Curated OER
Harness Music to Enhance Writing
Use the magic of music to engage the senses and bring new life to your writing curriculum.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Off to Adventure!: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 1)
Give language skills a boost with a series of ESL lessons in an Off to Adventure! themed unit. Using a speak, listen, move, and look routine, scholars enhance proficiency through grand conversation and skills practice. Discussion topics...
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
Annenberg Foundation
Becoming Visible
The television and interstate highways both came of age in 1950s America. Scholars use film, text, and discussion to explore how these and other cultural icons shaped the literature of the time. Pupils also create a family history...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing
Students discuss the importance of using adjectives in writing. They separate into five groups, each group is given a bag with an object inside to describe using just one sense. They write a description of a Hershey's Kiss using adjectives.
Springfield Public Schools District 186
Form and Structure of Poetry
If anyone suffers from metrophobia—the fear of poetry—the PowerPoint on the elements of poetry may help alleviate their worries. The presentation introduces learners to poetic elements, including simile, metaphor, and personification....
Annenberg Foundation
Exploring Borderlands
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
Curated OER
The Texas Cowboy: Myth and Reality
Students create "cowboy ballads" in this interactive, multi-day lesson plan. The cowboy is researched using various sources and class discussions. Students evaluate individual work at the end of the lesson plan.
Curated OER
Ballad Blast
Learners write epic poems, songs, or ballads to describe adventures of their own. They discover that storytellers often told stories as epic poems, songs, or ballads. They share and discuss some of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.
Curated OER
Deerfield Families
To understand the consequences of the 1704 attack on Deerfield by combined French and Native American forces, groups research primary and secondary resources related to four Deerfield families involved in the attack.
Curated OER
Ways to Share Books
In this book report idea sheet, students are given a list of 20 possibilities for creating a non-traditional book report (e.g., making a diorama; making a poster).
Curated OER
Why Do We Remember Revere? Paul Revere's Ride in History and Literature
Middle schoolers examine primary documents regarding Paul Revere's ride and its role in the Revolutionary War. They consider how Revere's role has been written about by Longfellow and others and discuss the discrepancies between accounts.
Curated OER
Analyzing the Use of Irony in a Short Story
Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...
Curated OER
Understanding Fair Trade
Students write a ballad from a farmer's point of view on trade. In this farmer's lesson plan, students listen to a farmer speak about fair trade, have a dialogue about it, and write a ballad to interpret their point of view.
Curated OER
Classic Poetry
Fifth graders review the terms narrative and classic poetry. They are introduced to SMUGGLER'S SONG and compare the structure to recently read poetry. They join in on the refrain reading the story together as a class.
Curated OER
The Poetry of Sculpture
Fourth graders practice writing poetry while examining all types of art. In this art analysis lesson, 4th graders participate in a field trip to a sculpture garden in which they view sculptures and create different forms of poetry about...
Curated OER
Burns' Night and dialect
Students explore poetry and dialect. They research Burn's Night and how people celebrate it. Students examine the Scottish dialect and its similarities to English grammar. Students write their own poetry.
Curated OER
Born on a Mountaintop? Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History
Learners name tall tale characters and locations, which are based on actual people and places, and describe how they are used in an exaggerated way. Students name created characters and events from tall tales. Learners write a tall tale.
Curated OER
The Witch of Goingsnake
Students write an essay comparing and contrasting Frank Parris and George Ballad. In this The Witch of Goingsnake lesson, students brainstorm vocabulary used to show comparison and create a model thesis statement. Students write their...
Curated OER
Concert Program Notes
Learners write program notes of composers. They discuss music, composers, themes and style and movements in music. They select a composer from a target language culture and write two paragraphs int eh form of concert program notes. ...
Curated OER
Music, Slavery, and the Civil War
Pupils explore the role of the spiritual played during the period of slavery and the Civil War. They listen to and analyze various forms of spirituals They gain an awareness of how music reflects cultures and social issues.
Curated OER
Introducing Tolkien and His Words
Students identify and describe the types of narratives that made Tolkien the writer he was. In groups, they examine different myths and folktale motifs. They discuss what Tolkien meant by "faerie" and "eucatastrophe." As a class, they...