Introduce a study of satire with a presentation of laugh-out-loud funny slides that define the various characteristics of satiric writing and provide examples of each.

Language arts learners don't need a lecture about poetry; they listen to poetry every day on the radio! Apply skills from literary analysis to famous songs and beautiful lyrics with a lesson about literary devices. As class...

If your language arts learners have a hard time determining the universal theme of a written work, use a straightforward instructional activity to help them find it. After reviewing a list of common themes, kids note the title,...

Scholars demonstrate the ability to evaluate authors' use of literary elements such as metaphor, simile, personification, imagery, and onomatopoeia. They are provided with a checklist and must shop for poems that contain the poetry terms...

Two poems by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman are spotlighted in a PBS lesson plan. Young scholars conduct a close reading and watch videos of Gorman reading her inaugural poem "The Hill We Climb" and "The Miracle of Morning."...

Scholars use a Story Impressions Note-catcher to capture their first impressions of words or phrases from To Kill a Mockingbird. They then listen to a reading of the first six pages of the novel before the teacher asks questions to check...

Robert Frost's "Choose Something Like a Star" and John Keats' "Bright Star" provide the text for a two-part instructional activity in which class members analyze the effects of style on meaning in poetry. Randall Thompson's song cycle...

Jewell Parker Rhodes, the author of Ghost Boys, wanted to bring the historical legacy of Emmett Till and the current topic of racial prejudice into today's young readers' mindsets. Use a reading guide and set of discussion questions to...

Have everything you need to know about the elements of poetry with a nine-page handout. Split into four categories—word sounds, meanings, arrangement, and imagery—budding poets may reference terms, read definitions, descriptions, and...

"The Masque of the Red Death" provides readers with an opportunity to research and plan a presentation about a topic related to Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story. 

The poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are the focus of a unit that asks readers to consider how an artist's life and changes in society influences his or her work. After careful study of Whitman's and Dickinson's perspectives on...

Three of Emily Dickinson's poems, "I like to see it," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "We grow accustomed to the Dark," provide instructors with an opportunity to model for class members how to use close reading strategies to...

Looking for a lesson that teaches class members how to analyze nonfiction? Use Joseph McCarthy's famous "Enemies from Within" speech as a instructional text. Worksheet questions direct readers' attention to the many historical references...

Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" is one of the most famous and emotional tributes to Abraham Lincoln. Guide readers through the evocative elegy with a reading comprehension worksheet, complete with the poem's text and a photograph...

Neil Gaiman's award winning children's fantasy novel, The Graveyard Book, is the focus of a literary analysis overview. Those new to the novel can decide whether the book is appropriate for whole-class discussion or as a book circle...

Take an in-depth look into Gary Paulsen's Hatchet with a concept guide. With a list and explanation of thematic motifs, types of conflicts, and vocabulary in the novel, learners will engage with the text in a whole new way.

Want a handy way to remember the difference between metaphors and similes, or allusions and alliteration? Individuals craft their own figurative language booklet, complete with definitions, examples, and illustrations, following...

Nevermore will class members ponder over Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven." They will distinctly remember reading, acting out, and writing about Poe's stately raven.

After a series of close reading activities that focus on modernist elements in T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," individuals are asked to adopt the point of view of a mental health professional and e-mail Prufrock...

To allude, or not to allude, that is the question: whether ‘tis better to make a reference and engage your audience or risk confusing them or sounding dated. After reading an article about, and loaded with allusions, class members take a...

Seriously, 93 slides of literary terms? Yes, and well worth the time, although perhaps not all at once. The beauty here is in the concise, easy-to-understand definitions for such well-known terms as imagery and personification, as well...

Reading A Separate Peace? Readers analyze important quotes that appear in John Knowle's classic novel using the provided graphic organizer. Learners record a passage and provide an accompanying analysis for each entry. Consider having...