Curated OER
Not Hurting Others
Pupils are encouraged to use gentle persuation rather than bullying and recognize how their behavior affects others. Students reflect to themselves with provided questions, read a story and reflect about how the characters acted, and...
Curated OER
Sound Effects
Students listen carefully so they can say their "part" during a reading of a Cinderella story. For this listening and speaking lesson, students saying their "part" on cue during a reading of a familiar story. They actively listen to the...
Curated OER
Bill Irwin: All in a Day's Work
Students research and examine the various roles needed to put on a major drama production. Using this information, they role play one of these different responsibilities. As a class, they perform a play of their choosing and receive...
Curated OER
Measure for Measure: Are You Talkin' to Me?
Students rehearse and perform an exchange from act three, scene two of the play, Measure for Measure, in pairs. They read the lines from the point of view of a different character in the play, and perform for the class.
Curated OER
How to Write Your 60 Second Shakespeare Newsletter
Students become playwrights. In this Shakespeare lesson, students paraphrase familiar Shakespearian scenes that they perform for their classmates in 60 seconds.
Curated OER
Macbeth Revision Questions
In this Macbeth revision questions worksheet, students explain certain details about Act one and six from the play. Students identify who said certain quotes and practice writing two essay questions about how they would act if they were...
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
John F. Kennedy Center
Folktale Theatre
Introduce your middle schoolers to a performance and movement activity that uses their favorite stories from fairytales and folklore. They practice basic acting skills, create dialogues with a partner, and then as guided practice,...
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...
Curated OER
Analyzing Atmosphere: Macbeth Murder Scene and Dagger Speech
Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scenes I and II) lacks explicit details of the murder of King Duncan, yet the author creates an atmosphere that allows us to visualize the event. Readers interpret the "Dagger Speech" by writing stage...
Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
ReadWriteThink
Designing Museum Exhibits for The Grapes of Wrath: A Multigenre Project
Challenge readers of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath to create a museum exhibit that uses artifacts to focus on one issue raised by the award winning story of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the Joads.
Curated OER
Fairy Tales Unit Ideas
Students 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. Students dress up like their character and give a...
Curated OER
Introducing Literary Elements in Fiction
Identify literary elements in fiction. In this reading comprehension lesson, learners read the book Pigsty and record literary elements onto a graphic organizer. They specifically discuss the main characters and events in the text.
Yale University
Discovering Persephone
Here is a resource that introduces learners to how the stories from Greek mythology explain the workings of natural phenomena, movements of the seasons, and how the conflicts of the gods mimic our own daily difficulties. Learners...
Curated OER
Respect for Animals
Students discuss importance of acting responsibly when caring for pets, reflect upon quote, "All Living Beings Have the Right to Respect and Kindness," read story Anastasia Wants a Rabbit and answer comprehension questions, role play...
Curated OER
It's All Part of the Story
Students explore storytelling through pantomime, improvisation, and dramatization. They watch an online video, discuss Native American earth stories, role-play various situations, explore websites, and present an oral story to the class.
Curated OER
Poetic Analysis
Students write a poetic analysis on a poem by Carl Sandburg. They take their previous knowledge of poetic devices and apply them to a piece of writing that displays their knowledge on a specific poem. They explain what they know about a...
Curated OER
Poetry Writing
Students compose a piece of poetry modeled after the poetry of Carl Sandburg and share their poem(s) with their colleagues. They use a cluster diagram to organize their thoughts and brainstorm their ideas.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Analyzing Literary Elements in Fiction
Students analyze the characters and events in fictional writing. In this literary elements lesson, students study the meaning of the words characterization and fiction. They listen to the story Pigsty by Mark Teague, or any other book...
Curated OER
Ben Franklin's Inventions
Learners discover the life of Benjamin Franklin by studying his inventions. In this biography lesson, students identify the inventions of Benjamin Franklin and their impact on society today. Learners create a commercial in an attempt...
Curated OER
Emerson's Essays - Essay Questions
In this literature worksheet, students respond to 12 short answer and essay questions about Emerson's Essays. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.
Curated OER
Reality Check
Students evaluate different types of reality television programming in "focus groups" and then submit their opinions on this type of programming to a television network.
Curated OER
"War of the Worlds": A Broadcast Re-Creation
Why did Orson Welles' 1938 Broadcast of a adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds cause such a panic? To answer this question, class members listen to the original broadcast and research the panic that resulted. They then engage...