New ReviewA reading of Kevin Lamb's short story "Lost in the Woods" launches a study of how writers use elements such as foreshadowing, mood, character development, setting, and conflict to engage readers. Class members then demonstrate what they...

In Shakespeare's time, people could attend a play at the local theatre for as little as one penny. Using an informative handout, scholars learn about the typical London audience member during the 1600s. Readers explore how theatre...

Scholars rehearse, perform, and reflect on the interpretive dances they've created. Choreography and music showcase their free-verse poems and highlight its prosody. 

Introduce scenic designers to stage-space awareness with three fun activities that demonstrate how placement on the nine stage areas convey emphasis and clarify relationships.

That's Amazing! is the theme of an English language development unit created by Houghton Mifflin. Following a speak, look, move, and listen routine, scholars delve into topics; seasons, weather, animals, landforms, telling time,...

How do advertisements evoke specific thoughts and feelings? Class members find out through the exploration of the Internet, videos, television, magazines, radio, and posters. Learners investigate commercial advertisements, political...

Everyone has an opinion, but the trick is figuring out how to argue a position with purpose and logic. Guide scholars to answer the question, What is argumentative writing? with activities that include brainstorming ideas, holding a...

Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...

Sixth graders strengthen their understanding of what a high quality website is composed of. Learners evaluate three websites for accuracy, credibility, and reliability by completing a chart.

Introduce class members to the basic elements of narrative and persuasive writing with this packet of exercises that not only defines the terms but also asks them to draft short paragraphs that employ these concepts.

How do advertisers try to speak to you? Learners review a variety of advertisements and identify how they attempt to reach a particular targeted audience, as well as consider what type of audiences they might belong to as young adults.

Once your learners have a firm handle on the characters in Running Out of Time, invite them to write letters to chosen characters about the events of the novel. Pupils then share with others who wrote to the same character.

Before you head to a performance, school pep rally, or sporting event with your class, be sure to review these worksheets and rubrics that discuss proper manners and etiquette at public events. 

Break an article down with a SOAPSTone chart. Class members determine the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. The chart includes a question for each of these elements, provides some clarifying text for each, and...

Read a poem, any poem, and use this graphic organizer for analysis. The resource consists of a questions about the poem's literal meaning, a grid for noting down and analyzing poetic devices, specific questions about tone and theme, and...

The short story "The Inn of Lost Time" includes stories within a story, a concept clearly illustrated on this graphic organizer. The frame story quite literally surrounds the other stories on the page. Pupils fill in information from the...

College-level writers learn the importance of using academic language in their papers and essays. Assessing the audience is an important aspect of choosing the language with which one writes. Review these 10 slides to make sure each...

Rhetoric from Aristotle (logos, pathos, and ethos) to the rhetorical triangle (audience, speaker, subject) and SOAPSTone (speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, tone) here’s a presentation about the art of rhetoric that will...

Part of a larger unit from the Media Awareness Network on media literacy, this particular lesson plan focuses on the medium of news radio. Small groups participate in discussions on their radio listening habits as well as the...

The guidelines for writing a report are concisely summarized in a presentation that details the phases (exploratory, implementation, improvement), the revision process, and the formatting for this kind of technical writing.

Explore communication through writing by analyzing individual sentences with young writers. They practice writing compound sentences and identifying sentence fragments. The next step has them learn the five parts of a friendly letter....

Introduce persuasive writing by reading the book I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff. In this word choice lesson learners listen as the teacher reads the book aloud. The teacher stops to discuss persuasive vocabulary and the...

Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

Have the class listen to a lecture on persuasive speeches. They practice outlining and detailing the components of a persuasive speech. The lecture outline also includes suggestions for researching a topic or thesis, organizing the...