Gradually build understanding of author's point of view through a scaffolded set of exercises. Moving from direct instruction, to collaborative work, and eventually to independent practice, these steps will assist your class in...

Learners analyze this letter of complaint to the city council by answering nine short-answer questions. They examine author's purpose, word choice, claims, rhetorical questions, and general observations. There is a focus on constructive...

It is difficult to articulate how growing up feels as accurately and beautifully as Sandra Cisneros does in her short story "Eleven." After seventh graders read the story and note the author's use of figurative language, they respond to...

If you're teaching point of view, this is the lesson for you! First, decipher the writer's point of view from a primary resource, then compare and contrast the primary source with a secondary source to explore the Paul Revere's...

While designed to supplement a viewing of the PBS Masterpiece Classic The Diary of Anne Frank, this resource can also serve as an excellent informational text and activity source for your students on the historical context and timeline...

The more you text, the less you study. Have classes test this hypothesis or another question related to text messages. Using real data, learners use technology to create a scatter plot and calculate a regression line. They create a dot...

From A to Z, learners define, draw, and find examples of specific reading focus skills in an alphabetized reading vocabulary packet. Words include dialogue, theme, text structure, genre, paraphrase, and many more.

“Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die/Passing through nature to eternity.” Grief, and the response to grief and loss, is the focus of a series of activities that uses Hamlet as a launchpad. Groups examine Act I, scene ii to...

Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem "He Had His Dream" is the focus of a quick exercise. Pupils read the poem and answer four multiple choice questions and one short answer question about specific lines in the poem and the author's purpose....

Prompt your young historians to hone in their reading comprehension skills by considering the fascinating perspective that Rudyard Kipling offers in his poem, "The American Rebellion", which provides an alternative...

Analyze the federal government's direct response to the Whiskey Rebellion through this fantastic primary source analysis activity worksheet.

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

Address the literary elements in a piece of writing using these materials. The packet includes plenty of resources, and focuses mainly on theme, character, and point of view, with some materials for setting, symbolism, and author's...

It is no easy feat to wade through legal and political documents. And incorporating this type of informational text into a literature class can also be a challenge. Here’s a resource that includes suggestions for how to address this...

What would it be like to sell your eggs to a couple who can't have children on their own? Could you even imagine it? As most of us have never been in this position, this descriptive essay is really quite interesting. The reading itself...

Personal correspondence in the form of letters is not as common as it once was. This resource presents an opportunity for you to introduce your class to letter writing and cover topics in social studies. Learners read a letter written in...

Tired of those blank stares after your class reads a particularly complex passage from a Shakespearean play? Help high schoolers untangle that prose with a literature circle activity. Ten different roles prompt class members to focus on...

Analyze a fictional text with a four-page packet that explores a story's main character and moral, challenges scholars to ask and answer questions about the text, and to create a story map. 

The main idea of this resource is that you should take a look if you're planning to teach main ideas in your class! Cover just about everything you need to know about main ideas with a packet of materials that includes information and...

As the saying goes: there are no new stories. Standard 9 for reading literature in the Common Core addresses this fact and requires that learners be able to analyze how authors use the themes, stories, and characters of earlier works....

Young historians view and analyze photos and documents from WWII that are related to blood transfusions and blood plasma. A demonstration of correct and incorrect blood donors visually shows the importance of knowing blood...

Students read and discuss Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart. Students are guided to analyze the text through consideration of the author's use of 6 literary devices. Students also evaluate the text according to their personal...

An assessment takes a close look at the story, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, and tests writing abilities. Over the course of two days, scholars read an excerpt, answer questions on a worksheet pertaining to the author's...

Discern the tone in four selected poems with a straightforward assignment. Junior high readers analyze the authors' word choice and text structure to define a tone for each poem, as well as each poem's meaning.