Two versions of movie trailers for the film Mary Poppins launch a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious lesson about how mood and tone impact a reader's experience of work. Using the provided list, readers identify the words that create the...

A 10-lesson unit takes high schoolers through a novel study of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. To start, students learn about Fitzgerald's background and gain historical context that prepares them for a reading of the book. The...

How do poets convey emotion and represent their views of life? Pupils learn more about Whitman and Dickinson through the unit and analyze their bold reinvention of craft and style for poets to come. Looking at classic pieces such as...

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is difficult to read and difficult to teach. The novel is so highly regarded that it is one of most often listed as an option for the AP Literature and Composition exam. The materials in this packet from PBS...

Eleventh graders examine cartoons for examples of satire, irony, and sarcasm. They write essays about cartoons, art work, or literature analyzing it for satirical elements. Finally, they create their own piece in one of the three areas...

Students explore African-American students literature as an integral building block in empowering all students to a better awareness when reading and writing. They use as a productive Social Studies tool for overall understanding of the...

Learners explore the issue of Japanese-American internment. For this World War II lesson, students analyze historical biases regarding Japanese-American internment as they analyze literature, research print and Internet sources, and...

Students consider the implications of the Salem Witch Trials. In this literature lesson, students read Arthur Miller's The Crucible and compare the witch trials to McCarthyism of the 1950's. Students rewrite scenes from the play...

Seventh graders study the ideologies of life, values, love, peace and struggle of African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans as citizens of the United States. Authors and artists are used as tools to open the eyes of the students...

Students research Toni Morrison's life, work as a writer, and major contributions to the field of literature; students choose one of her novels to read, & perform a scene from it; each group member writes an autobiographical essay...

Learners explore American flag and its symbols, and create an original flag that represents what they see in their own lives.

Students use the music of Bruce Springsteen to learn literature techniques.

Students investigate the African American culture in the 1920's and the Harlem Renaissance. They read and analyze poems written by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, listen to jazz music and identify the characteristics of the music, and...

Second graders study the different types of Native American culture groups. They, in groups, visit four different work stations to examine various culture groups and complete a Corn Cycle worksheet.

Students explore U.S. history by reading a Native American tale in class. In this cultural storytelling lesson, students read the story How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun and discuss the characters and themes of the Native American...

Eighth graders complete a KWL chart on the Plains Indians. After watching a video, they state the difference between legends and facts about the importance of the buffalo to Native Americans. They also practice their note-taking skills...

Students explore American tall tales. In this tall tale activity, students discover the six characteristics that are included in tall tales. Students survey their class to find each student's favorite tall tale character and organize the...

Students examine the suggestion that the subjective experience of everyday life and sense of identity has changed in America in recent years. In this post-modernism and mass culture lesson, students engage in 4 multi-step exercises that...

Students explore the idea that progress for some might not mean progress for all. In this Native American activity, students recognize different viewpoints about historical events through the study of primary documents. Students decipher...

In this "The Birchbark House" Internet activity worksheet, students, after reading the novel, use links to web resources to answer 12 questions about the story and native American culture.  This page has numerous links to web...

Human trafficking has existed in many forms throughout history. Using a novel study of Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell, readers learn the story of a young Native American girl taken into slavery. Reading comprehension and...

Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...

For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...

Terror, mystery, excitement. American writers of the 19th century, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson, used these elements to create morally ambiguous tales that challenged the prevailing belief in...