There is a reason why an Oscar is given each year for the Best Adaptation Screenplay. Adaptations are the focus of an exercise that asks class members to compare a work of literature with a least one adaptation of the work into a...

Celebrate Eric Carle’s beloved children’s books, especially those about animals. Teachers and readers alike engage in Carle’s books as they explore the art and color in each of his stories, and how these elements support comprehension.

What elements make up a successful argument? A helpful resource describes aspects of an argument such as the claim, evidence, counterargument, and audience. Perfect as an individual assignment for a flipped lesson or collaborative work,...

Call him a reliable narrator! Ishmael is the focus of a lesson that asks readers to analyze the complex character of Herman Melville's narrator as he is introduced in the first chapter of Moby Dick.

Is it possible to have too much concern for others? Can we be trapped by our expectations as well as those of society? Edith Wharton's chilling tale of Ethan Frome asks these and other disquieting questions. Signet's guide to Ethan Frome...

Four stories by Kate Chopin offer high schoolers an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the ways authors use various literary elements and movements to develop their themes and social commentaries. 

Can you see me now? Scholars discuss two definitions of invisibility and then connect the definitions to text evidence related to Louie's invisibility in Unbroken. Readers turn their attention to The Life of Miné Okubo and record text...

Scholars learn how smells evoke early childhood memories and apply that knowledge to a character from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. After finding a passage from the novel that references smells, they craft a haiku and a...

Young scholars think critically about artistic freedom and evaluate the aims and effectiveness of censorship and education. They begin an investigation of the ongoing controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" by...

For this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to an essay question based on Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Students may also access an online quiz on the selection using the link at the bottom of the page.

In this ESL/ELL Commonwealth Games instructional activity, students read a selection about "India Rushing to Save Commonwealth Games." They discuss the passage, identify the problems and solutions, and talk about their own favorite...

Students read the article Blood Test Predicts When You'll Die. For this reading comprehension lesson, students read the article and complete a variety of activities. They work individually and in pairs to complete questions dealing with...

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members...

Seventh graders explore the history of Christmas by researching classic literature. In this holiday instructional activity, 7th graders read the story A Christmas Carol and discuss the tone of Charles Dickens' classic literary work....

Persuade your writers that crafting arguments is not that difficult. They only need to follow the steps outlined in this resource.

Readers select a character from Call of the Wild, record their responses to a series of prompts in a spiral notebook, and use details from the novel to support their thinking. The spirals are then used as source material to support...

Writers create an original mystery and have a chance to put it into movie format. The classic elements of a mystery must be present: the crime, the suspects, the motive, the solution and clues. Use iPhoto and Quicktime Movie to integrate...

Provide young readers with an opportunity to share their opinions about independent reading books with this book report form. Focusing on their favorite character, children complete a series of sentence frames requiring them to think...

True or false, the Articles of Confederation is taught in 8th grade? Here are 5 true/false and 5 multiple choice questions asking pupils to consider aspects of the Articles of Confederation.

Help your class master proper nouns with a themed worksheet. As they read Frances Hodgson Burnett's well-known novel The Secret Garden, have pupils practice identifying proper nouns with plot points from the story. They underline...

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...

A cross-curricular lesson combines poetry and history for your middle and high schoolers. The class critically examines Kipling's poem, "White Man's Burden" as historical evidence of the Imperialist ideology popular during his time. The...

This multimedia activity challenges media-savvy learners to look at the critical issue concerning the inundation of technology and multitasking in the classroom, and its effects on the education of themselves and others. The tasks...