Scholastic
Defining Conflict Using "The Interlopers"
Feeling conflicted? Work out those issues with a language arts lesson on internal and external conflict. Using "The Interlopers" by Saki, class members identify the conflicts between the characters before writing their own short...
Curated OER
Conflict
Though the lesson plan format is simplistic, it's got some good ideas for addressing internal and external conflict in your literary analysis unit. Using "Little Red Riding Hood" and other fairy tales, young readers identify the...
Curated OER
Conflict Resolution
A thought-provoking language arts instructional activity prompts learners to respond to seven questions that deal with sociology. Additionally, they consider topics regarding animal rights. Sure to spark some engaging conversations in...
Waunakee Community School District
Identifying Themes in Literature
If your language arts learners have a hard time determining the universal theme of a written work, use a straightforward learning exercise to help them find it. After reviewing a list of common themes, kids note the title, character,...
Digital Public Library of America
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
Curated OER
The Giver Literature Guide - Conflict
In The Giver literature guide worksheet, learners read several passages from the novel and identify the type of conflict it exemplifies and explain it.
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
West Side Story Suite and In The Night Fancy Free
West Side Story and Romeo & Juliet—two classics in their own rights that help young literature lovers better analyze different works. Learners research and compare the characters and story elements of West Side Story and Romeo...
Curated OER
Lesson: Michael Blum: National Identity at a Distance
Immigration, refugees, and cultural change due to the movement of people around the globe is discussed. Learners examine the work of Michael Blum to gain an understanding of how national and cultural identities shift due to immigration....
Curated OER
Define My Own Destiny: Using Arrested Development and Lauryn Hill to Teach Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun
Literary themes don't just belong to literature. High schoolers listen to the lyrics of modern songs by Arrested Development, Lauryn Hill, and others to enhance their study and to connect to characters, conflicts, and themes of...
Curated OER
Defending Great Literature
Students defend Mark Twain and the study of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn using persuasive techniques, appropriate word choice, and correct letter format, in response to a fictional letter by an upset parent.
K20 LEARN
Lord of the Flies Unit, Lesson 2: Leader of the Pack
The second activity in the Lord of the Flies unit asks scholars to consider the characteristics of a good leader. After generating a list of these qualities, they annotate a passage from the novel highlighting the leadership qualities of...
Annenberg Foundation
Modernist Portraits
How did literature reflect people's attitudes in post-World War I America? A lesson explores the topic using a variety of activities. Individuals watch and respond to a video; read author biographies and engage in discussion; write...
Curated OER
Perfecting My Pal's Poe Paragraph
After analyzing the compelling first paragraph of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death," high schoolers draft original opening paragraphs using techniques identified Poe's writing. The relationship between suspense...
Curated OER
Coming of Age During Japanese Occupation: Richard E. Kim's Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood
Explore the implications of the Japanese occupation of Korea during World War II. Learners read Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood, participate in classroom discussions about the novel and keep journals in which they respond to...
Curated OER
Flying Freudian Fun: A Look At Ethical Decision Making
There are not many more apt examples of ethics gone awry than William Golding's Lord of the Flies.. Ninth graders focus the ethics of decision making with the examples provided in the plot. They focus on the...
Secondary Solutions
Of Mice and Men: A Literature Guide
Whether you are planning on using Of Mice and Men for whole-class reading or as a selection for literature circles; whether you are new to John Steinbeck's novel, or it has long been a part of your curriculum, you...
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...
Curated OER
Exploring the Expository Scenes in Macbeth
High schoolers examine the function of exposition in play structure. They will be able to develop multiple interpretations and visual and aural production choices for Shakespearean scenes and choose those that are most interesting.
Prestwick House
Wuthering Heights
How many ways can you break down a classic novel? Based on the acclaimed Romantic-period novel by Emily Bronte, the Wuthering Heights activity pack includes a pre-reading exercise. Next, learners create a resume for one of the...
Curated OER
Understanding Protagonists and Antagonists
How can you tell if a character is a villain? What about a hero? Work on literary analysis with an engaging language arts instructional activity. After completing an activity about the four types of conflict, learners fill out a...
Reading Shakespeare
Shakespeare Literature Circles Role Sheets
Tired of those blank stares after your class reads a particularly complex passage from a Shakespearean play? Help high schoolers untangle that prose with a literature circle activity. Ten different roles prompt class members to focus on...
Writing Educators Symposium
Asking the Right Questions
It can be difficult to find the theme of a book or story if you don't know the questions to ask. Teach your kids to discern the universal theme in works of literature with a set of activities that promote critical thinking and...
Film Education
Nineteen Eighty-Four: Orwell
Warning or prediction? Nineteen Eighty Four is the anchor text for a series of tasks that ask readers to compare the novel to the film as well as current events to those pictured in George Orwell's dystopian classic.
Curated OER
Global Literature: Nectar In A Sieve
Students write a persuasive essay explaining how religion and/or spirituality serves as both a guide and a source of conflict for both an individual and their culture. They develop a definition for the terms spiritual and religious...