Curated OER
The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folk Tale
"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...
All for KIDZ
Building Relationships: The Orphan of Ellis Island
Family and friendship are two very important themes of the historical fiction novel The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff. From video clips and writing prompts to reader's theater and family interviews, this resource...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Background notes about the novel, The Great Depression, and The Dust Bowl
If your class is reading the historical fiction novel, Out of the Dust, then you are in luck. Here are a few slides that will help you provide historical context for the book, as well as define main characters, setting, symbolism, and...
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...
Curated OER
Desert Drama
Students read both fiction and nonfiction books with desert themes. Then they write desert stories and reports, reviewing texts for information to include in writing. Students also design desert scenes with details and setting elements...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Using Literary Elements to Compare Fiction Texts
Students explore language arts by reading and reflecting on literary examples. In this fiction writing lesson, students read several different cultural versions of the story "Cinderella" and discuss their interaction with the story and...
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
EngageNY
Practice Planning a Historical Narrative: The Wheelwright
Fourth graders use a four-square graphic organizer to plan a paragraph writing about a wheelwright. Using gathered research from the previous unit, young writers discover how to organize a plot in preparation for writing a historical...
Curated OER
Grapes of Wrath: Setting up Historical Context
Discuss life in the 1930s in relation to the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, then do a cross-media analysis. Here you'll find background information on film maker John Ford, writer John Steinbeck, and 1930s America. You can compare the...
Curated OER
The Prince and the Pauper
Mark Twain, the famous American author, is often studied in the school system. Use "The Prince and the Pauper" to analyze the differences between the text and its video version. This lesson includes several culminating project...
Curated OER
Learning to Analyze Characters
Students discover writing strategies authors use to enhance characters. In this character writing lesson, students are read the Knuffle Bunny books by Mo Willems and analyze the story, characters and settings as they listen....
Curated OER
Science Fiction
Young scholars write a science fiction story. In this science fiction lesson, students read selections of science fiction and compare them to supernatural stories from the Bible. Young scholars identify themes and discuss...
Curated OER
What is cooperative negotiation?
Tenth graders differentiate between positions, interests, and values. In this current events lesson, 10th graders analyze, in a response to literature, the failure of a fictional negotiation. Students demonstrate the ability...
Curated OER
Chinese Minority Cultures
Seventh graders identify the elements that characterize culture in literature.
Students analyze the representation of Chinese minority peoples
through textbooks. Students identify and interpret the differences among the people of China.
Curated OER
Evaluate Problem-Solving in the Context of Culture and Time-frame
Students examine literary elements in non-fiction literature. In this problem solving lesson, students read Rosa Parks, My Story and Beyond the Limits. Students make oral presentations based on the causes and effects, conflicts, and...
Curated OER
Leapin' Landmarks: Locating 10 man-made landmarks around the world
Third graders engage in a lesson which addresses their curiosity about some of the outstanding people-made landmarks of the world. They explore the geographical themes of location and place through literature.
American Immigration Law Foundation
An Immigrant’s Experience
After interviewing an immigrant about their voyage to the United States and first impressions of the country, young learners create a fictional series of journal entries and design an iMovie depicting their interviewee's story.
Curated OER
King Arthur
Young scholars explore literary classics by reading The Legend of King Arthur. In this legendary story lesson, students read the story The Legend of King Arthur and identify the main characters and how they will reenact the story. Young...
Curated OER
Diary of Anne Frank: Act 1 Scene 1 & 2
Eighth graders read act 1 scenes 1 & 2 of the play Diary of Anne Frank. In this Diary of Anne Frank lesson plan, 8th graders discuss how the setting of the play affects the mood of the story and answer short answer questions.
Curated OER
Tales from Arabia
Students read about Scheherazade and Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp. In this literature/writing lesson, students understand the excitement of foreign places as the setting for a story. Students rewrite their own version of Scheherazade.
Curated OER
Arthur: The Once And Future King
Middle and high schoolers work in groups to research tales of King Arthur, using primary sources. They present the major themes and symbols from these stories, and discuss how they still relevant in today's world. Use this lesson to...
Curated OER
Rachel's Life is in a Hole
Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...
Curated OER
Once Upon A Time...
Students discuss elements of fairy tales, examine selected piece of Robert Harris' art, and compose fairy tales based on what they see and imagine. Students then view homes in Harris' artwork collection, create home in which they would...
Curated OER
A Christmas Carol Exploration
Seventh graders explore the history of Christmas by researching classic literature. In this holiday lesson, 7th graders read the story A Christmas Carol and discuss the tone of Charles Dickens' classic literary work. Students answer...