Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Natural Selection Kills 38 Quadrillion Organisms in Bloodiest Day

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with the satirical article "Natural Selection Kills 38 Quadrillion Organisms in Bloodiest Day" by The Onion Staff, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "A Poison Tree" by William Blake

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with "A Poison Tree" byWilliam Blake, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Shut the Door" Speech

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with "'Shut the Door' Speech" by Senator Ellison DuRant Smith, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: What Slaves Are Taught to Think of the North

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with "What Slaves Are Taught to Think of the North," an excerpt of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Ann Jacobs, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Andrew Jackson's Speech to Congress on "Indian Removal"

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with "Andrew Jackson's Speech to Congress on 'Indian Removal'" by President Andrew Jackson, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: The Storyteller

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A learning module that begins with "The Storyteller" by Saki, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and student...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "An Obstacle" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with the poem "An Obstacle" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Address to the Commonwealth Club of California

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with the speech "Address to the Commonwealth Club of California" by Cesar Chavez, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with the poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Confirming the Termination of Japanese Internment

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with the speech "Confirming the Termination of Japanese Internment" by President Gerald R. Ford, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be...
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

For Students 9th - 10th
A learning module that begins with the poem "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
Primary
CommonLit

Common Lit: "The Story of the Lazy Boy: A Kachari Folktale" Rev. Sidney Endle

For Students 5th - 7th
In the early 1900s, Reverend Sidney Endle wrote about the Kachari people of India. He translated several of their spoken folktales, including this story about a boy who tries to plant seeds after everyone else has finished. A specific...
Article
CommonLit

Common Lit: "A Thief Dines Out, Hoping Later to Eat In" by Rick Bragg

For Students 9th - 10th
In this "New York Times" article, Rick Bragg discusses why Gangaram Mahes prefers jail time to freedom. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired texts, questions and answers, an...
Primary
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Memories of a Former Migrant Worker" by Felix Contreras

For Students 6th - 8th
In this interview, Felix Contreras asks his father about his experiences as a former migrant worker. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired texts, questions and answers, an...
Article
CommonLit

Common Lit: "The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island" by Jessica Mc Birney

For Students 5th - 7th
In 1835, a Native American woman was left on San Nicolas Island for 18 years by herself. Scott O'Dell's award-winning novel "Island of the Blue Dolphins" is based on her life. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are...
Primary
CommonLit

Common Lit: Excerpt From "The Odyssey: The Sirens" by Homer

For Students 9th - 10th
"The Odyssey" is an epic poem about a Greek hero named Odysseus, also known as Ulysses in Roman myths, and his 10-year journey home after the fall of Troy. In this excerpt, Ulysses encounters the Sirens while at sea. A specific purpose...
Primary
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Manifest Destiny, I Do Believe" by Bird Brain History

For Students 5th - 7th
In this letter, Cordelia writes to her friend about her plans to become a pioneer, a common ambition during the "Manifest Destiny" era of western settlement in the 19th century. This site offers links to paired texts, questions and...
Article
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Anger as Inspiration" by Sami Awad

For Students 5th - 7th
This is a transcript of an interview with Sami Awad as part of the Global Oneness Project, which aims to "inspire students to rethink their relationship to the world" A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This...
Article
CommonLit

Common Lit: "What Are Clouds?" by Nasa

For Students 4th - 6th
This informational text explains the formation of different clouds and how they contribute to different types of weather on Earth. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired texts,...
Article
CommonLit

Common Lit: "The Rush of Immigrants" by Us history.org

For Students 9th - 10th
This informational text discusses the new immigration, from the beginning of the Gilded Age of economic growth in the 1870s to the anti-immigration policies put in place during the 1920s. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary...
Primary
CommonLit

Common Lit: "The Many and the Few" by J. Patrick Lewis

For Students 4th - 6th
In this poem, a speaker describes the effects of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary notes are provided. This site offers links to paired texts,...
Article
CommonLit

Common Lit: "It's for You to Know That You Forgive", Says Holocaust Survivor

For Students 7th - 9th
This is the story of Eva Mozes Kor, a Jewish American survivor of the Holocaust. Eva and her family were forcibly transported to Auschwitz, where she and her twin sister Miriam were subjected to the conditions of the concentration camps...
Primary
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Columbus and the Egg" by Barbara Radner

For Students 4th - 6th
This is a historical fiction story about Columbus, the explorer who came to the Americas from Spain in 1492. This is a story about what might have happened long ago when he was back in Spain. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary...