Curated OER
War Literature
Working in groups, young historians review a war poem written by Stephen Crane. After reviewing the poem, they present an oral interpretation of the poem and hold a panel discussion about their analysis. The panel is made up of five or...
Curated OER
Hispanic and English Literature
Eleventh graders listen to a brief history lesson about the 40's and 50's mid-West America and the Migrant workers that worked the fields. Next, learners will read a short story written by Tomas Rivera (both in Spanish and English)....
Curated OER
Deck the Halls with Literature Trees
Reinforce and assess reading comprehension by having your class make a literature tree! After reading a book, pupils make decorations to represent the book's themes, characters, and setting. Materials for decorating can be as diverse and...
Indiana University
Literature of Asia and the Middle East: "A Sound of Hammering" by Dazai Osamu
Dazai Osamu’s short story, “A Sound of Hammering” is the focus of a three-day investigation of modern Japanese literature and life in post-World War II Japan. The events in Osamu’s story mirror those in his own life, and give a...
Curated OER
Civil War Literature Circle
Historical fiction can be a valuable asset when learning about the past. Integrate several novels written about the Civil War into your social studies unit, with groups of four working collaboratively to comprehend the novel from...
Novelinks
The Little Prince: Picture Book Strategy
Picture books aren't just for children; they carry strong, valuable messages for adult as well. Explore the audience for Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince with a lesson that compares picture books to literature intended for...
Curated OER
Literary Response and Analysis
Examine a variety of literary responses to Abraham Lincoln's death and the impact of perception. Your class can work in writing groups to analyze either poetry, eulogy, or a newspaper article. They retell the events of Abraham Lincoln's...
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
Curated OER
Talking Sticks Literature Circle
Following the six-step process for a talking sticks literature circle, group members choose a leader for the discussion, summarize the reading, discuss journal entries and questions, set reading goals, and write reflections. I think this...
Curated OER
Mini Literature Circle
In this literature circle worksheet, students form groups and choose a leader, summarize the book, discuss journal entries, make connections, and write reflections about the novel they are reading. Students provide short answers for...
EngageNY
Forming Evidence-Based Claims: Should Lyddie Sign the Petition?
Pupils reread selected passages from Katherine Paterson's novel Lyddie. After they finish, individuals gather textual evidence supporting whether Lyddie should sign a controversial petition and record their findings on graphic organizers.
Curated OER
On the Scene: Analyzing Scenes in Film and Literature
Young scholars examine how a scene in a movie or in literature is constructed. In this film and literature activity students answer questions based on film clips then create storyboards depicting a scene from their life.
Curated OER
Quilt Squares-Literature Reporting
Differentiate instruction with this crafty approach to demonstrating comprehension. Learners choose a fictional book at their reading level, and afterward create a quilt square. The square is "decorated" with words, illustrations, and...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 12: Author's Purpose - Yeats and Achebe
Is there such a thing as fate/luck? Can one fight destiny? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe's purpose in writing Things Fall Apart, class members answer these questions from Achebe's point of view and then from William Butler...
Curated OER
Responding to Literature
Fifth graders examine how to respond to literature. In this literature response lesson, 5th graders discuss how to respond to literature. They write a response in a literature log each night based on their reading and the connections...
Curated OER
Twisted Tales
Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select another...
Curated OER
It's Your Opinion
Everyone has a different opinion about the characters they read about in books. Have your class explore forming an opinion and finding evidence to support it as they read and discuss what they think about a particular character. They...
Curated OER
Experience and Perspective
Sixth graders make connections between past experiences and perspective. They read Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith. Then, they analyze a character's history and state the past experiences that form their perspective. In the...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
ABA Form in Music
Patterns happen everywhere, in music, math, and language! Fourth graders listen to the "William Tell Overture" visualizing the patterns that they hear. They then discuss and write an ABA poem that matches the ABA form found in the music...
Curated OER
Forming Connections Across Generations and Cultures
Students explore contemporary Indian literature. They compare and contrast intergenerational conflict in different cultures. Students explain and clarify their views on marriage and traditions.
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...
Curated OER
Crayon Etching- Medieval Bestiary
Sixth graders make connections between art and literature studying about Medieval imagery and beliefs.
Curated OER
Comprehension Skills: Evaluate Using Fiction Stories and Aesop's Fables
Primary readers investigate several comprehension skills in the ten lessons of this unit. Forming opinions about stories, comparing stories to each other, using Venn Diagrams, and applying the ideas from a story to real life situations...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Mark Twain and American Humor
“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is famous, in part, because it established a uniquely American form of humor. For this famous story, Mark Twain combines the tall-tale, the dialect story, and satire. Here is a resource...