How was Edgar Allan Poe able to create "intriguing, memorable, and lasting literature"? To answer this question, learners analyze the syntax, diction, and characterizations in Poe's poems and short stories and compare the impact of these...

As part of a unit study of Bud, Not Buddy, readers compare Buddy's list of rules to live by with those that Steve Jobs enumerates in his commencement address to Stanford's 2005 graduating class.

Readers learn how to choose specific details drawn from a primary source (Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford University commencement address) to support an analysis of informative text.

Only a thorough understanding of history can save us from repeating it. Practice close reading skills with an eighth grade unit that focuses on 19th century America, including European immigration into Ellis Island and Frederick...

Students create a relief print. The chosen image for this print be a setting from a novel that played an important role in the plot of the story. They conclude this lesson by writing a literature response about their setting.

Hook your learners with a great project. They research the underground railroad and civil rights movement through literature, view the video The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery, and read the book House of Dies Drear in...

Students research historical events of the past century to recognize that society impacts the themes within art and literature. They then interview an individual to develop a biographical narrative, a collage and finally an oral...

A teacher's guide for a seminar held at the Cincinnati Art Museum includes a full description of several Pre-Raphaelite art pieces, artists, and connecting literary works. Excerpts from authors and poets can help you make the connection...

Students identify the plot of a text. In this literature lesson, students listen to the book The Great Kapok Tree and identify the problem and solution. A graphic organizer is used to help reinforce the concept.

In this Winnie the Pooh themed interactive worksheet, students choose between "it or they" using drop down menus in 8 examples. They choose which character is missing in each of 5 rows and name the animal each of 5 characters represents...

Analyze the use of balanced sentences and parallelism in a narrative. Included in this resource is a narrative about serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan titled, "The Train Ride Home". Middle and high schoolers review...

Compare and contrast two pieces of literature with this lesson. With the use of a Venn diagram, pupils make connections between literature and real-life situations. They practice skills of surveying a text looking for important details,...

Reading is reading, whether it's for drama or English class. Boost reading fluency, accuracy, intonation, and comprehension while fostering creative acting skills. Kids read the provided tale of "The Lion and the Mouse" several times in...

In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 31 short answer and essay questions based on More's Utopia and other Utopian literature. Students may also access an online quiz on the selection using...

Look back at the third chapter of The Cay with your class. Pupils will conduct a close reading, taking a second look at a chunk of text and responding to a series of text-dependent questions. Wrap up with an analytical writing prompt...

Students identify the elements of science fiction literature. They write and illustrate a science fiction story using real and exaggerated science. In addition, they read their stories aloud in small groups.

Whether you are planning on using Of Mice and Men for whole-class reading or as a selection for literature circles; whether you are new to John Steinbeck's novel, or it has long been a part of your curriculum, you...

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...

Tap into the imaginative minds of young learners with a creative writing activity. After reading the myth Giants and Mosquitoes, this student guide supports young writers as they brainstorm and develop their very own creation myths....

Never again will you need to worry about coming up with a writing prompt! This packet contains, as it says, 501 prompts that are suitable for fourth graders on up. The prompts are paired into four categories (persuasive, expository,...

Wouldn't it be great to live an a community without pain, without danger? Such a society is the goal of the community in The Giver. Using Lois Lowry's dystopian novel as the core text, class members read primary source materials...

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...

Good discussion questions, quizzes, and tests teach as well as assess. Readers of The Great Gatsby will learn much from the materials in a 36-page packet designed to help students prepare for the AP Literature exam. Included in the...

Kate Chopin's classic American tale, The Awakening, is the focus of a review worksheet. High school readers read the clues about the novel's characters, plot, and important quotes to fill in a crossword puzzle.