Curated OER
The Hundred Penny Box with Multiple Viewpoints and Persuasive Letter
Third graders read The Hundred Penny Box and complete comprehension activities. In these perspectives and letter writing lessons, 3rd graders read and discuss the story then complete a Venn Diagram to explore the different viewpoints in...
Curated OER
Nibble, Nibble, Little Mouse
Students complete activities to analyze points of view in different texts. In this point of view lesson, students read Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Circle and discuss the points of view. Students choose a character from the story and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Character in Place: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” for the Common Core
How do writers use the interaction between elements like characterization and setting to create meaning? Readers of "A Worn Path" create a series of comic book-style graphics of Eudora Welty's short story and reflect on how Welty...
Curated OER
Book Report Task Cards
With 52 task cards, learners will not run out of things to do with a book they are reading independently or with the class. Tasks include making a poster on a specific topic, writing a summary, drafting a sequel, creating a windsock,...
California Education Partners
Glass Menagerie
As a reading comprehension assessment, ninth graders are asked to use evidence drawn from The Glass Menagerie to support an analysis of how Tennessee Williams uses specific lines to develop Amanda's character as well as her...
Center for History Education
To What Extent Were Women's Contributions to World War II Industries Valued?
Women rose to the challenge when the nation's war effort called them—but were sent home when the GIs came back from World War II. Young historians consider whether the United States valued women's contributions during the war using a...
Curated OER
Close Reading of “The Necklace”
Designed for teachers, this 12-page packet uses passages from Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" to model how to design activities that encourage close reading of complex text.
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Benjamin Franklin: Master Diplomat for One Last Time
At 81, Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, where he exercised significant influence in shaping key elements of how the United States operates. The class examines his role, using “The Scene at...
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...
Curated OER
Larger-Than-Life Lara
Students explore child psychology by reading a children's book in class. In this bullying lesson, students read the book Larger Than Life Lara and discuss the characters and how they treat each other. Students answer study questions...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Family Voices In As I Lay Dying
Learners analyze William Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying' and his use of multiple voices. In this William Faulkner lesson plan, students analyze Faulkner's use of multiple voices in narration. Learners examine the Bundren family through the...
Curated OER
Beanie Baby Biographies
Learners write a biography for their favorite Beanie Babies and then share their biography out loud. A simple, yet effective idea! Everyone loves their Beanie Baby!
Curated OER
The Book Boy by Joanna Trollope
Students read, analyze and critique the novel, "The Book Boy," by Joanna Trollope. They brainstorm if you can tell a book by its cover, construct a character map, explore cultural differences and investigate how a family hides a family...
ReadWriteThink
A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools
Paul Langan's novel The Bully is the core text in a six-session unit plan that engages high schoolers in an in-depth examination of bullying and its effects on bullies, victims, and bystanders. The richly textured and carefully...
Curated OER
Who am I?
Students practice their writing skills by creating a character sketch of themselves. After viewing portraits, they select one personality trait and put their own picture into the painting of their choice. They include a conversation with...
Curated OER
Character Study in Macbeth
Eleventh graders analyze a Shakespeare soliloquy by writing a prose summary of it. They keep a character journal, following one character through the play and analyzing what the character does and says, as well as, might have done or...
Curated OER
Sweethearts and Data Analysis
Students explore the concept collecting and representing data. In this collecting and representing data lesson, students record the different colors of sweetheart candies in their sweethearts box. Students create a table of the data and...
Novelinks
The House on Mango Street: Letters/Unsent Letters
Class members conclude their reading of The House on Mango Street with an assignment that asks them to compose letters to characters using their own voices or that of another character in Cisneros' story.
Curated OER
Writing Takes Shape!
Students read The Greedy Triangle and discuss geometric solids. In this geometry lesson, students list the geo-solids in the world and create a graphic organizer to show where geo-solids exist.
Bright Hub Education
"The Kid in the Red Jacket": Book Activities
Learning stations aren't just for little ones; middle schoolers can have fun while learning about the main character in the book, The Kid in the Red Jacket. Outlined are three different activities that are completed as each small...
Curated OER
Daughters Come of Age in Women's Fiction
Introduce your young readers to fiction written by women authors. For each story, they explore the way these daughters discover and claim their own identities. Individually, class members use the literature to examine their role in their...
Orange County Department of Education
Poppa's New Pants
Angela Shelf Medearis' Poppa's New Pants provides third graders with an opportunity to stitch together their own narrative filled with sensory details. After reading the story and noting the sensory and concrete details in the tale...
Curated OER
Using Drama to Examine Communities: Walking in Others' Shoes
Encourage your readers to make connections between texts with this resource. After compiling notes for each text read (you choose the texts), groups craft skits in which major characters from each text meet. There is a rubric for the...
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.