Illinois State Board of Education
Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
University of Southern California
Coming to America After the War
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War II. To...
Curated OER
Myths, Folktales, & Fairy Tales
Introduce the concept of myths to your class. Using the link to "Myths Around the World," read a story aloud and have learners list characteristics of a myth. Readers then choose their own myths from the site and work in groups to answer...
Curated OER
Exploring Arthurian Legend
Students investigate the evolution of the King Arthur stories and analyze them as a window into the culture that preserved them. They trace the legends through their earliest versions through medieval and Victorian times and into the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Hamlet Meets Chushingura: Traditions of the Revenge Tragedy
Students read texts, view film and video and conduct research in an analysis and comparison of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and the Kabuki piece "Chushingura". They focus their analysis on the theme of revenge.
Curated OER
Military History Of China And Japan
Students examine how the Chinese and Japanese used art and literature to bolster the legitimacy of military regimes. The lesson concludes with small group Powerpoint presentations.
Curated OER
I Went to the Crossroads: The Faust Theme in Music, Film and Literature
Students analyze song lyrics and discuss Faust theme in musical history. In this thematic lesson, students view a film clip and create a song lyric, poem or short story developed around the Faust theme. Students perform or present their...
Curated OER
Forest Activity: The Forest as Inspiration for Literature
Students analyze the role of the forest in literature. They read various literature selections, analyze the role the forest played as a setting, character, or symbol, and complete a writing activity.
Curated OER
American Deaf Culture: A History of Language
Students examine the relationship between language and culture in the Deaf Community. They discover the history of sign language and how it has been viewed in the past. They examine the Deaf community's beliefs and values.
Curated OER
Interative History Notebook Mini-lesson
Young scholars respond to Holocaust literature. In this interactive history lesson, students select quotes from chapter 1 of Elie Wiesel's Night and reflect on their meaning as they record their thoughts on poetic, prose, comic. or...
Curated OER
Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen
Students use the music of Bruce Springsteen to learn literature techniques.
Curated OER
Salem Witch Trials
Students consider the implications of the Salem Witch Trials. In this literature lesson plan, students read Arthur Miller's The Crucible and compare the witch trials to McCarthyism of the 1950's. Students rewrite scenes from the play...
Curated OER
Elements of Fables
Students explore the attributes of fables. In this literature lesson, students read several fables and identify the moral lesson, characterization, and figurative language in each. Students then retell their favorite fables in their own...
Curated OER
The Legend of King Arthur
Students explore historical perspectives through literature. In this King Arthur activity, students discover the attributes of dramatic monologue as they read selected literature. Students then discuss the legend of King Arthur and...
Curated OER
Baseball Memories
Students act as historians by, first, reading and analyzing oral histories of professional baseball players to become familiar with baseball figures. Then, they proceed to interview family members, relatives, or neighbors who have...
Curated OER
Indian Removal: Does History Always Reflect progress?
Students explore the idea that progress for some might not mean progress for all. In this Native American lesson, students recognize different viewpoints about historical events through the study of primary documents. Students decipher...
Curated OER
Changing Perspectives on the Japanese Internment Experience
High schoolers explore the issue of Japanese-American internment. In this World War II lesson, students analyze historical biases regarding Japanese-American internment as they analyze literature, research print and Internet sources, and...
Curated OER
Louisa May Alcott: her life, her times and her literature
Learners explore one of America's favorite classic novels, 'Little Women'. They develop an interest in classics, study the author's life and discover which elements of her family history she incorporates into her work. They show how...
Curated OER
Lesson: Urs Fischer: Controlling our Logic, Metaphors, and Semantics
Kids use poetry and contemporary art to start thinking about logic and personal expression. They read Sylvia Plath's poem "Metaphor," and critically examine the art of Urs Fischer. After working though a few logic problems they write...
Curated OER
Graphs of the Heart
Students study Greek literature. In this Greek tragedies activity, students explore the dance-dramas of Martha Graham. Students study the choreography that brings ancient Greek literature to life.
Curated OER
Point of View
Class members examine depictions of Thanksgiving in various mediums and discuss how point of view influences the composition and presentation of the work. While the focus here is on important events in American history as seen from the...
Curated OER
Literature: Isabel Allende
Students watch and respond to a Bill Moyers Now video on the Chilean author, Isabel Allende. They brainstorm a list of recent events that might inspire writers and choose one to write about in poetic, diary, or short story form.
Curated OER
Jewish Assimilation In Contemporary American Literature
High schoolers form groups to help each other read, analyze, and conduct research on important background information about Jews and their assimilation into modern American society. They write their own stories of assimilation.
Curated OER
Literature: Watching Anna
Students view the PBS presentation of Leo Tolstoy's, "Anna Karenina." Prior and after each episode, they discuss plot and characterization and in one lesson, use adjectives to describe each of the main characters. Then, students create...