Literacy Design Collaborative
To Be or Not to Be: The Evolution of Hamlet’s Personality
How does Hamlet's state of mind change over the course of Shakespeare's most famous revenge tragedy? After a close reading of Hamlet's soliloquies in Act III, scene 1 and Act IV, scene iv, class members engage in a Paideia/Socratic...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature Shakespeare and Plutarch
The Oscar for the Best Adapted Screenplay acknowledges a writer's excellence in adapting material found in another source. What do your class members know about adapted resources? Find out with an assessment that asks readers to...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
A 16-page packet includes three activities for a unit study of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Before beginning the novel, class members identify the factors in their lives that helped create their frame of reference,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Dramatic Perspective in Moby Dick
A lesson on Herman Melville's Moby Dick asks readers to compare the first person point of view of Ishmael in Chapter 1 to Captain Ahab's dramatic monologue in Chapter 37. Readers cite evidence from the chapters to support their...
K20 LEARN
Antigone's Themes Today: The Greek Drama Antigone
Is Antigone relevant to today's readers? After reading Sophocles' tragedy, scholars must decide if the themes are universal and timeless. Class members engage in a series of activities designed to have them closely consider the...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
A World of Animals: Challenge Activities (Theme 10)
Animals are the theme of this series of challenge activities. Extend scholars' learning opportunities by writing personal narratives and book reports, creating picture and alphabet books, and drawing scenes from stories read aloud.
Newseum
Making a Change: Letter From Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written in response to "A Call for Unity," written by eight white ministers from Birmingham and published in the local newspaper. After reading both letters and following a list...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 4 Overview
The intricate craft of narrative writing can make a happy story feel exuberant or a sad story feel devastating. With 42 extensive lessons that include poignant discussion questions, standards-aligned self-reflections, engaging writing...
Great Books Foundation
Rattlesnakes
John Muir may be a friend to the natural world, but as a short reading passage confirms, he is no friend to rattlesnakes. As young readers learn about Muir's encounters with the dangerous creatures, they answer four comprehension...
Curated OER
Comparing or Contrasting Two Books
Students read two books and complete a compare and contrast of the two books. For this compare and contrast lesson, students read two books in the same genre and write an essay comparing and contrasting them.
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast
Fourth graders read two books In this compare and contrast lesson, 4th graders read a science fiction or fantasy story and compare it to the story, "Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library." Students also have the option to listen to...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes and Plots
Students compare theme and plot in two short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this theme and plot analysis lesson, students read Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil as well as take notes about the theme...
Curated OER
Comparing The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring
Pupils read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien and write a comparison of the two books. In this Tolkien novel analysis lesson, students read the novels and select characters, plot, theme, or other element to...
Curated OER
Using a Matrix to Compare, Contrast, and Analyze Connections
Students explore writing techniques by comparing fiction vs. non-fiction. In this literature analysis lesson, students read stories from Aesop's Fables and compare the themes and characters to stories from their own life. Students...
Curated OER
Comparing Two Poe Classics
Learners read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In this poetry instructional activity, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.
Curated OER
Homes Then and Now
Before reading a book or text describing life in the 18th or 19th century, you might want to preview vocabulary. Each slide provides a description and image of technology common to household use prior to the 20th century, and compares it...
Curated OER
Reading Primary Source Documents: Comparing Sources
Students analyze and compare various primary source documents. They formulate historical questions based on the documents.
Curated OER
Amelia Earhart - Drawing Conclusions
Examine the life of Amelia Earhart with kids. They will read facts and view a timeline about Earhart's life. They will work in groups to read the last radio transmissions and draw conclusions about what happened in her disappearance and...
Curated OER
Briar Rose: Character Comparison
Expand this Venn diagram so it's a little larger for your class. As they're reading Briar Rose, stop them and encourage them to compare Becca and Gemma, two characters from the novel. A teacher's guide gives some possible ideas.
Curated OER
Folktales and Ecology: Animals and Humans in Cooperation and Conflict
Story elements such as conflict, character analysis, resolution, and moral are discussed and charted as elementary children read folktales involving animals. An element of science is also introduced as learners discover what a keystone...
Curated OER
Read and Get Smart
Use the class textbook to read a full story about Martin Luther King, Jr. The class writes facts about him and outlines his life, then they read the author and illustrator summaries at the end of the story. They compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: Cold Sassy Tree
Lots of questions arise when reading Cold Sassy Tree. As your class encounters the twentieth chapter, encourage a rich discussion with some of the questions provided here. Then, either independently, or for homework, ask your readers to...
Curated OER
Like Water for Chocolate Guided Reading Worksheet
Planning a novel unit on Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel? If so, this comprehensive guided reading worksheet might appeal to you. Steer readers through the entire novel with a routine of comprehension questions and analysis...
Curated OER
Family Life in the 1830s
Students compare and contrast family life today with family life in the 1830s. They conduct research on Old Sturbridge Village, read primary source documents, and develop a list of generalizations comparing/contrasting families of the...