Whether new to teaching Beowulf or an experience pro, you'll find much to like in a richly detailed unit plan that asks readers to consider how the epic represents the difficulty in defining good and evil but also reflects the changing...

Can authors speak to each other across works, genres, and centuries? Study the conversation between Christopher Marlowe in his poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and the responses by Sir Walter Raleigh and William Carlos Williams...

Learners create 2-3 poems, a children's story, or a two or three dimensional piece of art.  In this Romantic Period instructional activity, students discuss the historical background of the Romantic Period and relevant literary...

What three readily available things would you grab in case of an emergency? That's the question that launches a unit study of William Golding's The Lord of the Flies. After sharing their choices, class members read Golding's rationale...

Here’s an interesting approach to the analysis of similar subjects in different mediums. Based on the methodology of Professor Jules Prown, learners apply his three stages (description, deduction, and speculation) to a painting and a...

No lesson on Oscar Wilde is complete without The Importance of Being Earnest! Review key details from the plot of Wilde's famous work with a helpful crossword puzzle.

What is war? Students discuss the ethical dilemma of war by viewing Picasso's painting entitled "Guernica" and write down everything they see in the painting. Then they choose one emotion that best summarizes their emotional response to...

Learners examine World War II through the use of literature. As a class, they brainstorm a list of words they relate to the war itself. In groups, they read various novels and view photographs showing the experiences of the Jews,...

How do cultural and historical background impact thought? To explore this essential question, class members view of portion of the film, The Passage to India, read an excerpt from The Magician’s Nephew, and Nissim Ezekiel’s...

Take the class back in time to the Victorian Era! The resource provides a plethora of activities that create experiences for scholars in class. Some activities include a fun fair, viewing the starry-night painting, and even experiencing...

Like Scrooge, your language arts learners will not shut out the lessons you teach in a vocabulary activity based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Included in the packet is a variety of vocabulary activities and two...

Students watch and respond to a Bill Moyers Now video on the Chilean author, Isabel Allende. They brainstorm a list of recent events that might inspire writers and choose one to write about in poetic, diary, or short story form.

One of the best fourth grade books of all time is Where the Red Fern Grows. Provide your class with interesting background on the book and the author as well as worksheets for every five chapters of the novel. The first part of the guide...

For this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 15 multiple choice questions based on Ulysses. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

“There is no story that is not true, . . .” And uncovering the truths in Things Fall Apart is the focus of a 68-page resource packet designed to provide instructors with a wealth of materials that enhance understanding of Chinua Achebe’s...

Eleventh graders ponder about what it means to be an "American." They discuss the impact of an author's word choice and sentence structure on text. They identify some major themes and development of the Letters... Compose paragraphs and...

Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...

Fifth graders describe the changes in King George III's policy toward the American colonies by sequencing key events between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. They explain the colonial reactions to command decisions...

Students demonstrate knowledge of musical instruments and the families of the orchestra. They acknowledge different voice types found in opera. Students interpret emotional expressions through listening. They compose sounds to express...

Students read Treasure Island. They have a choice of a number of activities associated with the novel, including writing a review of the book. Students also participate in a National Geographic High Seas Adventure, going on an Internet...

This lesson from a unit on Seventeenth Century British Literature focuses on the King James Bible and its influence. It features links to a brief history of the King James Bible, Online text and audio versions of King James Bible,...

This lesson from a unit on Middle Ages British literature focuses on the Black Death or Black Plague. It features links to information about the Black Death: "The Black Plague: The Least You Need to Know," a question and answer style...

Though teachers might use this student-centered, technology-based, one or two-day research project to introduce any author, English 12 teachers may wish to use the lesson to jump-start a unit on British literature from the Romantic...

"The Savage River: Seventy-One Days with Simon Fraser", an historical novel by Marjorie Wilkins Campbell, begins in 1808 and follows Simon Fraser and his group of Voyageurs as they travel on the Fraser River in British Columbia. This...