+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Screen Play

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a sample...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jeffrey and Sloth: Six Traits of Writing

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pride and Prejudice: Unsent Letter

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
What would the characters of Pride and Prejudice say to each other in a letter? Draft unsent correspondence between characters from Jane Austen's novel. A great way to explore characterization and plot structure in a creative lesson.
+
Lesson Plan
Novelinks

Oedipus the King: Biopoem

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The biopoem is a great way for instructors to get to know class members, classmates to get to know each other, and readers to flesh out their understanding of a character. Why not create a biopoem for a character from Oedipus the King? 
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write Your Own Screen Play

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers critique the transition of "Holes" from a novel to screenplay and consider how the details in a book are brought to life in a movie. They then choose a scene in a book and transform it into an original script after...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A New Point of View

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introducing Jane Eyre

For Teachers 8th - 12th
"How can a magazine reflect a particular time and culture?" Using this prompt, your class explores the Victorian Era as it relates to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. They can also play the "Victorian Women's Rights" game for the year 1840...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Antonia: Guided Imagery

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Willa Cather's novel My Antonia is full of vivid imagery. Encourage your pupils to visualize and translate images from the text into original writing with this guided imagery activity. Learners listen to an excerpt, take a moment to...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: Graphic Organizer

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
After completing the first five chapters of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle By Avi, use direct quotes to make inferences about how Charlotte feels about certain characters. Later, when the novel has concluded, revisit the text to...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: "Teach Each Other" Discussion

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Challenge your class to hold a discussion about the theme of death in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead without direct teacher guidance. After going over the discussion protocols and quotes from the text, learners move in a circle...
+
Lesson Plan
Brigham Young University

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Fishbowl Discussion

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
After reading through Act II of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, take some time to discuss the references to death in the play. For this fishbowl discussion, learners prepare questions, practice answering individually and with...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pride and Prejudice: Problematic Situation

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
What would you do if your sister ran off with a man whom you didn't trust? Explore a scenario based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Once kids work though the problem, they read the appropriate chapters from the book and write a...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Little Prince: Problematic Situation

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Your plane has crashed in the Sahara desert. What do you do? Explore the possibilities with a role-playing activity based on Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince. In groups, kids decide whether they would walk to find help to try...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Were They Thinking Then, What Are We Thinking Now?

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Choosing an issue from a play or novel, researchers find two primary sources from different time periods to compare how people's views have changed. Many questions are listed to guide young writers. In the end, learners produce a...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lessons from the Holocaust

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students investigate the horrors of World War II by participating in a role-playing activity.  In this holocaust instructional activity, students read handouts describing the atrocities committed against the Jews in Germany during the...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Good Book, Bad Book: Lesson 2

For Teachers 6th - 8th
An interesting way to incorporate pop culture and the elements that make a book good. Kids watch a clip from MTV Cribs, they discuss how good or bad books are similar to good or bad homes. They are all different and not everybody will...
+
Lesson Plan
Penguin Books

Wonder in the Classroom

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Would you rather be right, or would you rather be kind? A novel unit based on R.J. Palacio's Wonder focuses on the need to be kind to others and to accept their differences. As learners read the book, they discuss the themes of family...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Night: Unsent Letters Writing Strategy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
As part of their study of Elie Wiesel's Night, individuals assume the voice of an Auschwitz survivor and craft a letter to a former SS officer who worked at the camp and claims he is not guilty of any crime. 
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Technical Writing / Siddhartha

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders are introduced to and produce several types of technical writing. They watch a crime video and write a police report, explore websites and draft summary sentences, write a personal vision quest based on "Siddhartha" and...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan 3: Great Book, Gross Book

For Teachers 6th - 9th
It's time for your scholars to become book reviewers! Start with a fun review of foods: are they good or gross? Learners apply these evaluation techniques to books, recording their thoughts on large pieces of butcher paper. Simply have...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Graphic Organizer: Venn Diagram

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Get to know more about the characters of the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis by comparing and contrasting their character traits using a Venn diagram.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Debate

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Groups of learners investigate the persuasive genre of writing as they research and present on an issue. They research the Internet (possible websites are included) for a topic and locate information to present to the opposing team. In...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read a chapter in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and define new words for their dictionaries. In this vocabulary lesson students choose two or three assignment from a list of projects and complete it using the text in the...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Brown University

Considering the Role of Values in Public Policy

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Strong opinions come from deeply held values. Young citizens explore the values that are most important to them in a class discussion and activity. As they prioritize a list of values cards that include freedom, justice, and democracy,...