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...

Distinguish between primary and secondary source documents using the theme of philanthropy. Middle schoolers discuss Anne Frank: The Diary of Young Girl as a way to study the past using a primary source. Then they investigate how to...

Students explore philanthropy in literature. In this literature lesson, students read text from three different genres that all have a moral. Students compare and contrast these pieces of literature, focusing on the character traits that...

A reader's journal can help pupils comprehend, connect to, and remember a text. Have them follow the prompts here to write journal entries for any literary text.

Help kids keep track of their reading and comprehend literary texts with a straightforward graphic organizer. Pupils note down the setting and characters as well as four events from the text.

"True-crime stories, murder mysteries, up-to-the-minute online news reports, and (as always) rumor and innuendo grab our attention faster than any call for justice, human rights, or ceasefires." Or so says Walter Mosley in his Newsweek...

While this resource was originally made to be used in conjunction with John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, it could be used for any literary text. A reference sheet for readers, the resource includes terminology related to figurative...

Touchdown! Try out this game to help your learners differentiate between fact and opinion. In pairs, pupils switch off reading cards to one another. Learners determine if the sentences on the cards are facts or opinions and continue...

Young writers compose a gripping ending to their historical fiction narratives. Following the previous lesson plan, where learners wrote a bold beginning, class members examine exciting endings from a literary text. They then draft their...

Take a ride in The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich. Students read the story and discuss whether a car is really a character. After carrying out several activities using graphic organizers and tools for making their claims in The Red...

Pupils explore the narrative structure of a piece of literary text, mapping out the plot structure of the Greek myth "Pyramus and Thisbe." Next, they use their completed graphic organizers to write story summaries.

Character analysis can help readers feel more connected to a literary text. Scholars explore the topic by writing an acrostic poem about the main character from Katherine Paterson's novel, Lyddie. Then, pupils watch a short video to help...

See what peers really think. Scholars give a peer critique of the their essay drafts from the previous lesson. They then participate in a mini lesson about pronouns. Pupils write examples of each type of pronoun on sticky notes and put...

Learn about Mexican culture while simultaneously strengthening reading, writing and computer skills. In order to get the most out of Esperanza Rising, pupils should have prior knowledge of Mexican culture. Therefore, there are links to a...

Young readers can be exposed to the literary works of Mark Twain as they interact with challenging text and gain experience by reading the complex passages of chapter two "The Glorious Whitewasher" from his famous book, The Adventures of...

Study word choice and connotation in advertising. Readers examine campaign ads, both negative and positive, from the 2006 mid-term election before discussing an article and analyze a campaign of any candidate they choose. Finally,...

The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...

Passages from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar provide the context for a study of the historical themes of experiencing war, resilience during war, and understanding the lasting trauma of war. Appendices include extension...

“It was a miracle.” Basil Heatter’s “The Long Night of the Little Boats,” which details the miraculous rescue of the British army from the shores of Dunkirk in 1940, is featured in a series of exercises that ask class members to read,...

"It is my lady, O, It is my Love!" Provide class members an opportunity to develop their skills reading difficult text with an exercise that focuses on the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet (Act II, scene ii). Using the provided...

Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis...

Read and discuss "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and the gender issues that the story brings up. Use articles from the time period to analyze, complete with specific discussion questions. After two days, scholars write an essay based on topics...

“So I’m going to have a copy of this play put in the cornerstone and the people a thousand years from now’ll know a few simple facts about us.” Our Town is used as the text in a Common Core exemplar that examines the dramatic and...

Engage conversation and explore the journey as you challenge young readers to interpret the german folktale, "The Fisherman and His Wife" written by literary brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.