Busy Teacher
The Phantom of the Opera
It's no masquerade! If Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera is part of your curriculum, check out this three-page packet loaded with suggestions for before, during, and after reading activities.
University of North Carolina
Literature (Fiction)
An informative installment of the Writing for Specific Fields series helps readers learn how to interpret and write about fiction. The website details nine easy steps for writing a literary analysis—a useful method for all readers!
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Concrete or “Shape” Poem
Writers compose an original shape poem. Scholars choose a subject to write about and create a visual representation by forming a corresponding picture using the poem's words.
PBS
The Symbolism of Sunflower Seeds in Ghost
Ghost by Jason Reynolds is a coming-of-age book that resonates with teenagers who have experienced childhood trauma. Explore the novel with an interactive resource that focuses on the author's use of symbolism, particularly with...
Ereading Worksheets
Figurative Language for Edgar Allen Poe
Are your classes weary of dreary worksheets? Are the learners nearly napping? Thrill them, fill them with delight with an interactive instructional activity that asks them to identify the figurative language Edgar Allen Poe uses to add...
Curated OER
The Golden Rules of Story Writing
In this story writing skills worksheet, students consider 6 guidelines for authoring their own stories. Students use the guidelines as they write their own stories.
Curated OER
Nasreddin Hodja - Turkish and Middle Eastern Folklore Philosopher
Third graders read a readers theater written by Nasreddin Hodja. In this Nasreddin Hodja lesson plan, 3rd graders learn about the philosopher and participate in one of his reader's theaters.
Curated OER
Through the Forest and Home Again: Maps Help Us Find Our Ways
Students read Little Red Riding Hood, focusing on her path home to Grandma's house. In this language arts and geography lesson, students perform a reader's theater, re-creating the walk home and possible routes that could have been...
Curated OER
A QUESTION
Students engage in scientifically oriented questions. They give priority to evidence, draw conclusions/formulate explanations and connect/evaluate explanations with scientific knowledge. Students communicate and justify proposed...
Curated OER
Families and Neighborhoods
Students build their own neighborhood. In this lesson on community, students are introduced to books about families and neighborhoods. As a class, the students create their own neighborhood, elect a leader for their neighborhood and...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Working with Words Teacher Directed Activity by Mark Cogan for Elem. Test Prep
Students build word families. In this interactive language arts activity, students visit a website where they play a game creating word families. Students may print out their work when finished.
Curated OER
Literature: Frederick
First graders read Frederick and illustrate a scene from the story. They connect their own backgrounds and experiences with scenes in the story. They identify the setting and conflict of the story.
Curated OER
The Greatest Survival Story of All Time
Students use the Internet to read about an explorer's survival in the Antarctic. They try to find a better route for him to have taken.
Curated OER
Identifying Differences Between Fiction and Nonfiction Books
Students explore the differences between fiction and non-fiction book. In this genre study lesson, students read examples of fiction and non-fiction and identify the characteristics of each genre. Students list the characteristics on a...
Curated OER
Summarizing Key Information
Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...
Novelinks
The Winter’s Tale: Bio Poem
Readers of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale demonstrate their understanding of the play by selecting a character and crafting a bio poem that reveals his or her fears and aspirations.
Art Institute of Chicago
Act It Out
Examine two works of art and use these pieces as inspiration for dialogues. The whole class discusses Renoir's Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge. Then, in groups of either three or ten, pupils...
Curated OER
Compare and Chart the Stories
Elementary schoolers engage in a literature study. They make comparisons of two different versions of a story using a graphic organizer. Using the text and pictures elementary schoolers investigate three elements from the story. Then,...
Curated OER
The Outsiders Journal Guide for Chapter Six
For this novel guide worksheet, students respond to eleven short answer questions about the plot and literary elements of Chapter Six in The Outsiders.
Curated OER
Author's Day
Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....
Curated OER
Fairy Tales Unit Ideas
Pupils listen to children's fairy tales and watch them on a video. Afterward, they list the heroes from each story. Students write a short paragraph about a typical day for the hero. Pupils dress up like their character and give a...
Curated OER
Tales of Edgar Allen Poe
Analyze the writing of Edgar Allen Poe by reading and then writing in a similar style. Budding authors learn about the life of Poe and read one or more of his famous works online. Partner groups create an original piece of writing using...
Curated OER
Focus on Figurative Language
Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...
Curated OER
The Pearl Quiz
Do your readers remember Steinbeck's The Pearl? Check with this quick multiple-choice quiz. One question does not seem to have an accurate answer, so take the quiz yourself before giving to your class and check the answers.