In this story structure lesson, students read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.

Students read one of the following books: Minn of the Mississippi, Paddle-to-the-Sea, or Seabird, all by Holling C. Holling, and identify the five themes of geography as well as make a literature journal with chapter field notes. They...

Does good fortune lie within the man in the moon? Minli, a young girl in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, sure hopes it does, so she sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon for answers. Along the way, Minli meets several magical...

Inspired by Britain's National Poetry Day, this resource will help your class analyze poetry. You will find a variety of poetry analysis methods to work through with your class. Finish by having each person compose an original poem.

Clarify the setting, literary themes, and potential vocabulary issues with a concept analysis resource. With thoughtful explanations of many parts of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the reference sheet will be a great...

Fourth graders compare and contrast the literature of Japan as they study the culture, history and geography of the island nation. They read various genres of literature, describe geographic and landform features of Japan, and find...

Students review the days of the week and the meaning of unconditional kindness. In this days of the week and kindness lesson, students participate in a reading of Libba Moore Gray's Miss Tizzy. They talk about the days of the week and...

Designed for teachers of Sophocles' Oedipus the King, this packet provides information about themes and literary devices used in the play. Appropriate for first-time and veteran teachers of Sophocles' tragedy. 

Whether you are planning on using Of Mice and Men for whole-class reading or as a selection for literature circles; whether you are new to John Steinbeck's novel, or it has long been a part of your curriculum, you...

Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...

Often, science fiction makes a lot of connections to real life. An educator's guide for the novel Charisma by Jeanne Ryan, has readers discuss many of the real-life issues that come in the text. A brief summary helps garner interest...

“. . .different men often see the same subject in different lights. . .” but the great orator Patrick Henry used all the skills at his command to craft a speech to convince listeners to see things as he did--that liberty was worth dying...

Conduct a Reader's Theater. Third, fourth, and fifth graders rewrite books with a baseball theme to a Reader's Theater format. They form groups of four or five, practice reading the script, and then perform it for an audience.

Students, after an introduction to Shakespeare's "Othello," compare/contrast the themes in the play to today's society. In addition, they write their own script for the play of "Othello" based on predictions of what they think will...

Natasha Wing's story The Night Before Thanksgiving is a great way to incorporate rhyme and literature into the Thanksgiving season. Learners make text-to-self connections, recall main events, and choose post-reading activities...

The best way to analyze a piece of literature is to ask questions about the characters, plot, and theme. Encourage your learners to stump the teacher with the most difficult questions they can create using Bloom's Taxonomy and various...

Want to know more about Dr. Seuss? Scholars research topics such as his childhood, family, education, jobs, and story themes to learn more about the ever-popular and fun to read author, Dr. Seuss. 

Students read short stories that are related to adolescent issues and behaviors. In groups, they review the elements of a short story and vocabulary they might need while reading. To end the lesson, they read "Sir Tatton Sykes"...

Students explore all the things they could do with a pizza. They become aware of food groups and nutritional needs, make decorated cardboard pizzas, interact with pizza slices and fractions, create stories to go along with their...

Learners research historical events of the past century to recognize that society impacts the themes within art and literature. They then interview an individual to develop a biographical narrative, a collage and finally an oral...

Everyone wants to feel like they belong. James, in James and the Giant Peach, finds a feeling of belonging in a very odd place—inside a peach! Scholars read the story of James and the Peach and work through vocabulary, language, and...

Students explore the 5 themes of geography. In this cross curriculum literacy and geography instructional activity, students listen to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, and make a list of the needs of the people in...

Don't count your eggs before they hatch—unless they are dragon eggs. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher follows the main character as he finds himself hatching dragon eggs. Scholars work through the resource and read how Jeremy tries to...

Have you ever felt trapped in your own body? That is likely how Melody in Sharon M. Draper's Out of My Mind feels. As scholars read to find out how Melody finally expresses herself, they complete sentences with new words, describe...