EngageNY
Launching the Text: Building Background Knowledge of the Jim Crow South
Pictures and photographs help build background knowledge about a topic. Scholars participate in a gallery walk to learn more about the Jim Crow era of US history and the desegregation of schools following Brown v. Board of Education....
University of Wisconsin
Teaching Things Fall Apart in Wisconsin: A Resource Guide for Educators
“There is no story that is not true, . . .” And uncovering the truths in Things Fall Apart is the focus of a 68-page resource packet designed to provide instructors with a wealth of materials that enhance understanding of Chinua Achebe’s...
Dr. Seuss Enterprises
Dr. Seuss in the Classroom
Explore the works of Dr. Seuss, such as Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches and Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. Each story lesson includes reading...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 2
West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man and a two-page scientific article about the same topic provide the text for a reading comprehension exercise that asks individuals to craft a one page summary of information gathered...
K20 LEARN
If You're a Bird, I'm a Bird: Symbolism
Would a bluebird be as scary as a vulture? Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is the central text in a lesson about symbolism. After a close reading of the poem, learners consider what the raven might represent to the narrator. They then...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Walt Whitman: From Song of Myself
Looking for a resource that models how to read and analyze a poem? Check out this packet that uses sections of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" to demonstrate how to paraphrase, note literary elements, and identify the poet's inferences.
University of North Carolina
Style
Just like you choose your clothes to ensure they fit the occasion, you should choose your words deliberately while writing. Style, the main topic of one handout in a series on writing skills, involves choosing words carefully and paying...
K12 Reader
Plants Are Producers
Here's a handy two-part activity that uses an article about plants to assess reading comprehension. After reading the passage, kids answer questions based on the information in the text.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Tuesday 9/11/01" by Lucille Clifton
A photograph and a poem remind young people of the events of November 11, 2001. After examining Andrea Booher's photograph taken on September 13, 2001, and reading Lucille Clifton's poem "Tuesday 9/11/01", scholars compare their...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Setting in "Hills Like White Elephants"
Continue your study of the short story with the next lesson in this fourteen-lesson series. After wrapping up a study of "Hills Like White Elephants" through a quiz and discussion of the setting, learners are introduced to the final...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
“Tell Me a Story”: Moving from Reading to Writing
Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...
Deer Valley Unified School District
Close Reading: Analyzing Mood and Tone
The AP Literature and Composition exam is all about close reading. Test takers are presented with a passage and asked to analyze how an author uses literary devices to create a desired effect. Prepare your students for the exam with a...
McCook Public Schools
Vocabulary List - Microsoft Word Basics
Never forget a term used in Microsoft Word with these four pages of related vocabulary and their definitions.
Great Books Foundation
Discussion Guide for 1984
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, can seem strangely prophetic when compared to modern news events and politics. Readers of Orwell's dystopian classic sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in a shared...
EngageNY
Introducing “Comprehending the Calamity”
Some things are beyond comprehension. Scholars read an excerpt from "Comprehending the Calamity," a primary source text about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. After identifying the gist, pupils complete anchor charts to analyze how the...
University of North Carolina
Poetry Explications
Explication may sound like a fancy word, but it's just a fancy way to say analysis. Using a handout on poetry explications, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers learn how to break down and analyze a poem. The...
EngageNY
World Cafe: Analyzing Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?”
May I take your order? Scholars read "Ain't I a Woman" and participate in a World Cafe. They work in small groups to discuss text-related questions and then complete a Note-Catcher sheet to organize their thoughts. For homework, learners...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
The Columnist Project
Imagine a list that includes Alan Abelson of Baron's, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, and Mother Jones. High schoolers select a national columnist, read and annotate five columns by this author, noting the rhetorical strategies,...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Strategy 3: Using Graphic Organizers Implementation Guide
Whether or not you are new to using graphic organizers with informational or expository text, the materials in this guide will prove useful.
Prestwick House
Teaching Shakespeare: Sonnet 73
It's that time of year to consider how Shakespeare selects his images and structures his Sonnet 73 to develop the meaning of the poem. Class members examine the rhyme scheme, the indented lines, the conceit, and the images used in each...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom Super Scientist
Let's have a look at something different. Scholars take a look at the text Investigating the Scientific Method with Max Axiom Super Scientist and discuss how the structure, graphics, and images appear different than previous works they...
Poetry Class
Free Writing
It will cost you little to ask class members to engage in a free writing exercise that helps even reluctant writers craft a poem.
Novelinks
The Lightning Thief: Concept/Vocabulary Analysis
Before you begin reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, read over this comprehensive handout that gives you a plethora of information regarding the story's summary, organizational structure, central...
Annenberg Foundation
The Progressives
The Progressive Era brought about a word that often leads to turmoil—change! Learners research the late 1800s in American history to uncover societal issues gripping the nation back in the day. The 15th lesson of a 22-part series...