. 🎨 Differentiated Teaching

What it is: Adjust instruction to meet diverse needs.

ELA Example:
Offer three choices for a poetry analysis project:

• Write an analytical essay
• Create a visual collage with annotations
• Record a podcast discussing poem interpretation

Try This: Use learning menus, tiered tasks, or flexible grouping.

👏 Final Thoughts

Teaching is hard work. But using High Impact Teaching Strategies makes that work more purposeful, effective, and even more fun. These aren’t just tools for better instruction—they’re tools for building confident, independent learners.

Pick 1–2 strategies to focus on this month. Adapt them to your teaching style. And most importantly, celebrate the small wins!

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💬 Want More?

Grab my editable HITS cheat sheet and classroom planning guide to help you bring these strategies into your daily routine. Let’s make this year your most impactful yet!

Check out resources below that may help you in your secondary classroom.