Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
The fourth standard for reading literature in the Common Core calls for young readers to be able to determine the figurative and connotative meanings of words and phrases. Use this resource, a continuation of a series of Common Core...
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi: Mixing Words and Pictures
Create meaningful illustrations to accompany stories in a web-based art and literacy lesson focused on "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The class takes a virtual art safari with the Museum of Modern Art and then discusses how...
Curated OER
Pennies of My Life Part II
Youngsters write and construct their own autobiographies based on The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis. They engage in pre-writing steps, narrative writing, and peer editing. This is the second part of a two-part project...
Curated OER
Bring Your Character in a Bag - Animal Farm (Middle, Literature)
Ninth graders interpret a chosen character from the novel Animal Farm and represent that character in original symbolic form and present orally to the class.
Curated OER
Propaganda in Literature
Students explore propaganda. In this literature lesson plan, students read a written work and evaluate it for its propaganda value.
Curated OER
Elements of African Oral Literature
Ninth graders examine the importance of family history. In this Language Arts instructional activity, 9th graders read and discuss African oral literature with a focus on the roles of griots. Students compare /contrast the...
Curated OER
Fairy Tales as a Genre of Literature
Students examine the literary elements of fairy tales. After reading the fairy tale "Rapunzel" and discussing the elements of fairy tales that occur as they read, they use a story web to help plan and create an original fairy tale. ...
Curated OER
The English Sonnet: Michael Drayton
Students discover literature by conducting a free writing experiment. In this sonnet lesson plan, students read the sonnet "The Parting" and compare it to modern-day songs about breaking up. Students listen to pop music in class and...
Curated OER
Children's Literature Meets Learning Theories
Students examine learning theories and principles through children's literature. In groups, they select theories and create multimedia presentations exemplifying them. Students discuss the various themes related to human growth,...
Curated OER
Response to Literature: Anecdotal and Saga Memoir Poems
Students differentiate between anecdotal and saga memoir poems. In this response to literature lesson students analyze poems written by others then analyze incidents from their own lives to determine whether they meet the criteria for...
Curated OER
Honey Bee Language Arts And Literature
Students see how nature and honey bees are presented in literature. They find and read poetry that include references to bees. Have them write their own poetry or Haiku.
Curated OER
English Vocabulary Skills: AWL Sublist 6 - Exercise 4b
In this online interactive English vocabulary skills worksheet, students answer 10 matching questions which require them to fill in the blanks in 10 sentences. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
Adapting a Musical
Students transform literature into musical productions. In this integrated arts lesson, students discuss how musicals are written and produced. Students then select literature they are familiar with to adapt into musical productions.
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Story of Epic Proportions: What Makes a Poem an Epic?
Learners analyze the epic poem form and its roots in oral tradition. In this epic poetry lesson, students research the epic hero cycle and recognize the pattern of events and elements. Learners analyze the patterns embedded in the stories.
Curated OER
Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales
A thorough lesson introduces learners to Hans Christian Andersen, the nineteenth-century author who created wonderful tales. They read the original texts of several of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid,"...
Curated OER
Literature Blog
Students write online responses to the Literature they are reading in class using computers, internet access, and the Blog website www.blogger.com. This technology based language arts instructional activity can be adapted for many...
Curated OER
American Literature - The American Dream: Past, Present, and Future
Students are introduced to the ideas of the American Dream at the turn of the century. They present their ideas on the American Dream at the turn of the century through a person characterized in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Early American Novel: Exploring the Emergence of a Genre
Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Tales of the Supernatural
Scary stuff! Whether approached as the first horror story or a "serious imaginative exploration of the human condition," Frankenstein continues to engage readers. Here's a packet of activities that uses Mary Shelley's gothic...
Curated OER
The Princess's Point of View
Everyone wants to be part of a royal family. Let your pupils experience the privilege of royalty by rewriting the story The Frog Prince from the point of view of the princess. While the story line remains the same, perspective is bound...
Curated OER
Because of Winn-Dixie Scrapbook
Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use...
Curated OER
Character Impressions
Whether you are planning a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or simply want to improve your pupils' descriptive writing, this lesson could be a good addition to your class. Using the Six-Trait Writing process, pupils...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Pinkalicious (Kann)
Although the title of Elizabeth Kann's story Pinkalicious isn't a real word, the book is an excellent way to explore some new vocabulary in context: acute, mushy, rare, steady, and surrounded. Find the...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Ruta Sepetys
Historical fiction novels give readers a chance to step into someone else's shoes. An educator's guide from Penguin Common Core Lesson Plans provides resources to accompany three historical fiction novels written by Ruta Sepetys: Between...