O. Henry's short story, "The Give of the Magi," launches a study of what motivates people to act as they do. Class members identify what they believe are the motivations of the characters in O. Henry's tale and then craft a one-page...

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs provides the lens class members use to analyze and evaluate the motivations of the characters in Sylvia Plath's "Initiation" and scenes from Mean Girls. Readers then select a character from A...

Prepare readers of Arthur Miller's The Crucible for a timed, in-class essay assessment with seven graphic organizers that ask individuals to note conflicts, both internal and external, characters' actions, possible...

Eliminate the hard work of creating an entire literature unit with this reading guide for the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. From background information about the author and her motivation for writing the story to...

To demonstrate their understand of the characters in Wuthering Heights and their motivations, readers assume the identity of one of the characters and write a letter to another character in the Bronte's novel.

You can often track a character's development based on others' reactions to their words or actions. Using Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," ninth graders work in a jigsaw activity to analyze how Mirabella's...

Every book has a few great characters, but James and the Giant Peach is the only one whose characters travel in a piece of fruit. The class creates T-charts for the main characters of the novel, while reading the book. They write actions...

How does our moral reasoning shape our identity? After a study of Kohlberg's Levels of Moral Reasoning, readers use Kohlberg's theories to analyze the speech, thoughts, and decisions of a character in A Separate Peace. They then...

Why do characters do what they do? Scholars use the resource to explore character motivation in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Additionally, they discover pictures, interviews, and videos from the Deutsche Bank production of the play. 

Class members conclude their reading of The House on Mango Street with an assignment that asks them to compose letters to characters using their own voices or that of another character in Cisneros' story.

Young composers demonstrate their understanding of the stylistic features of descriptive music, including pitch, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, and timbre, by developing a melody and countermelody for a main character in a story. As part of...

Readers create a literary scrapbook for one of the characters in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and fill it with mementoes, journal entries, letters, etc. A great way to get kids to think about characterization.

If you could pick characteristics you would want your child to possess, what would they be? To better understand Okonkwo, one of the key characters in Things Fall Apart, class groups engage in an activity that asks them to consider this...

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...

Villains populate literature. These dastardly characters serve as a contrast to the hero who they set out to destroy. Iago, the villain of Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, certainly rates as one of the most despicable. Motivated by...

"How come there's no ending?" After a close reading of Frank R. Stockton's tale "The Lady, or the Tiger?" in which scholars examine each of the main characters' conflicts and motivations, writers craft their own ending using textual...

To better understand the conflict between Amir and Hassan, two characters in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, readers assume the voice of one of the boys and craft a letter to the other that explains his feelings and concerns.

Good reading practices can start at any age. Early readers work with the teacher to read a short story about a bear. First, they identify basic text features, such as the title, author, and illustrator. Then, they answer several simple...

The works of Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet and Britain's 2009 poet laureate, serve as a model for a writing activity that asks class members to select a character card, brainstorm lists of words, phrases, actions, and items associated...

Scholars analyze the role of bystanders during the Holocaust. The investigation explores the roles of the bystanders, upstanders, and rescuers with primary and secondary resources to determine actions taken—or not—and their implications...

Fifth graders read the story of "Katie's Trunk". They identify the traits of integrity and fairness in the characters John Warren and Katie. Students explore how people can experience the same event but interpret it differently. They...

Character analysis becomes easy with a 24-page packet packed with mini-lessons, graphic organizers, and activities. A must-have for your curriculum library.

Don't forget to read between the lines! Educators learn tips and activities to help scholars learn to infer to increase reading comprehension. Activities suggested include think alouds, backwards words, and who's who. the packet includes...

Brighten your third grade classroom with this series of colorful Common Core displays. Including all of the English Language Arts standards and substandards, each with supporting illustrations and examples, this resource provides clear...