Dive into Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and determine what it means to conform in society, and discuss as a group with the thoughts and plans available in these documents. Included are multiple activities and brain targets that form the...

Young scholars create a timeline of the important events of John F. Kennedy's presidency. They construct a timeline of the major events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. They compare the Missile Crisis events with their presentation in the...

Students create a pattern. In this patterns lesson, students review the meaning of symmetry and explore using pattern blocks. Students look for patterns in real quilts, photographs and pictures. Students work independently to plan a...

Using Mark Twain's The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, invite your learners to consider the concept of virtue in a democratic society devoted to gain and self-interest. This stellar resource guides your class members through a close...

Why are some immigrant groups in the United States embraced while others become disenfranchised? To answer this question, teams investigate why groups emigrated to the US, why some of these these peoples were...

Students become familiar with the ways slaves reacted to educating themselves.  In this postbellum and freeman lesson, students complete readings from chapters in the book Up From Slavery.  Students write about the...

Third graders gain an appreciation for writing, analyzing, reading and listening to poetry, viewing poems as a motivation for studying Japanese culture and tradition. They study and create their own haiku and tanka poems with illustrations.

Students appreciate the sacrifices that people from across the country made to ensure that all citizens could exercise their constitutional right to vote. They access excellent websites and documents imbedded in this plan to guide their...

Learners become familiar with the achievements of the artist Faith Ringgold. They take notice of the patterns in their environment. They connect the mathematical concept of patterns to create a class quilt.

Learners analyze modernist poetry in depth and detail. The several historical, social, and cultural forces that prompted the modernist movement and its effects are examined in this lesson.

Young scholars analyze the song Imagine. In this Vietnam era lesson plan, students listen to and analyze the intention and meaning of Lennon's song "Imagine." They discuss what they think Lennon meant and how the song interplays with...

This site presents the full text of the "Simonds History of American Literature." This detailed reference book explores the literature in early colonial times, the eighteenth century, the beginning of the nineteenth century, the New...

This article by Morris Dickstein traces the history of American poetry, drama, fiction, and social and literary criticism from the early 17th century to the late 20th century. It includes a section for each century providing historical...

A comprehensive site devoted to American literature compiled by a professor of English at Washington State University. Includes an alphabetical index of American authors, with links to biographical information, works online, critical...

This article is a brief history of the Early American novel with citations.

This website provides an outline of American literature beginning in 1776.

This is an introduction to the Transcendentalism period (1836-1860) in American Literature. It focuses on the beliefs and characteristics of transcendentalism and its leading authors: Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson and...

Background information about the literary traditions of the pre-Colonial and Colonial period. Includes information about Native American oral traditions and Native American cultures. Follow the links to the Early American era and to...

A survey of the Quaker writers from the Colonial period extracted from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature.

"Verses upon the Burning of our House" (July 10, 1666) is a poem by Anne Bradstreet. She wrote it to express the traumatic loss of her home and most of her material. However, she expands the understanding that God had taken them away in...

This Bibliomania site surveys the literary history of the English in colonial Virginia. Includes analysis of the work of Captain John Smith, William Strachey, and George Sandys. Links to other notes about early American literature.

Poet and mentor Ezra Pound is the focus of this brief biography highlighting his works and energy for new artistic movements of the early twentieth century. Click on "Ezra Pound Activities" for related materials.

This biography features Mark Twain as a regional realist author, world renown for his ability to portray real Americans in the late nineteenth century. Click "Mark Twain Activities" for artifacts and activities.