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...

A video leads off this activity on fables, introducing the class to this important form of traditional storytelling. The group defines fable and hears an explanation of the origin of this type of folk tale. They summarize the story they...

Germination is an amazing process that results in amazing things. The book The Tiny Seed is the inspiration for a set of activities that will help build early literacy, observation, language, and writing skills. The class observes how...

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is famous, in part, because it established a uniquely American form of humor. For this famous story, Mark Twain combines the tall-tale, the dialect story, and satire. Here is a resource...

Students read texts reflecting multiple cultural perspectives. 

What would a main idea be without important details? Readers use a graphic organizer to record key details from an informational text (a fiction text would also work). Review main idea as a concept before beginning, asking scholars...

Thomas Jefferson lived a controversial life. A series of lesson plans shares information about Jefferson's Sons, a novel about the infamous founding father. Discussion questions and other tasks explore different points of view and cover...

According to John Betjeman, "Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows." With The Boy in the Striped Pajamas film study, scholars work in small groups to discuss the quote and other...

Who's your favorite Roald Dahl character? What book by Roald Dahl is the most exciting for you? Explore the wacky world of Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, and more with a helpful resource pack for...

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 7 short answer and essay questions about Shakespeare's King Henry IV. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

In this literature activity, learners respond to 25 short answer and essay questions about Shakespeare's Richard III. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the selection at the bottom of the page.

Kndergarteners work to build strong listening and reading comprehension skills by answering higher level questions. After a teacher demonstration of the task, learners listen to the story The Three Little Pigs, the teacher asks them...

The perfect companion to Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby is a series of printables featuring several different types of activities. Kids can practice handwriting, spelling, matching, and drawing with gingerbread baby cutouts....

Help your youngsters find meaning in the text they read with this series of five intervention lessons. Offering explicit, step-by-step instructions for walking children through shared readings of leveled books, these...

Ninth graders engage in the reading of literature in order to focus upon some of the basic literary elements while examining "The Catcher In The Rye". They use the experience of reading and literary analysis in order to help develop an...

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....

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...

First graders analyze the events of early American exploration. This is a unit resource for teachers in which there are six lessons about the American Western exploration and expansion. Within each lesson there are objectives, materials,...

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.

Sixth graders investigate the ideas, literature, music, and art of the Romantic Movement. They apply romantic ideals to their original writing and art, analyze poetry, discuss key vocabulary, and analyze artwork from this era.

Students listen to popular music of the 50's and 60's to make literature connections to The Outsiders. For this popular culture lesson, students evaluate and analyze various songs and connect them with the themes in the literature...

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...

Third graders learn to identify different types of literature genres. For this genre lesson, 3rd graders complete pre and post- assessment, conduct a genre research activity, and complete the associated worksheets.

In this online interactive literature instructional activity, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions about Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie. Students may check some of their answers online.