EngageNY
Planning for Writing: Introduction and Conclusion of a Literary Analysis
It's all about the introduction. Scholars work on the introductory paragraph for their essays, connecting the theme of a myth and The Lightning Thief. They use a graphic organizer to help focus their work and then move to working on the...
Preswick House
Teaching Unit: Invisible Man
Invisible Man is a core text in high school literature classes and one of the most cited works on the AP Literature and Composition exam. Instructors new to using Ralph Ellison's novel and those who have long included it as part of their...
Curated OER
The Use of Language in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
Readers of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are asked to craft an essay in which they compare how Maya Angelou uses figurative language to depict herself and Mrs. Flowers.
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 15
To conclude the study of the play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope, class members craft an in-class essay comparing Doescher's adaptation to George Lucas's film, Star Wars: A New Hope.
Literacy Design Collaborative
Macbeth: Influence of Supernatural
Something wickedly wonderful this way comes in a activity that focuses on Macbeth. After a close reading of the play, class members craft a literary analysis essay in which they use evidence from the text to show how Shakespeare uses the...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 8
Rid yourself of unsupported analytic writing forever with a mid-unit assessment focused on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." As ninth graders formulate an essay based on evidence from the first seven lessons in the unit, they...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
A 16-page packet includes three activities for a unit study of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Before beginning the novel, class members identify the factors in their lives that helped create their frame of reference,...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 19
To prepare for the unit's final assessment essay, class members collaborate to find evidence that reveals Romeo and Juliet as tragic heroes.
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: August 2013
Individuals exercise their minds by taking the Comprehensive Examination in English, which assesses listening and reading comprehension and writing aptitude. Scholars answer multiple-choice questions and write two short-response essays....
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 8
As a mid-unit assessment, class members craft an in-class essay response to the prompt: "How does Shakespeare’s development of the characters of Romeo and Juliet refine a central idea in the play?"
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 3
How do writers develop a central idea in a text? How can readers identify this central idea? These are the challenges class members tackle as they continue their analysis of "Letter One" from Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 10
To prepare for the end-of-unit multi-paragraph essay, class members review Rainer Maria Rilke's collection, Letters to a Young Poet, and David Mitchell's Black Swan Green and identify central ideas in both texts. Writers then formulate a...
Literacy Design Collaborative
The Scarlet Letter and Hester Prynne
Is Hester Prynne a virtuous woman? To conclude a unit study of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter class members craft an argument essay in which they use the standards listed in Proverbs 31 from the Bible to judge Hester's virtues.
Literacy Design Collaborative
Elie Wiesel's Acceptance Speech Analysis
Elie Wiesel's Nobel Prize Acceptance speech provides young historians with an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to use evidence from the speech. They work together to analyze how Wiesel uses rhetorical devices and syntax to...
Literacy Design Collaborative
The Lottery
Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to hone their close reading and literary analysis skills. After annotating their copy of the story, writer's craft an essay in which they analyze...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 16
Prepare for the end-of-unit assessment in a unit focused on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves." As your class continues gathering evidence to support or argue against the success of Claudette's adaptation into...
EngageNY
End-Of-Unit 2 Assessment: On-Demand Analytical Essay About How Esperanza Changes Over Time
Close the unit on Esperanza Rising with an in-class analytic essay on how Esperanza changes over the course of the novel. Writers can use any of their notes and work from the unit as well as their drafts of the first two paragraphs of...
EngageNY
End of Unit 1 Assessment: On-Demand Analysis of a Human Rights Account
The last instructional activity in this unit about human rights consists of a final assessment. To demonstrate the skills your class has acquired throughout this unit, they will work with a new article entitled "From Kosovo to the United...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literary Text: Wise or Foolish?
A three-part assessment promotes reading comprehension skills. Class members read literary texts and take notes to discuss their findings, answer comprehension questions, write summaries, and complete charts.
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: January 2014
What better way to prepare learners for academic success than to administer practice tests? With the Comprehensive Examination in English, scholars read informational and literary texts and answer listening and reading comprehension...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Writing Prompts for Middle School
Scratching your head when it comes to engaging writing prompts? Check out a list of prompts designed for middle school classes, which includes topics for persuasive writing, expository writing, how-to essays, personal narratives, and...
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: August 2014
Just like with any skill, test-taking aptitude improves with practice. Learners complete the handout, answering reading comprehension questions and engaging in timed writing exercises. The test includes multiple-choice and constructed...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 7: Logical Fallacies
What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...
EngageNY
Analyzing Evidence: Writing about Theme
Class members prepare for the end-of-unit assessment by analyzing a writing prompt. They complete a Being Made Invisible anchor chart and write their thoughts about captives and invisibility on sticky notes. In addition, they discuss...