Where to begin? This lesson plan, part of a series designed to help seniors compose a narrative response to a prompt found on the college Common Application, focuses on the techniques writers employ to craft an engaging introduction to...

Once again, class groups examine two model paragraphs and, using the provided rubric, evaluate how effectively the writers use structural techniques to sequence events so that they build a specific tone. Individuals then use what they...

After a brief discussion of their independent reading texts, pairs exchange their college narratives and, using the provided peer review tool, give their partner suggestions on how the draft may be improved.

As an end-of-unit assessment, class members complete the final drafts of their Common Application narrative essay and then meet in pairs to discuss the independent reading selection.

How does an author sequence events in a narrative so that the events build on one another and create a tone of mystery, growth, or resolution? As part of a study of narrative writing, class members work in pairs to examine the techniques...

Class members continue reading "How Bernard Madoff Did It" and annotate how the author refines his idea that the Madoff scandal grabbed the attention of a public fascinated with crime stories.

Are we interested in crime stories because we either identify with the victims or enjoy watching the rich suffer? Do we feel guilty and want someone to take our blame and let us feel innocent? Groups investigate how the author of "How...

Did Bernie Madoff fit the profile of a Ponzi schemer because, as Diana Henrique contends in an excerpt from her The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death, he “did not fit the profile of a Ponzi schemer”? Huh? Groups begin their...

Who is to blame for Bernie Madoff's crime? Class members look for evidence Diana B. Henriques uses in The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust to support her claims that we share the responsibility with Madoff.

"True-crime stories, murder mysteries, up-to-the-minute online news reports, and (as always) rumor and innuendo grab our attention faster than any call for justice, human rights, or ceasefires." Or so says Walter Mosley in his Newsweek...

"Everybody is guilty of something." As class members continue their close reading of Walter Mosley's essay, they examine how Mosley develops and supports his central ideas about Western civilization's relationship to guilt.

What are the qualities of a strong written response to a prompt? Class members use the provided text analysis rubric to self-assess their responses to their homework assignments to prepare for the mid-unit assessment.

After viewing an informational video that introduces Bernard Madoff and the concept of a Ponzi scheme, class members begin reading "How Bernard Madoff Did It," Liaquat Ahamed's New York Times book review that explains Madoff's crime, and...

As part of a mid-unit assessment, class members exchange their draft of a multi-paragraph essay with a classmate, review their partner's writing using the provided text analysis rubric, and evaluate the strength of evidence, the...

Discuss the correct use of certain phrases such as "managed" and "could" in this English lesson. Middle schoolers listen to interviews on work customs in different countries and compare them. They make inferences after reading given...

Have your class doing everything from reading literature, analyzing literary devices, identifying independent and dependent clauses, discussing, and writing creatively with the rich resource found here. After a mini lesson on independent...

Young historians use their planning graphic organizer to prepare a personal narrative draft on expert trades. Since the instructional activity is considered the mid-unit assessment, learners respond to a writing prompt related to the...

How do writers develop a central idea in a text? How can readers identify this central idea? These are the challenges class members tackle as they continue their analysis of "Letter One" from Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet.

Readers of "The Palace Thief" continue examining Ethan Canin’s short story and consider how the narrator's actions develop the central idea of how one's expectations and the expectations of others influence behavior.

Hearken! and observe how well a literary analysis unit can help ninth graders read closely and connect text structure to a central idea. Focusing on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," learners take notes and track the development...

What is the connection between the spread of ideas and the expansion of the sugar trade? Class members continue their reading of Sugar Changed the World and use an analysis tool to identify how critical ideas in the chapters are...

Does trauma have a lasting effect on people's lives? Scholars dive into the topic as they read paragraphs 9–11 of "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez, in which the author describes her family's return to the Dominican Republic....

Are authors also designers? Scholars examine closely how E.B. White designs a section in Death of a Pig. They determine how the structure of sentences and paragraphs, the order of events, and the dialogue placement all contribute to the...

How does Lady Macbeth's ambition help advance the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth? Scholars explore the topic using discussion and a jigsaw activity. Next, they complete a quick write to analyze how Shakespeare develops Lady Macbeth's...