Learners read London's "To Build a Fire" and Crane's "The Open Boat" and compare and contrast the authors' style as they explore the genre known as American literary naturalism.

I love Faulkner, his experimental style and stream of consciousness are so exciting. Your learners can analyze William Faulkner and his novel, The Sound and the Fury by defining his place in American literary history and exploring...

Eleventh graders ponder about what it means to be an "American." They discuss the impact of an author's word choice and sentence structure on text. They identify some major themes and development of the Letters... Compose paragraphs and...

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...

How much of your daily life is influenced by Latin American music? Take a listen—the answer may surprise you! High schoolers keep a journal to note any instances they see Latino culture represented, including the media, their school, and...

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...

Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson plan about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in...

Students analyze American essayists Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass in an introduction to American literary non-fiction writing. For this essay history lesson, students identify methods for writing essays. Students read and analyze...

Focusing on Doppo's "Unforgettable People" and late nineteenth century Japanese literature, this resource also leads to discussions of form being dictated by content. Explore the development of new literary styles first-hand by...

Ninth graders explore the meaning of the American dream and how it has been explained in various forms. After reading various immigrant accounts, 9th graders use poetry and writing to explain how different cultures view the American...

Students identify the key characteristics that comprise American literary naturalism in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat." In this naturalism analysis lesson, students identify characteristics of the...

High schoolers explore the genre of American literary naturalism by reading,"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane. They examine the relationship of man and nature through analysis of the characters, narration and descriptive vocabulary.

Students participate in a variety of activities that are concerned with comparing different cultures through the literary genre of folktales. The stories are used to stimulate student interest and provide a context for how a society...

Students analyze how poetry can reveal themes of 'The American Dream.' In this poetry themes lesson, students discuss the elements of poetry and define imagery. Students read 'Lost Sister' by Cathy Song and complete a related worksheet....

Students take a closer look at a memory play. In this American drama lesson, students read Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie and analyze it as a memory play. Students discuss the linear and non-linear aspects of the play prior to...

Eleventh graders explore works of the Lost Generation writers of the 1920's. For this American literature lesson, 11th graders analyze provided selections from Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and then respond to a writing prompt...

Students explore the attributes of American tall tales. In this folklore lesson, students read several tall tales, describe the elements of tall tales, and then use hyperbole to write their own tall tales.

Young scholars write and illustrate their own graphic novels. In this George Washington lesson, students collaborate to research Washington's life as surveyor, his involvement in the French and Indian War as well as the American...

Eleventh graders examine political, cultural, and social movements through music. In this 1960s American history lesson, 11th graders explore the music of the decade in order to better understand the complexity of the time period....

Students consider the structure of folktales. In this writing skills lesson, students list the attributes of folktales that they read in class. Students then complete handouts based on the elements of the tales as well as types of tales...

Learners analyze "To Build a Fire" by Jack London and "The Open boat" by Stephen Crane. They write an essay in which they compare and contrast the narrators and plots in each story.

Students identify some common themes involving the Latino immigrant experience as conveyed through a variety of media, explore issues of identity in some examples of poetry written by Latinos and learn some basic poetry reading strategies.

Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...

High schoolers investigate the life and works of Maya Angelou. They complete a Webquest, read poems, listen to a reading by Maya Angelou, answer discussion questions, and write a poem, short story, or essay based on a newspaper article.