Modern readers apply classic themes to Victor Hugo's masterpiece, Les Miserables. After they discuss tricky vocabulary and plot elements from the novel, class members compare Hugo's written work to a stage or film adaptation of the...

Add a comprehension resource to a unit on the Renaissance or music of the Renaissance period. Middle schoolers answer eight comprehension questions and complete ten additional questions in order to fill out a crossword...

Creative projects are great ways to increase interest in topical research. Middle schoolers learning about primitive life styles in the Americas explore the importance of music to hunter gatherers. They research and create musical...

Create musical myths in this West African tales lesson. Middle schoolers read myths from African Myths and Legends as well as West African Trickster Tales. They note when music could be used to enhance the tales, and then write their own...

Learners follow five steps to compose an alliteration poem. They choose one consonant and brainstorm as many nouns, verbs, and adjectives they can think of to create rhyming sentences that come together in a poetic fashion. 

Lines from Shakespeare and from hip-hop artists provide learners with an opportunity to examine the literary devices these artists use to express their ideas about love. Groups use the provided lines to craft found poems, and then the...

Practice listening skills while studying oral story tellers from different parts of Louisiana. Consider the regional dialects and insider language of folk groups with your class. Identify language as part of folk life and recognize that...

Learners formulate a definition of art in the introductory lesson for a unit on various art forms. The learning emphasis is placed on Oregonian artist Duff Severe and reflective writing. Students compose an essay describing various art...

An interesting resource that might work best in an upper level art course, this handout provides a list of nine websites where young artists can read and study about all forms of art. These online resources range from a dictionary of...

Let music and poetry collide in this well-orchestrated language arts lesson plan. After studying program music and C. Debussy's Prelude to an Afternoon Faun, view the attached SMART board lesson plan to read through "Fog" by Carl...

Aesop's Fables are the focus of this language arts lesson. Young philosophers study and discuss the morals found in the most famous of Aesop's Fables. They write an original fable that teaches a common moral. A "Fable Listening Library"...

What country are you from? What is your favorite food to cook? What is your favorite sport to watch? Pupils practice English and learn more about their classmates with a set of conversational questions.

Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...

After reading "The Bullet," a particularly intense chapter in Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members listen to the Spanish and the English versions of "Dimelo" by Enrique Iglesias. They then discuss how the...

Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the activity...

Teach English language learners about the week-long holiday of Kwanzaa that is celebrated around the world during December. It includes holiday-themed reading comprehension passages, phrase matching, fill-in-the-blanks, and journaling...

Focus on a passage about the new year with your English language learners. You can start with reading the passage aloud to your class, and then launch into the related activities. Pupils match phrases, complete cloze-style activities,...

Help your young writers decipher the literal meanings of metaphors. After reading several metaphors, learners write the real meanings that the phrases are describing. Use this resource in a figurative language lesson, or when preparing...

Smile for the camera and find out how your English language learners feel about fame! Class members read three different points of view on fame and then discuss ten questions about the topic.

Students research what is legal now as far as downloading music from the Internet. They also gather information now that some citizens have been charged with crimes. The research allows students to form informed opinions that are educated.

Middle schoolers listen to four styles of Mexican music, and create percussion instruments which they use to play each style. Additionally, learners create Lucha Libre masks which are also a part of the colorful culture of Mexico. These...

Anita's iconic rooftop ode to American life in West Side Story is the focus of a lesson on immigration. As class members listen to "America," they follow along with printed lyrics, and discuss whether they agree with Anita's...

Water is the source of life. It appears in poetry in both peaceful and torrential descriptions; it appears in earth science in its liquid, gaseous, and solid states. Combine these interpretations of our planet's most precious and...

Hydra/hygiene, Muse/music.  Many English words are built on roots derived from the names of Greek and Roman gods. After examining a list of Greek and Roman gods and the meaning of their names, class members find the root in a list...