Positive character traits in literature are explored in this character development and literacy lesson. Learners listen to Cinderella by Charles Perrault and Little Gold Star by Robert D. San Souci, followed by a discussion comparing the...

Just like in real life, characters in short stories show their true personalities through their words and deeds. Decipher the character development in Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with a set of activities...

Find the central idea in an excerpt from Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with a literary analysis activity. As your class analyzes a section of the story, they determine how the author forms the central idea...

How do you know what a character's personality is like if an author doesn't tell you? With a focus on character development in Esperanza Rising, pupils complete a jigsaw activity to analyze the actions of Mama, Abuelita, and Miguel. Once...

Address annotation, word choice, and tone in the same language arts instructional activity. Ninth graders read a section of Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" and track character development based on supporting...

Does identity come from within, or do external forces shape it? Explore the complex identity concept with a two-unit module for 12th-grade language arts. The first unit uses A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and "A Daily Joy...

Here comes a surprise ending! Readers discuss their thoughts about the ending of A Long Walk to Water by answering probing questions. They participate in a World Café where they work in triads to complete a chart and a prompt during...

Examine story development and historical disaster with your class. Learners view a video depicting the incidents surrounding The Triangle Shirtwaist Disaster. They use graphic organizers and the Internet to gather enough information to...

Sometimes saying I'm sorry just doesn't cut it. Scholars examine a series of apology poems, songs, and stories and consider each speaker's regrets. Using what they have learned, they analyze James Hurst's short story, "The Scarlet Ibis,"...

What is a dynamic character? Using an interesting resource, scholars set out to answer the question. They create graphic organizers to collect details about character development as they read the novel Inside Out & Back Again. They...

As a class, young writers learn how to develop a strong supporting character. They think and discuss a good friend they know, they use that friend as a basis for a potential supporting character. They create a supporting character as a...

A story about feral girls raised by werewolves will have some interesting character development! Track how the girls and their teachers act, speak, and change with a lesson focused on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by...

Address the literary elements in a piece of writing using these materials. The packet includes plenty of resources, and focuses mainly on theme, character, and point of view, with some materials for setting, symbolism, and author's...

You could spend a full day discussing The Phantom of the Opera and not scratch the surface, but a set of lessons about the literary elements and themes of the musical production is a great start. Young thespians build upon the...

How do writers use the interaction between elements like characterization and setting to create meaning? Readers of "A Worn Path" create a series of comic book-style graphics of Eudora Welty's short story and reflect on how Welty...

The tale of "Lon Po Po" is a Chinese story, very similar to the European tale of "Little Red Riding Hood." Learners make cross cultural comparisons between the two tales, focusing on themes common to both. They review story elements such...

Introduce middle schoolers to Edward Bloor's novel Tangerine with a lesson that asks scholars to make predictions about events in the novel based on an article written by the Smoop Editorial team. Predictions are posted in the classroom...

Everyone learns and experiences life differently. A set of lessons about character intensities encourages middle and high schoolers to analyze themselves, their peers, and characters from a book based on the five listed intensities:...

Young scholars explore scenes from Katherine Paterson's book, Bridge to Terabithia. In this visualization lesson, students listen to the story read aloud. The young scholars then choose words and phrases that paint a picture in their...

Track character development with an excerpt from Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. As tenth graders examine the relationship between Jing-Mei and her mother, they compare both characters' expectations of each other in the chapter "Two Kinds."

Football fans and ready readers will enjoy a lesson based on H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights. Focusing on chapter 4, the lesson encourages tenth graders to examine Mike's character development as it relates to the season opener and...

Relationships between characters generate energy that propels the plot and connects events with a central idea. Track character development and meaningful relationships with a literary analysis lesson focused on H.G. Bissinger's Friday...

A thorough unit on literary analysis and character development culminates in a final writing assessment. Prompted to compare the parent-child relationships in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights, high...

As you work through a literary analysis unit based on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," use a writing assessment to measure your class's skills. They choose one epigraph from the story to analyze and track...