Achievement Strategies
Fishbone for Main Ideas and Details
A key reading comprehension skill is the ability to identify the main idea and supporting details used in a passage of informational text. Here's a template that encourages young readers to practice this skill. They list the who, what,...
Curated OER
Literary Response and Analysis Theme Literature
Analyze the central idea or literary theme found in a series of quotes from the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. For literary analysis, learners paraphrase excerpts from the play and then identify the characters' motivations for their speech.
Curated OER
“Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Readers not only identify aphorisms in Emerson's "Self Reliance," but also find evidence of transcendental elements contained in the essay. They also demonstrate consistency...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Exploring Text with the iMovie Application
Get your class going on one of the final assessments for a unit on short stories by introducing iMovie and its main features. In this tenth lesson in a series of fourteen, pupils take some time to explore iMovie before conducting an...
What So Proudly We Hail
A Lesson on Benjamin Franklin’s “Project for Moral Perfection”
Benjamin Franklin identified 13 virtues that he felt would strengthen his character if he could focus on each one. A thorough lesson explores high schoolers' personal values in the context of their lives, and compels them to strive for...
Curated OER
Race and Crime in the United States: Are We Victims of Discrimination or Antiheroes?
Using methods adopted by Public Policy Analysts (PPA) class groups define a social problem, gather evidence to document the existence of the problem, identify causes, evaluate existing policies designed to deal with the problem, develop...
Curated OER
Evaluate the Main Characters? Problem-Solving Processes
Students read passages from several sources and evaluate the text for various criteria. In this problem solving instructional activity, students evaluate character problem solving processes after reading passages. They will use a Venn...
Curated OER
THE POLITICAL DR. SEUSS
Pupils identify literature that conveys themes and lessons as they apply to various life situations and experiences. They discover some of the themes of Dr. Seuss's major books by viewing excerpts from and examining a selected film's...
Curated OER
Acting Like a Bunch of Animals: Fables and Human
The video "The Tales of Aesop" traces for viewers the history of fables and identifies their characteristics. The class then goes to the web site "The Fisherman and the Little Fish" where they examine the classic and a modern version of...
Curated OER
The Little Prince (Chapters 1-4) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Students read Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince and complete reading and vocabulary activities. In this reading and vocabulary lesson, students review vocabulary for the story and identify story elements for the text.
Curated OER
The Rest Cure: Gender in Medicine and Literature
Read and discuss "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and the gender issues that the story brings up. Use articles from the time period to analyze, complete with specific discussion questions. After two days, scholars write an essay based on topics...
Curated OER
Things Fall Apart: Research, Writing & Presentation Project
A great resource for your unit on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Small groups conduct research about related topics (list included), write papers, present PowerPoint slide shows, and take a student-created test. Fill in a few gaps to...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Curated OER
Dante's Inferno
Students examine Dante's trip through Hell. In this literature lesson, students read The Inferno and then collaborate to discuss moral redemption and create their own maps of Hell based on the poem. Written descriptions are required to...
Penguin Books
The Jungle
It's a jungle out there! Teachers gain information to guide learners through reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Instructors give an overview of the characters in the story and a summary of each chapter. The resource includes questions...
Curated OER
Write a Round-Robin Story
Students discover the elements of a story (introduction, plot, climax, resolution, denouement). In groups of five, one student writes an introduction and passes it to the next person, who writes the plot and passes it to the next person,...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to Short Story Writers Say
There are so many authors of short stories, and your class can have the chance to study quite a few. This seventh instructional activity in a series of fourteen continues the decision-making process for the final assessment: a short...
College Board
Reading—Synthesis and Paired Passages
Good readers make connections between texts. The SAT regularly assesses the ability to make those connections using paired reading passages, a topic discussed in an official SAT practice lesson plan on synthesis. During the lesson,...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to Literacy Criticism
As learners continue to examine a short story of their choice, they take some time to look at analysis completed by others on the same story. In the eleventh lesson in a series of fourteen, pupils explore various sites for literary...
Curated OER
Note-Taking Skills
Students take a closer look at their note-taking skills. In this communication lesson, students summarize information by taking notes using the various methods that their instructor presents to them.
Curated OER
The Life and Times of Robert Frost
Students explore the life and times of Robert Frost. Using a fact worksheet imbedded students access websites to gather information about the life and writings of Robert Frost.
Curated OER
African Folktales
High schoolers read African folktales. In this literature lesson, students share prior knowledge about South Africa, Morocco, and Nigeria. Then high schoolers work in groups to read an assigned African folktale and answer response...
Curated OER
THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
Students read and comprehend the views presented in the article they are given concerning the banning of HUCKLEBERRY FINN and demonstrate their understanding by creating a slogan based on the view of the author in the article.