Novelinks
Touching Spirit Bear: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
What experiences lead people to change and how do they do it? After reading about Cole's encounter with Touching Spirit Bear, readers complete the second out of a series of five activities to predict future events in the text. The...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Magical Musical Tour: Using Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements
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 instructional activity about literary devices. As...
EngageNY
Establishing Structures for Reading: Gathering Evidence about Salva’s and Nya’s Points of View (Reread Chapters 1 and 2)
Readers practice gathering textual evidence to support their understanding of character point of view in A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Working with partners, they complete a Gathering Evidence graphic organizer and engage in...
Curated OER
Applying Ahimsa to Traditional Stories
Investigate the life of Mahatma Gandhi by researching non-violent lifestyles. Learners define the word ahimsa and discuss the personal characteristics that made Gandhi a peaceful warrior. They also create a poster about the story "The...
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...
Curated OER
What a Character !
Students identify traits associated with a character in a biography. In this character analysis lesson, students select a biography and discuss character traits. Students complete a related worksheets and complete a character description...
Curated OER
Daughters Come of Age in Women's Fiction
Introduce your young readers to fiction written by women authors. For each story, they explore the way these daughters discover and claim their own identities. Individually, class members use the literature to examine their role in their...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Many Bens: Character Revealed in Writing
Benjamin Franklin may be known as a Founding Father, but he was also a prolific writer. Scholars examine his better-known pieces to learn about genre, voice, and early American history. The resource includes options for various...
Hampton-Brown
Esperanza Rising
Accompany a reading of the novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, with a series of lessons that dive deep into the literary world of a young girl and the journey she takes to start a new life. Lessons and their...
EngageNY
Introducing Readers Theater: Pygmalion
It's time to put on a show! Scholars participate in a Pygmalion Readers Theater. They discuss the text-dependent questions from the previous lesson and revisit the Eliza Character Tracker. To end the lesson, individuals reflect on their...
EngageNY
Practicing Structures for Reading: Gathering Evidence about Salva’s and Nya’s Points of View (Reread Chapter 3)
How does an author develop and contrast character points of view in a work of literature? Using a graphic organizer, readers continue gathering evidence about character point of view from Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water. Next,...
EngageNY
Citing Evidence: The Ending of Pygmalion
Show time! After completing questions over Pygmalion section nine, scholars perform a reader's theater activity of pages 87-88. They then revisit their Eliza Character Trackers and add details as needed.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Characterization in Lord of the Flies
Readers of Lord of the Flies hunt down direct and indirect examples of how William Golding brings his characters to life. After instructors guide learners through the process of collecting evidence of these two types of characterization...
Penguin Books
A Guide to the Works of Jacqueline Woodson
The works of Jacqueline Woodson introduce readers to diverse characters and themes. A guide covers many of the author's best-known books such as Brown Girl Dreaming and Locomotion. Dive & Discuss and Explore & Extend activities...
Curated OER
Understanding Character
Students are introduced to literary elements and definitions in the worksheet Understanding Character but reading through each of the elements and definitions aloud. They read the story, "La Bamba" and identify examples of the literary...
Hampton-Brown
From "First Crossing"
Young scholars look closely at four tales taken from the collection of short stories, First Crossing edited by Donald R. Galloby. While examining the life of four teenagers and the lives they lead as U.S. immigrants, your enthusiastic...
Curated OER
Homeschooling Chronicles: Literature Analysis
Developing a check list can make writing a literature analysis easier.
Curated OER
Historical Heroes and Character Sketches
Pupils write a character sketch and present it in first person. In this historical heroes and character sketches lesson plan, students "meet" Harriet Tubman (played by their teacher) and discuss her contributions. Pupils read examples...
Curated OER
Outsiders Unit Plan
Students complete novel analysis activities for the The Outsiders. In this novel analysis lesson, students complete three weeks of lessons that help them analyze the text and character education lessons within the novel.
Curated OER
The News Behind the Story
What a fun way to analyze plot, setting, and character. Learners review story elements, read a short fictional story, then turn the events of that story into a headlining news paper article. Not only does this instructional activity...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Scrooge as He is Revealed during the Ghostly Experiences
Readers learn how to use both direct and indirect characterization clues provided by Charles Dickens to understand the complexity of Ebenezer Scrooge's character. Scholars collect evidence of comments Scrooge hears, how he responds to...
EngageNY
Understanding Interactions: Launching Pygmalion, Part 1
During a reading of one section of Pygmalion, individuals begin thinking more deeply about identity. They also complete text-dependent questions and a close reading guide.
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Evidence and Inference in Pygmalion
Scholars complete the Pygmalion mid-unit assessment to show their progress toward the unit's stated goals. The assessment requires learners to read text and successfully answer multiple choice and extended response questions.
Curated OER
Bronze Bow
Explore ancient Rome through reading The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. Readers activate prior knowledge by examining objects that relate to the story and predict the significance of the items. Their curiosity is aroused through...