Discussion doesn't always need to be spoken. Before you begin The Tempest by William Shakespeare, have kids connect their ideas and experiences to central questions of the play with a silent discussion activity. Once they have...

What makes a poem difficult? Explore that topic and more with your class as you work through the instructional activity detailed here. Using materials from Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation contest, individuals or small groups...

Create an abundance of understanding, as your high school learners learn to analyze multiple love poems. Part one of this resource has learners define what love is, examine art that reflects the love between Robert and Elizabeth...

You want your class to meet all of the Common Core standards, and here is one way to tackle the first speaking and listening standard. Given a theme to focus on from "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Leo Tolstoy, small groups come up...

Study allusions with a research and presentation project. Pupils are assigned a specific allusion, the phoenix for example. They research the origins, compose a summary, explain the concept, and explore this allusion within various...

Break down Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls into manageable chunks by focusing on plot points and literary elements in specific chapters. This resource is all about the first chapter, and asks pupils to use complete sentences to...

Make sure your pupils can keep who said what straight by punctuating dialogue properly. Learners edit and rewrite twelve sentences to demonstrate their understanding of punctuation and capitalization. The worksheet includes a variety of...

Make sure you are well-informed before embarking on a study of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. This resource includes an analysis of the text that a teacher can use to prepare a unit of study. It covers plot elements, themes,...

Determining the relationships between words is the purpose of this analogy worksheet. Learners puzzle through 10 different analogies by using bridge sentences and types to determine which pairs of words share the same relationships.

The film version of Gone with the Wind is the focus of this learning guide that asks viewers to consider some of the issues that the Southern states faced prior to and during the Civil War.

Smart, intelligent, perceptive. Here's a worksheet that asks kids to use a thesaurus (an online one, perhaps?) to find a series of synonyms for the six words listed.

Tired of those blank stares after your class reads a particularly complex passage from a Shakespearean play? Help high schoolers untangle that prose with a literature circle activity. Ten different roles prompt class members to focus on...

An informative list compiled with quotes, authors, and discussion questions, along with 20 out-of-the-box application ideas, make up the collection of lessons geared to spark dialogue and creative thinking about quotations. 

After finishing The Red Badge of Courage, readers complete a grammar worksheet  to identify the chain of events in the plot, the enduring issues, and major themes of Stephen Crane's novel.

Describing a problem efficiently doesn't solve it, but a well-crafted argument can move readers to action. High schoolers focus on structuring problem statements by reading examples of strong essays and working in groups to create...

Who says you need a human to be your valentine on Valentine's Day? Give your dog-loving readers an inspiring perspective on how a sister givdes her brother a valentine from the family dog. They then answer 10 questions thatd involve...

Add a touch of Dr. Seuss whimsy to your Earth Day celebration with six pages consisting of Earth-friendly, inspiring, and engaging activities designed to enhance the beauty of your school campus and showcase the famous story, The...

Readers of Antigone are asked to recall events in Sophocles' tragedy to complete a 24-clue crossword puzzle. An engaging way to review for a final assessment.

What is satire, and what are its characteristics? A handy handout provides young satirists with all the information they need to analyze a satire or to craft their own.

There's no better way to learn something than to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. A handout on oral history, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, explains how to conduct interviews and use the information...

Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...

George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, can seem strangely prophetic when compared to modern news events and politics. Readers of Orwell's dystopian classic sharpen their critical thinking skills by engaging in...

Can an action be so bad that you are sickened with guilt? Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, the main character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, believes that committing a crime could be the answer to his troubles. However,...

Wearing wrinkled clothing and chewing gum are two things not to do at an interview. Pupils discover the steps to an effective job interview with the informative lesson plan. They read a sample interview and then practice their...