Annenberg Foundation
Exploring Borderlands
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
K20 LEARN
Just Say No!: Exploring Temptation Through The Lotus Eaters
Teenagers face many temptations, and just saying "No!" can be very difficult. Here's a lesson that provides some help. Learners use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast excerpts from The Odyssey, Tennyson's "The Lotus-Eaters," and the...
Curated OER
Character Development: Cancer - A New Treatment
Learners explore the concept of character development. In this character development lesson, students watch a video segment regarding a family's struggle with cancer. Learners examine the personality, situation, motivation, and actions...
Shakespeare Globe Trust
Macbeth
Why do characters do what they do? Scholars use the resource to explore character motivation in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Additionally, they discover pictures, interviews, and videos from the Deutsche Bank production of the play.
West Jefferson High School
The Novel — Honor
For classes tackling To Kill a Mockingbird, this lesson plan sets readers up for discussions or essay writing with questions and prompts. The prompts encourage individuals to explore beyond the novel itself, looking at photographs from...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: Problematic Situation
What would you do if your sister ran off with a man whom you didn't trust? Explore a scenario based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Once kids work though the problem, they read the appropriate chapters from the book and write a...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 7: Logical Fallacies
What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...
Brigham Young University
Flipped: Problematic Situations
An activity based on the young adult novel Flipped, groups work to make the same difficult decision a character in the novel faces. Each group is given the same scenario about caring for a mentally disabled brother personally or putting...
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...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: Discussion Web
Is Yuki a selfish character? Analyze her motivation and behavior during a unit on Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori. Readers fill out two sides of a graphic organizer with reasons why or why not she is selfish, and then come up with a...
Curated OER
Literature of the Ancient World
The literature of the ancient world can provide a motivating way for students to explore history.
Curated OER
The French Revolution
French Revolution lessons can help students explore the political, social, and economic issues of the time.
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Mixing Fact and Fiction
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members explore...
Novelinks
The Crucible: Questioning Strategies Bloom's Taxonomy
Enrich your unit on Arthur Miller's The Crucible with a list of reading questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Kids answer questions and provide context for the knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation...
Prestwick House
The House on Mango Street Activity Pack
Enrich a unit on The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros with a selection of related activities. The packet contains nine activities that go from pre-reading through wrapping up the novel. Young readers work on studying author's...
Curated OER
Fathers and Sons in Henry IV
Students explore the power struggles in England's history using Shakespeare's Henry IV. In this Shakespeare lesson, students write answer to journal questions about the play and discuss specific passages. Students work as groups to...
Curated OER
The Centre of the Universe by Danny Wallace and I Love Football by Hunter Davies
Young scholars read, analyze, critique and study the novels, "The Centre of the Universe," by Danny Wallace and "I Love Football," by Hunter Davies. They evaluate an extract from each novel and explore the concept of private passions.
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Othello and the Power of Language
Students explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing Shakespeare's use of rhetoric and figurative language. For this Othello lesson, students analyze Iago's rhetoric in monologues and dialogues with other characters....
Curated OER
O, LEAR'S MANY REASONS
Students analyze King Lear's speech and identify his "darker purpose", and let them explore different styles for reading it aloud. They can perform the scene as well.
Curated OER
Chickenfeed by Minette Walters
Students read, analyze and discuss the novel, "Chickenfeed," by Minette Walters. They assess the theories of tell me a story, take a letter and is truth stranger than fiction? Each student reviews the synopsis and explore how dialogue...
Curated OER
The Japanese Empire: The Beginning
Ninth graders explore empires by researching Japan's history. In this Japanese research lesson, 9th graders discuss the history of Japan and the elements of World War II that caused Japan to become an enemy of the United States. Students...
Curated OER
The Tempest
Students discuss cultural beliefs about magic. They investigate European exploration and colonialism. They create a cartoon strip of an episode that is described or dramatized in the play.
Curated OER
Character Analysis
Learners analyze the motivations behind characters. In this character analysis lesson, students reflect on conflicts from previous stories and watch a clip from 'East is East.' Learners answer questions for the movie and watch the movie...
Curated OER
MND Sound Ball Activity
Students are introduced to Act II, scene 1, lines 188-244 of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." They explore and analyze how dramatic lines can have varied interpretations by playing a game of sound ball utilizing a list of vocabulary words...