Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
Curated OER
Introduction to Archetypes
Here is a full lesson plan with all the needed materials and PowerPoints attached! Introduce your class to archetypes by showing them the included presentation. The presentation gives definitions and examples of archetypal characters,...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 12: Story Event
Focus on plot and the impact-specific events in The Cay. Class members use their double-entry journals, created in a previous lesson in this series, to record their thinking about the guiding question as they read chapters 15 through 17....
Curated OER
An Introduction to The Catcher in the Rye
Who is J.D. Salinger? Give your class some information on the famous recluse before reading his only novel, The Catcher in the Rye. His life and works are detailed, and there are even a few slides dedicated to controversies and criticism...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 2: The Historical/Biographical Approach
"How does our environment shape our identity?" After researching biographical information about John Knowles and considering how these experiences are reflected in A Separate Peace, class members consider the strengths and weaknesses of...
Polk Bros Foundation
Picture Planner
Show your class that there is more than one way to communicate an idea. Pupils note down their ideas and then brainstorm a few things they want to include in their pictures. Then, in the box provided, they sketch and describe their...
Simon & Schuster
Curriculum Guide to: The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad's novellas The Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer are the focus of five lessons in this Curriculum Guide. Lessons are designed to advance analytical reading skills, examine Conrad's use of "The Double" theme, the...
Busy Teacher
The Phantom of the Opera
It's no masquerade! If Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera is part of your curriculum, check out this three-page packet loaded with suggestions for before, during, and after reading activities.
Shoop English
Literature Terms Activity
Designed to be used with an independent reading book, this activity provides practice with identifying and explaining literary terms. While they read, individuals find instances of literary devices and elements in use in their books....
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...
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, considered by many to be a seminal piece of American literature, contains many complex literary themes that carry through United States history. Use a series of discussion questions and classroom...
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: June 2014
Should companies track consumers' shopping preferences without their permission? Using the resource, scholars write source-based argumentative essays to answer the question. They also answer reading comprehension questions based on an...
Curated OER
Speak: Questioning Strategy - ReQuest Strategy
The best way to analyze a piece of literature is to ask questions about the characters, plot, and theme. Encourage your learners to stump the teacher with the most difficult questions they can create using Bloom's Taxonomy and various...
Have Fun Teaching
Noun Town
Welcome to noun town where you will meet a number of different people, places, and things! Have kids practice identifying nouns by completing a great set of worksheets. There are 13 worksheets in the packet and each one provides practice...
Project Articulate
Textured Landscapes with Grant Wood
Explore the world of textured landscapes through the eyes of the famous artist, Grant Wood. Here is an elementary art lesson in which scholars learn about Grant Wood's life, view his work, draw their own textured landscape, and then...
K12 Reader
Valentine’s Day Adjectives and Adverbs
Connect parts of speech with Valentine's Day in an engaging grammar worksheet with a Valentine theme. Learners fill in the blanks with the appropriate adjective or adverb to complete each sentence.
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: August 2015
Looking at literature through a critical lens helps readers connect the text to the larger world. An essay examining the theme "There is no ill in the world without a remedy" forms the main part of a sample comprehensive English...
August House
Anansi and the Tug o' War
Combine art, math, language arts, drama, and delicious Jell-o with a instructional activity based on the African folktale Anansi and the Tug o' War. Kids make predictions and discuss plot points of the story before joining in...
Curated OER
Activity Guide for Snow
Create a cross-curricular learning experience around a shared reading of Cynthia Rylant's book Snow. From writing poetry and a singing a song about snow, to creating paper snowflakes and solving math story problems, this resource...
Curriculum Corner
Valentine Math and Literacy Practice
Looking for math and literacy practice with a Valentine's Day theme? Look no more, because this 43-page packet is filled with practice pages intended to reinforce basic math, reading, and writing skills. From counting to writing words to...
US Holocaust Museum
The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk
Have you ever listened to a song that had a deeper political meaning to it? Every examined a work of art with layers of meaning? Pupils analyze the drawings of Arthur Szyk. They research the deeper meaning of several artistic cartoons...
Curated OER
How the Chipmunk Got Its Stripes: a Legend of the Iroquois
Have you ever wondered about a chipmunk's stripes? Read a short passage featuring the Iroquois legend about the chipmunk and his stripes, and answer five comprehension questions about the plot, the theme, and the unfamiliar...
Novelinks
Tuck Everlasting: Discussion Web Strategy
Guide learners through a discussion about Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a helpful graphic organizer. As they read through the novel, individuals note their reactions to statements about the book's themes, and fill out...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to Matilda
Chances are, you've got some precocious Matilda fans in your class! Use a thorough set of lesson plans to address Roald Dahl's classic novel about a bright girl who just wants to be understood. Vocabulary exercises,...