California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc
Poetic Devices
Have everything you need to know about the elements of poetry with a nine-page handout. Split into four categories—word sounds, meanings, arrangement, and imagery—budding poets may reference terms, read definitions, descriptions, and...
Portland Public Schools
Teaching Tone to Teenagers
Tone is a tough topic to teach to teenagers. But never, fear, help is here in the form of a unit plan that takes advantage of their interest in music to set the stage for a series of activities that lead them to understand how setting,...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Exposing Gender Bias
Young sociologists are asked to read two photographs, identifying how the photographer uses point of view, color, pose, light, and shadow to express a stereotype of women or to challenge those stereotypes. Partners then create their own...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Three activities are designed for readers of Jack London's The Call of the Wild. First, class members research and create posters that reflect the setting of the novel. Next, groups create posters with images that represent each chapter...
Newseum
Weed Out Propaganda
Young scholars study four essential propaganda techniques: Simplification, Exploitation, Exaggeration, and Division (S.E.E.D.). Individuals select an example of propaganda from the past and present then compare how the key elements have...
Newseum
Disinformation Nation: Is It Propaganda?
Propaganda or not? That is the question researchers must answer as they analyze techniques used in ads. Pupils use a three-part definition to determine if the ad is propaganda or advertising.
Newseum
Disinformation Nation: Checking Your Emotions
Propaganda is designed to manipulate! High schoolers learn how to recognize the devices propagandists use to evoke strong emotional reactions and practice techniques that help them avoid being manipulated.
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,...
Newseum
Disinformation Nation: Separating Politics and Propaganda
Separating political rhetoric from propaganda is no small feat. Class members are challenged to examine two different sources about a candidate in an upcoming election and determine whether the primary purpose of the source is to inform...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment
Pain and suffering do not have to be inevitable in a study of Crime and Punishment. A carefully scaffolded lesson introduces readers to the divided natures of the characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's complex novel. Groups use the...
Curated OER
Bloody Business
Students research word frequencies in Macbeth and create a frozen picture inspired by a word. In this Macbeth lesson, students view Blood Will Have Blood and discuss the dual meaning of the word "blood." Students identify...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Dueling Telegrams: 1963 Verbal Power Play Between Wallace and JFK
Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the...
Curated OER
What Do You Call Older People?
Students brainstorm a list of words they use to refer to the elderly. As a class, they discuss the importance of word connotations and explain those used to refer to the older population. They complete a handout and share their thoughts...
Macmillan Education
Communication
Especially tricky for language is understanding the line between inappropriate, confrontational, (in)effective, (un)reasonable and diplomatic English. The activities in the resource permit class members to practice...
Curated OER
1704 Attack on Deerfield
Class groups examine conflicting primary and secondary sources describing the 1704 attack on the fort at Deerfield by French and Native Americans and analyze the implications of discrepancies.
K12 Reader
Winter Adjectives: Shades of Meaning
Is wet damper than soggy? Young grammarians consider shades of meaning by ranking a set of winter adjectives from the weakest to the strongest.
Curated OER
Unlocking New Words: Partner Presentations
Following extensive modeling about how to apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to learn new words, partner teams create brief word presentations to teach new vocabulary to the class. Preselect words from upcoming social studies,...
Schools United to Provide Enhanced Resources Network
AP English Project: Journal of Literary Terms and Devices
To prepare for the AP English exams, individuals are asked to create a notebook of literary terms and devices. The terms must be defined, accompanied by representative artwork, and illustrated by an example drawn for a named source. A...
Curated OER
Eng 312: Final Exam
When paired with other powerpoints by Don L.F. Nilsen, this final exam covers topics addressed throughout previous lectures (slide 14 specifies which lectures should be reviewed). Teachers could use this presentation to craft their own...
Curated OER
Vocabulary 6 - SAT Preparation
High schoolers discover how to spell, define, and employ in speaking and writing 20 vocabulary words which are likely to show up on the SAT test. Included are links to online printable puzzles and online flashcards.
Curated OER
Slices of American Pie: The 1960s Through Music
Eleventh graders examine political, cultural, and social movements through music. In this 1960s American history lesson, 11th graders explore the music of the decade in order to better understand the complexity of the time period....
Curated OER
Back to School: Style Analysis
Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...
Shakespeare Uncovered
Henry IV, Part I: Does Father Know Best?
“Yea, there thou mak’st me sad and mak’st me sin/In envy that my Lord Northumberland/Should be the father to so blest a son--.” Henry IV, Part I, provides the text for a series of exercises that ask class members to examine the...
Mr. Ambrose
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Good discussion questions, quizzes, and tests teach as well as assess. Readers of The Great Gatsby will learn much from the materials in a 36-page packet designed to help students prepare for the AP Literature exam. Included in the...