Home is where the heart is. The 2010 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B require scholars to think about what home really is. They look at how a character leaves home, yet home remains within the...

Is there a secret to keeping secrets? Scholars choose a character in a novel or play and analyze how the character keeps a secret.  Writers also craft essays to reveal elements of poetry and the use of language in a passage. The...

Does the world shape a person's character? Scholars choose a novel or play, take a close look, and write essays about how surroundings affect a character. Writers also analyze literary elements in an excerpt from a novel and poetic...

What do readers discover about a character within the first few sections of a text? Pupils begin reading Shakespeare's Macbeth and analyze the language in the first few scenes of the play. They also demonstrate understanding with a Quick...

Which character bears responsibility for the tragedy in Shakespeare's Macbeth? Scholars participate in a gallery walk and complete a Quick Write to support their claims about which character is to blame.

Scholars revisit the Circle of Life to examine positive character traits—mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional. Pupils discuss how those character traits could help them make responsible decisions and not contract HIV/AIDS. Learners...

Readers learn how to use both direct and indirect characterization clues provided by Charles Dickens to understand the complexity of Ebenezer Scrooge's character. Scholars collect evidence of comments Scrooge hears, how he responds to...

Just like becoming proficient at playing an instrument or sport requires practice, so too does developing the skills to overcome life's obstacles. That's the big idea in the first lesson in a life skills course. To begin, participants...

To end the unit, groups use the Honeycomb Harvest strategy to show connections among a character, symbols, and themes in the novel and then create an Anchor Chart for the character that includes a symbol that best represents him. They...

Scholars learn how smells evoke early childhood memories and apply that knowledge to a character from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. After finding a passage from the novel that references smells, they craft a haiku and a...

Here's an engaging, meaningful, and clever instructional activity on map skills for elementary schoolers. Pupils combine story writing with mapping skills to create an original piece of work. They utilize a worksheet embedded in the plan...

Learners participate in a variety of activities surrounding the book, Gingerbread Baby, by Jan Brett. They can create a house, a map, ornaments, and their own books. Additionally, they can draw, paint, or write out attributes for each...

Young writers explore character arcs, conflict, and narrative in this complete and ready-to-use lesson plan from Scholastic. As a class read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig and discuss the dramatic change the pig...

Imagine how the wolf would tell the tale of Little Red Riding Hood or The Three Little Pigs. Young writers re-imagine classic tales by adopting the point of view of another character in the story. After reading models like The True Story...

Talk about intrinsic motivation! Begin where your learners' natural interests lie  -- with themselves -- and launch a variety of projects with this activity. Class members research important events that took place on their...

High schoolers analyze a character of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury to catch a glimpse of a family and the changes they, and the Old South, undergo. The use of time as it relates to the structure of the plot is covered in this...

Learners examine the contributions of African American soldiers during the Civil War. In pairs, they complete Civil War timeline worksheets. They use character cards to assume the identities of African Americans and determine whether or...

After reading The Cricket in Times Square chapter titled "Caught in the Kitchen," learners list three describing details about the characters and setting. Groups collaborate to find sensory details to support their character assertions....

Kids explore music, history, culture, and literature in a multi-faceted lesson plan. They discuss how both historical and cultural contexts shape music, art, and literature, and then apply these concepts as they engage in a listening...

High school learners examine primary source materials on history and the supernatural which relate to Julius Caesar. They then act out a scene based on different historical understandings and identify facts, theories, and similarities in...

Students examine the character traits of kindness and responsibility using the book "Feathers" by Heather Forest. They play a "Mystery Bag" game with feathers, and answer story comprehension questions. Students then complete an acrostic...

Eighth graders read the book The Outsiders for understanding. They develop arguments, with support, for six assigned debate points. They write a position paper based on six debate points. The dress up as a character in the book and...

Teach your class the perspective Native Americans had on Christopher Columbus. They will examine the effects of Christopher Columbus' exploration on the Native Americans using a reading theater and a carousel brainstorming activity. They...

Eighth graders write a short report in first person about any plant or animal found on a list of Illinois species. They become the character of the plant or animal and give a short report describing the plant or animal.