Curated OER
My Antonia: What Do You Think about Reading?
How do your pupils feel about reading? Hand out this survey to find of if your students read often, enjoy reading, talk about what they read, and more.
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Problematic Situation
To prepare for a reading of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, kids must prioritize a list of items to take with them on a journey to Texas.
Curated OER
Setting Worksheet
Set your class up for success with writing descriptive settings with these two graphic organizers. On the first page, writers note specifc details about their chosen setting and comment on how each character views the setting. The second...
Curated OER
Homer's The Odyssey
Whether or not you are new to using The Odyssey with your classes, this publisher-produced teaching guide deserves a place in your curriculum library. The packet includes background information, chapter by-chapter summaries, study...
Curated OER
Constructing Narrative from the Migrant Experience in Literature
Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.
Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
New York City Department of Education
Theater Units for Lower and Upper Elementary Levels
Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...
NPR
Theatre Vocabulary
From actor to volume, the 90 terms on a theatre vocabulary list are must knows for any student of the dramatic arts.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
A Reader's Guide: The Lord of the Rings
Delve into the delightful depths of J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings with a thought-provoking reader's guide. With literary questions for the novel as well as the subsequent The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the...
Stephen F. Austin State University, College of Fine Arts
The Ugly Duckling
It's not about what you look like on the outside! A study guide for the stage adaptation of The Ugly Duckling reminds learners that being cruel to those in need is not helpful—and that we all belong somewhere.
University of Wisconsin
Don Quixote in Wisconsin
Are you looking for background information on Cervantes and his Don Quixote? How about a study guide and discussion questions or project ideas? Even journal prompts, tests, and quizzes? A 98-page teaching guide simplifies the quest with...
Curated OER
Young Readers Make Inferences with Little Bear
Maurice Sendak’s illustrations reveal implicit truth in the classic children's book Little Bear.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Kate Chopin's "The Awakening": No Choice But Under?
The first in a series of three resources designed to accompany a reading of Kate Chopin's The Awakening provides readers with background information about Chopin, Creole culture, literary realism, and women's suffrage.
Curated OER
12 Days of Christmas
First graders reinforce numerical order as they explore "The 12 Days of Christmas". Composition with instruments is also involved.
Curated OER
Famous Authors Vocabulary Multiple Choice Worksheet
Don't let the title fool you, this worksheet has little to do with authors! Instead, it tests your middle schoolers on their knowledge of language arts vocabulary. Words like audience, intrigue, novel, and recognition are covered.
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
Fairy Tales Unit Ideas
Learners listen to children's fairy tales and watch them on a video. Afterward, they list the heroes from each story. Students write a short paragraph about a typical day for the hero. Learners dress up like their character and give a...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Informational Writing
Emerging writers identify an informational piece of writing. They are provided with examples of informational writing and view a PowerPoint on narrative writing. Then, they design their own informational writing with a brochure,...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Anticipation Guide
Making predictions is an important skill that experienced readers tap into when tackling a difficult text. Prepare your pupils to read My Antonia by Willa Cather with an initial prediction activity and this anticipation guide, which...
Art Institute of Chicago
Act It Out
Examine two works of art and use these pieces as inspiration for dialogues. The whole class discusses Renoir's Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge. Then, in groups of either three or ten, pupils...
Curated OER
Classroom Fun with Flat Stanley
Complete a series of activities based on the Flat Stanley books in this literature study lesson. Introduce the book with a discussion of supernatural qualities, then studentscan create character webs, write news articles, build kites and...
Curated OER
Let's Go Shopping
Students explore how to become better observers, demonstrate point of view as a literary and human function, and learn an important lesson plan about how to explain differing perspectives in the same situation.
Appalachian State University
Science Fiction - Genre
Unsuspecting George McFlys are presented into the craft workings of the science fiction genre of literature. Speculations are developed through teacher-led dialogs about how science fiction impacts science, technology, and comments on...
NWT Literacy Council
Readers Theatre Scripts
Engage and entertain young learners with this collection of readers theatre activities. With over 25 different scripts, a wide range of topics are covered from simple counting and rhyming exercises to adaptions of popular children's...