Worksheet
Curated OER

Do You Prefer Your Children's Book Characters Obedient or Contrary? Opinion Writing

For Students 9th - 12th
With this New York Times "Learning Network" exercise, high schoolers read an article about the death of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are and then respond to several prompts that require them to shape their own opinions...
Writing
Curated OER

What Is Your Favorite Place?

For Students 7th - 12th
Good writing can come from personal places. Budding online authors read an excerpt from a narrative-style newspaper article and then respond to several related writing prompts. They compose blog responses that use vivid imagery to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analyzing Atmosphere: Macbeth Murder Scene and Dagger Speech

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scenes I and II) lacks explicit details of the murder of King Duncan, yet the author creates an atmosphere that allows us to visualize the event. Readers interpret the "Dagger Speech" by writing stage...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Plot Rollercoaster

For Students 5th - 9th Standards
Visualize a plot rollercoaster using this graphic organizer for budding authors. Don't think you're getting the typical five-part plot structure here, though; there are nine spaces for writers to fill in plot elements, assuring they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan 6: Introducing the Elements of Plot-Part Two

For Teachers 5th - 9th Standards
November is National Novel Writing Month, so if your young authors are embarking on this journey, be sure they understand plot elements. This collaborative lesson fits into the context of the larger NaNoWriMo project; however, the ideas...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduce Vocabulary: Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story (Peters)

For Teachers K - 3rd
Lisa Peters presents macroevolution as a large-scale family tree in her book Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story. She suggests the process from single-celled organisms to modern-day humans, and learners explore new vocabulary...
Organizer
Curated OER

Direct and Indirect Characterization

For Students 9th - 10th
How does an author develop his or her characters? Using the short story "On the Bridge" by Todd Strasser, readers study character development by looking for examples of both direct and indirect characterization. They plot these points on...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Third-Person Limited, Omniscient or Objective Point of View?

For Students 8th - 9th
Help your readers identify different points of view by studying key words the author uses to mold the story. There are four story excerpts provided here, and readers must identify the point of view, record the words that led them to that...
PPT
Curated OER

Revising Your Draft

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Revising, as opposed to editing, is the focus of a presentation that details this essential part of the writing process. The author of this PowerPoint suggests outlining the draft to determine if all the necessary elements are included...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Grapes of Wrath: KWHL Strategy

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Before beginning The Grapes of Wrath, readers create a KWHL chart recording what they already know about the Dust Bowl, the author, and the book, what they want to know, and where they might find answers to these questions. After reading...
Activity
Curated OER

Things Fall Apart: Question Answer Response Theory

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Passages from Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart provide the text for a QAR: Question Answer Response comprehension activity. Readers respond to right there, think and search, on your own, and author and you questions.  ...
PPT
Curated OER

Steinbeck and Ecology

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Does The Grapes of Wrath hold as much relevance today as it did in the 1930s? Use this presentation to introduce John Steinbeck and one of his greatest novels. The author of this presentation encourages a connection between the Dust Bowl...
PPT
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Did you know that the Harlem Renaissance was also known as the New Negro Movement? This presentation is fully of interesting facts and pictures to help your class understand the literary movement and how these changes also affected music...
Worksheet
Curated OER

"The Chase" Reading Questions

For Students 9th - 12th
"The Chase," a chapter from Annie Dillard's autobiography, details an iceball project the narrator and her friends used to play. After your class reads the chapter, give them this reading assessment. Provided here are five short-answer...
PPT
Curated OER

Conducting a Rhetorical Analysis

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
What is the author trying to achieve? What strategies does he/she use to meet this goal? How affective are these strategies? These three questions, the heart of rhetorical analysis, are examined in a presentation that also details...
PPT
Curated OER

Effective Persuasion: Developing Persuasive Arguments

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Use research to strengthen a persuasive argument. Examples of ethos, logs, and pathos are presented, and learners discuss how using research can improve one's argument. Pair this presentation with an example persuasive piece to point out...
PPT
Curated OER

George Orwell: A Brief Biography

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Studying an author can help learners better understand literature. George Orwell's biography is the focus of this presentation, which leads into an activity and discussion about concepts connected to Animal Farm. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interaction as Analysis: Emily Dickinson

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is a thing with feathers” is the focus of a series of activities that model for learners how close reading can lead to understanding. The whole class plays with the metaphor, groups talk about the author’s...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Media Literacy Analyzed

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Fourth and fifth graders define the term media literacy, then come up with examples that they share with the class. The types of media studied are auditory, visual, and written. Learners get together in pairs and perform a media...
Activity
State Library of Ohio

Tuck Everlasting

For Teachers 5th - 8th
A great toolbox of ideas for any teacher preparing to teach the novel Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, this resource includes a short biography of Natalie Babbitt, several discussion questions that could double as writing prompts,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing a Halloween Poem

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A delightful lesson plan on poetry is here for you and your middle schoolers. Learners are instructed to write a Halloween poem. They get to choose the age range for the audience of the poem. So, it may be scary (for older kids), or...
Lesson Plan
Japan Society

Akutagawa Ryunosuke and the Taisho Modernists

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Japan's Taisho Period was a time when authors like Akutagawa and other Japanese modernists began to experiment with point of view and literary form, making the literature produced during this time period a natural choice for teaching...
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Writing Letters to the Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
To celebrate National Poetry Month, young writers focus on the role letter writing has played in the development of poets. They begin by journaling three to five associations to a writing prompt that requires them to identify their...
Activity
Curated OER

The Jungle Book Teacher's Notes

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book is a childhood classic that readers of all ages enjoy. A teaching packet that includes instruction tips, comprehension strategies, background information on the book and author, and two fun worksheets.

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