Even for one of the most accomplished men in American history, there was room for improvement. Challenge high schoolers to use Benjamin Franklin's Project for Moral Perfection to analyze text, make inferences, connect to historical...

Students research the five tribes of the Iroquois Nation focusing on housing, food, clothing, transportation, religion, and language. They research using Internet sources and book mark sites for reuse.

Students analyze cowboy literature. In this United States history and literacy lesson, students listen to a variety of cowboy songs and poetry, view the video "Rediscovering America: The Real American Cowboy," and view related websites....

Tenth graders read "Beloved" by Toni Morrison. In groups, they research the life and works of Morrison and read a speech by Sojouner Truth. Using the novel, they discuss the experiences of slaves and the effect of slavery on their...

Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...

CliffsNotes has generated 15 multiple choice questions based on Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. Bring your class to the computer lab to check their basic recall of the story's events. 

Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and...

Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...

Japan's Taisho Period was a time when authors like Akutagawa and other Japanese modernists began to experiment with point of view and literary form, making the literature produced during this time period a natural choice for teaching...

The United States of America was founded on firm ideals of both the pursuit of happiness and a spirit of reverence. Through a close reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The May-Pole of Merry Mount," you can examine what some consider was a...

Students study the effect of history on fictional or dramatic works of art by reading, Arthur Miller's, The Crucible. They examine the ties between a nation's history and culture with the literature it produces.

What if society sought equality by handicapping the gifted and dispelling any traces of diversity? Kurt Vonnegut Jr. offers one possible answer to this question through his incredibly engaging and thought-provoking satirical...

Combining a close reading of a classic American text with the study of history can be a very powerful strategy, and this is most certainly the case with this resource using Edward Everett Hale's The Man without a Country. Consider themes...

Fourth graders examine how a change in attitudes about death took place from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century and was embodied in gravestones, literature, and art.

In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 12 multiple choice questions about Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 15 multiple choice questions based on The Sun Also Rises. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

What lengths will one go to for love? Louis, a swan in The Trumpet of The Swan, struggles to gain the attentions of a girl because he cannot trumpet. Thankfully, his father creates a plan that may work. Scholars discover Louis's attempts...

Students analyze selected pieces of art and infer how they reflect a sense of disillusionment, and/or cynicism in American society in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal. Then they identify and place cultural attitudes...

Young scholars explore fiction that moves individuals to social action. In this literature instructional activity, students read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and analyze its literary worth as well as its investigative journalism. Young...

Students consider the plight of immigrant workers. In this undocumented immigrant lesson, students compare the worker of the Industrialization era to the undocumented immigrant workers of today. Students read and discuss literature about...

Students explore women and music in the 20th century. In this music lesson, students study the relationship between literature and music through The Color Purple and music by Ethel Waters, MA Rainey, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella...

Second graders read The Piano and become familiar with racial discrimination.  In this racial discrimination book lesson plan, 2nd graders answer comprehension question to focus on the importance of the book.  Students discuss...

Students study the pumpkin. For this pumpkin lesson, students participate in different activities that explain the history of pumpkins and how pumpkins develop and grow, read "The Great Pumpkin Story" and answer comprehensive questions...

Students conduct research on historical population changes in the U.S. They conduct Internet research on the Historical Census Data Browser, create a bar graph and data table using a spreadsheet program, and display and interpret their...