Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Mixing Fact and Fiction
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members...
British Council
Macbeth
Double the fun of studying Shakespeare with an interactive that introduces English learners to Macbeth. After watching a short, animated video that presents key elements of the plot, class members complete a worksheet identifying the...
Marion County Schools
Popcorn Literacy
Popcorn is a tasty part of a culminating activity designed to motivate readers to share important literary elements. The popcorn fills the inside of a white paper bag that is transformed on the outside into a presentation tool with the...
Curated OER
Enchanting Egypt
After reading the Magic Tree House book Mummies in the Morning, learners talk about Ancient Egypt. They identify the plot, characters, setting, etc., explore vocabulary terms, and construct a pyramid. This will motivate your class...
Curated OER
Original Children's Books
Bring the fun and creativity of children's stories to your language arts class. Middle schoolers write, revise, and publish an original student book which incorporates the elements of a short story. They put their story in the form of a...
Curated OER
Gift of the Magi
While reading O Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," your class will define and identify situational irony and allusion. Use a study guide (not included, but easy to produce) to record and discuss examples of allusion as you read. Map the...
Syracuse City School District
Reading Comprehension Unit Plan
A unit plan uses short texts to teach literary elements such as theme and characterization. Included are passages by authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Sandra Cisneros. Activities include quick writes, filling in graphic organizers,...
Curated OER
Against the Odds
What factors help people achieve goals? What factors prevent people from achieving goals? What are the elements that need to be in place to make a team function well? Using Damien Lewis’ Desert Claw and John Francome’s Winner Takes All,...
Curated OER
Exploring Prejudice and Text-to-Text Relationships
Tenth graders use the novel To Kill a Mockingbird to analyze relationships in society. In this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders participate in a shoe activity where they bring in one shoe belonging to someone they know and a...
Curated OER
Life Size Characters
Sixth graders analyze character traits and create a life size character outline. In this character analysis lesson, 6th graders analyze character traits of a character using character webs and poems. Students then create a life size...
Curated OER
Teaching a Short Story
Young scholars work in small groups and prepare an analysis of a short story to be presented to their peers. They research the story and create a handout or a visual aid that cites sources of information and summarizes the main points...
Curated OER
Animal Farm Themes
In this reading comprehension worksheet, learners respond to 3 short answer and essay questions based on themes in Animal Farm. Students may also complete their choice of 3 reading activities suggested.
Curated OER
Animal Farm Theme of Power: Control over the Intellectually Inferior
For this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 2 short answer and essay questions based on themes in Animal Farm. Students may also complete their choice of 3 reading activities suggested.
Curated OER
Animal Farm Theme of Rules and Order
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 4 short answer and essay questions based on themes in Animal Farm. Students may also complete their choice of 3 reading activities suggested.
Curated OER
Animal Farm Theme of Foolishness and Folly
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 2 short answer and essay questions based on themes in Animal Farm. Students may also complete their choice of 3 reading activities suggested.
Curated OER
Animal Farm Theme of Cunning and Cleverness
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 3 short answer and essay questions based on themes in Animal Farm. Students may also complete their choice of 3 reading activities suggested.
Curated OER
Animal Farm Theme of Violence
In this reading comprehension worksheet, learners respond to 2 short answer and essay questions based on theme of violence in Animal Farm. Students may also complete their choice of 3 reading activities suggested.
Curated OER
Animal Farm Theme of Pride
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 2 short answer and essay questions based on the theme of pride in Animal Farm. Students may also complete their choice of 3 reading activities suggested.
Curated OER
Reading the Play
Students read the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. In groups, they identify the instances of similes, metaphors and personification. They use the Internet to compare and contrast the events in the play with historical facts....
Curated OER
Language Arts: Stylistic Devices
Students are able to define given literary terms, such as metaphor, simile, imagery, personification, symbolism, etc. They are able to identify the use of literary elements in a given text. Students are able to interpret weather...
Curated OER
Writing Folktales
Students consider the structure of folktales. In this writing skills lesson, students list the attributes of folktales that they read in class. Students then complete handouts based on the elements of the tales as well as types of tales...
Curated OER
The Catcher in the Rye
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...
Curated OER
A Long Time Ago in the Future
Pupils read and discuss Canadian young adult literature. They compare/contrast the elements of citizenship, characterization, and themes, write journal responses, and identify the elements that define Canadians.
Curated OER
Comparing Characters Across Two Short Stories
Ninth graders listen to a read aloud of two short stories focusing on literary devices. The write about the settings and realism of the stories, and decide each main character handles the conflict he faces with nature.