Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee  and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write...

Students discuss the sculptural group of Three Goddessesby Joseph Nollekens in a study of the classical past. In this Classical history lesson, students describe the three figures in the painting and read an excerpt for the story the art...

Students analyze cowboy literature. In this United States history and literacy instructional activity, students listen to a variety of cowboy songs and poetry, view the video "Rediscovering America: The Real American Cowboy," and view...

These questions about Poe's The Purloined Letter focus on publication and outside sources along with details of the story. Hopefully this story is not a mystery to you!

Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...

Young scholars survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.

A handy guide offers high schoolers support as they read the American novel, The Great Gatsby. Complete with a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, a timeline of the Roaring Twenties, discussion questions about the novel, and more, this...

Students examine narratives of two slaves: iam W. Brown and Frederick Douglas. They produce an essay explaining how Brown's narrative challenged the prejudices of readers in his own time and how it challenges prejudices today.

Included in this resource are a variety of activities to do while reading Willa Cather's My Antonia. The activities, which range from mapping out Nebraska to writing activities about pioneer living, are all designed with one...

For this Chinese history worksheet, students answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions based on their knowledge of Chinese history and culture.

Students explore Bebop in America by listening to music and answering questions.

Students examine and discuss government-imposed censorship of art and artists' methods for counteracting censorship. They view censored artwork, write a persuasive essay, and create an art piece.

High schoolers, in pairs, go on a literary scavenger hunt using the Internet to find information.

Ninth graders examine a character from the short story, John Steinbeck's, "Flight." students respond to questions about the story and illustrate the character's journey.

Ninth graders create an instructional manual about using a mechanical device. In this technical writing lesson, 9th graders create a PowerPoint presentation that includes the step by step process of how to use the mechanical device.

Information and analysis on the central concerns, characteristics, and distinguishing features of American literature, presented in timeline format. With synopses of classic works, biographical sketches, overviews of literary movements,...

Henry James is the focus of this biography for his ability to write about how people deal with problems with attention drawn to Europeans versus Americans in the early twentieth century. See "Henry James Activities" for more resources.

This is the complete text of the classic novel "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville.

Access any one of twenty-five lectures, in audio, video, or text format, from a university-level course in American novels published after World War II, With coverage of Black Boy, Wise Blood, Lolita, On the Road, Franny and Zooey, and...

A short synopsis of Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" followed by the full text divided by Chapter selection. With links to other short stories by American writers.

A launching point from the University of Calgary for several classic stories that are available online. Alphabetical by author, the list includes Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Rudyard Kipling.

This is the complete text of the novel The Ears of Twenty Americans by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

This is the full text of the novel The Golden Canyon by G. A. Henty, a historical novel set in the American Wild West.

This is the complete text of the American western novel The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey