Curated OER
Unit Plan for Mark Twain and American Humor
Students create brochures about the humor of Mark Twain. In this literature-analysis lesson plan, students read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and other short stories by Twain. Students write analytical paragraphs and...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 12: Author's Purpose - Yeats and Achebe
Is there such a thing as fate/luck? Can one fight destiny? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe's purpose in writing Things Fall Apart, class members answer these questions from Achebe's point of view and then from William...
Penguin Books
Core Curriculum Lesson Plans for The Lions of Little Rock
Schools in the 1950s and 60s looked very different from the schools we know today. An educator's guide explores the civil rights movement and, specifically, the process of integrating schools. Questions cover key themes in the novel and...
Curated OER
Discovering Culture through Literature
Students read the story "The Last Seventeen Years". Using the story, they identify cultural clues about the country of Korea. In groups, they complete a Venn diagram comparing Korean and United States culture. They use the internet to...
Curated OER
William Apess and the Mashpee "Revolt" of 1833
Prompt your class with the following question: What was the status of American Indians in Massachusetts during Jackson's presidency? To answer this question, class members will read a series of primary source documents (attached),...
Curated OER
Japanese-American Internment/Relocation Camps
Students create poetry and verse, using all 5 senses to paint a visual image of life in a Japanese-American internment camp.
Curated OER
Jazz in America Lesson Plan 6
Students survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.
Curated OER
Jazz in America Lesson Plan 7
Learners survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.
Curated OER
Orville and Wilbur Wong and the Fantastic Flying Machines
Upper elementary and middle schoolers examine the role of Chinese immigrants in America. They investigate literature, history and cultures of Chinese-Americans. This ambitious plan takes two weeks to complete, and it brings in elements...
Curated OER
Debunking the Myth of the American West
Students participate in a close reading. They examine the text closely for implied and hidden meaning, dissect the story to understand the text as a written craft, and discuss significant details and overall meaning of story. They...
9/11 Memorial & Museum
Exploring Afghani Culture through Literature
Hosseini Khaled's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns are the anchor texts in a semester-long course that explores Afghani culture and traditions.
Dream of a Nation
Writing Interdisciplinary Essay
The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a...
PBS
Figurative Language and Foreshadowing in The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is still relatable to teenagers today, even though it was written more than 50 years ago. Explore how the figurative language of the story works to establish characterization, and how foreshadowing lays...
ReadWriteThink
Designing Museum Exhibits for The Grapes of Wrath: A Multigenre Project
Challenge readers of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath to create a museum exhibit that uses artifacts to focus on one issue raised by the award winning story of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the Joads.
Curated OER
Letters to Poets
Add a strong poetry lesson to your literature unit. Middle and high schoolers investigate their writing voices with journaling and group discussion, then choose a famous poet to study. They write letters to their chosen poets, explaining...
Curated OER
Evaluating and Revising the Personal Plan of Study
Eleventh graders register for standardized tests and attend post-secondary information meetings that meet individual needs as well as work on updating and revising their personal plans for their futures. They brainstorm if any changes in...
Curated OER
Who Were the First Americans?
Second graders explore Native Americans through a PowerPoint presentation.
Curated OER
Native American Lesson Plan: Someone's in the Kitchen
Learners use vocabulary necessary to complete cooking activities and tell others about the food. They discuss similarities and differences between Native American and other nationalities' foods made in their families.
Curated OER
Be An Expert
Part of a series of lessons about bring Native American stories into the classroom, this plan suggests having kids research and take notes on one group of Native Americans and then complete a project that they present to the class. Pull...
Curated OER
Constructing Narrative from the Migrant Experience in Literature
Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.
Curated OER
Critical Ways of Seeing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in Context
Students complete a unit of lessons examining the cultural context of the novel, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' They write a critique of the novel, compare/contrast two published critiques, and explore various websites.
Curated OER
The People and Philosophy Behind Our National Parks: A Biographical Curriculum Unit
Learners discover the interaction of American Literature, politics and the environmental movement. They explore the changing concept and philosophy of wilderness, and explain the development of The National Park System. They read...
Curated OER
Unit on Henry David Thoreau
High schoolers investigate the writings of Thoreau in order to better comprehend his impact on American Literature and unique writing style. Working to evaluate the different pieces of writing, they read the essays in order to create...
Curated OER
Jazz In America - Lesson Plan 6
Fifth graders explore cool jazz and how it reflected American culture in the 1940's and 1950's.