Phone-Free Classrooms in Kansas City: Printable High School ELA Units
Phone-Free Classrooms in Kansas City: Printable High School ELA Units
If your Kansas City Public Schools classroom now runs with phones put away all day under Missouri Senate Bill 68, the High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle ($109.99) gives you nine units built on close reading, discussion and writing: characterization, argumentative essays, political cartoons, speeches and rhetoric, Macbeth, 1984 and the American Dream.
See the nine ELA unitsFor a Kansas City high school English class without phones, the High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle ($109.99) is a strong fit. Its nine units, from analysis vocabulary and characterization to Macbeth, Orwell's 1984, the American Dream and political speeches, run on printed worksheets, activities and class discussion. It is not written for the Missouri Learning Standards, and the listening and viewing pack needs audio or video you play.
The resources
High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle, Grades 9–12
9 resources in one download: $109.99 instead of $224.91 bought separately.
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle | Fiction, Speeches, Essays, Macbeth & 1984 | 9 Units | Grades 9–12
English Language Arts Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for High School ELA (Grades 9–12)
English Language Arts Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for Middle School ELA
Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
The real problem
Teaching English when phones are gone all day
Missouri Senate Bill 68 requires every K–12 district, charter schools included, to adopt a written policy limiting student phone use for the full school day, including meals and passing periods, beginning in 2025–26. In Kansas City Public Schools, 2026–27 is the second school year under such a policy. Across the state line, Kansas City Kansas Public Schools follows a Kansas law in effect since July 1, 2026, that requires bell-to-bell bans, and it collects phones on arrival in sealed containers at middle and high schools. The change matters most in lessons that used to lean on a phone: looking up a word, reading a text on a screen, answering a quick poll or searching for a quote. In English class, much of that work moves back to paper. Students need texts they can annotate, analysis vocabulary they can reach for without a search bar, and structured tasks that keep a discussion going for a full period. Teachers need those materials ready, because building annotation tasks, discussion questions and essay scaffolds for nine topics by hand takes many evenings. And a phone-free class should still read Shakespeare, analyze rhetoric and write arguments with evidence.
Why it fits
Why these units work with phones away
The bundle is built around reading, talking and writing about texts. These parts suit a device-free room especially well.
- Analysis Vocabulary and Operators gives students printed terms for writing about texts, with no search needed.
- Analysing Cartoons – Step by Step turns one printed image into a full period of close looking and talk.
- Analysing Political Speeches trains rhetoric and stylistic devices through annotation and discussion on paper.
- The Macbeth unit gives a structured drama analysis that works on printed pages and in discussion.
- Writing a Comment and Argumentative Essay builds argument writing with evidence, entirely with pen and paper.
- Dystopia – Orwell's 1984 and Beyond gives a strong discussion text for a class living with new phone rules.
Getting started
A semester plan for a phone-free English class
This is a sample order, not a district pacing guide. Fit it to your KCPS course map and grade level.
- Weeks 1–2: the language of analysisOpen with Analysis Vocabulary and Operators. Students keep the printed list in their binder and use it in every unit that follows, instead of looking terms up.
- Weeks 3–5: characterization and fictionMove to Characterisation and Analysing Fiction. Annotate a short text together, then let pairs annotate the next one on paper and report back to the class.
- Weeks 6–8: cartoons and speechesTeach Analysing Cartoons, then Analysing Political Speeches. Both rely on close looking, annotation and discussion, which keeps a phone-free room busy and talking all period.
- Weeks 9–12: Macbeth or 1984Choose one major text for the middle of the semester. Younger classes might start with Macbeth; juniors and seniors can take on Orwell's 1984 and its questions about surveillance.
- Weeks 13–16: argument and the American DreamEnd with The American Dream – Myth and Reality and the argumentative essay unit, so students write a final argument using evidence from the semester's texts.
What to buy
Nine units, or a full course
If you want ready analysis and writing units for a phone-free classroom, buy the High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle at $109.99; bought separately, the nine units cost $224.91. If you need a full year's structure for Grades 9–12, ELA Complete – High School costs $149.90, or $189.90 with the Teach-Life-Balance course. Teachers who also have middle school sections can add ELA Complete – Middle School ($149.90); code TEACHMORE15 takes 15% off two or more Complete Curriculum packages, but not this bundle. Teach-Life-Balance is also sold on its own for $89.90.
Honest limits
Honest limits before you buy
The bundle is not written for Missouri. It has no Missouri Learning Standards codes and has not been reviewed or approved by the state, KCPS or any district, so check each unit against your standards and course map. It is a set of units, not a full year. If you want students reading the complete play or novel, plan on your school's own copies. The listening and viewing pack needs audio or video you play for the class. You supply printing. Before colleagues in your department use the files, send Teach Lessons a short note. If the units do not suit your classes, a 7-day exchange for store credit of equal value is available, but no cash refund.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is the bundle aligned with the Missouri Learning Standards?
No. It is not aligned with the Missouri Learning Standards for ELA, revised in 2016, and it has not been approved or endorsed by the state, Kansas City Public Schools or any district. It teaches common high school skills such as analysis, rhetoric and argument writing. Compare each unit with the standards and your course expectations before you plan around it.
Does it work in a classroom that follows SB 68?
Yes. Senate Bill 68 limits student phone use, and these units run on printed worksheets, activities and answer keys, plus slides you can project from the teacher's computer. Nothing in the unit descriptions calls for student phones. The listening and viewing pack is the one place you will need audio or video, played for the whole class.
I teach in KCKPS across the state line. Does it fit there?
The units work the same way under the Kansas bell-to-bell law and KCKPS's sealed-container collection, since nothing depends on student phones. The bundle is not aligned with Kansas standards either, so check it against your own course map. Purchase and licence terms are the same on both sides of the state line.
Can students annotate digital copies instead?
Yes, if your school issues devices. The materials are made for print and digital classrooms. In a phone-free room, printing keeps attention on the text and away from other tabs, but that choice is yours, and you can mix both within one unit, for example slides for the class and paper for annotation.
Which grade levels does it suit?
The bundle is labeled Grades 9–12. Analysis vocabulary, characterization and cartoon units make good starting points for ninth graders, while political speeches, 1984 and the American Dream unit suit juniors and seniors well. Treat that as a suggestion; you know your students' reading levels best.
Can my whole English department use it?
One purchase covers your own teaching. If several teachers at your KCPS school want to use the units, send Teach Lessons a short message before buying to arrange team use. Uploading the files to a shared site or posting them publicly is not allowed under the licence.
Fill the phone-free period with real analysis
Open the High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle to see all nine units and plan your next one.
See the nine ELA units