Students examine the use of hyperbole in Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. For this literary analysis lesson, students read and discuss chapter 31 from the story. Students write the definition for hyperbole and locate...

Students practice analysis of poetry by analyzing song lyrics using a worksheet to guide the analysis process. They work in small groups to assess the stylistic and literary devices used in the song lyrics then they find a published...

High schoolers identify themes in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet by analyzing the film or text. In this tolerance lesson, students create their own Elizabethan era terms related to interacting with different social groups. In groups,...

Students complete a literary analysis lesson for House on Mango Streetby Sandra Cisneros. For this literary analysis lesson, students read and discuss the assigned chapters and complete an open mind diagram. Students write a letter from...

In this Macbeth worksheet, students read passages from Macbeth and answer the prompts for each one. Prompts include identifying the speaker, describing the context of the quote, and explaining the significance of one of five literary...

Students listen to a broadcast of War of the Worlds and illustrate what they hear. In this persuasive text instructional activity students prepare for making a movie poster intended to persuade a director to make a film based on a short...

Students explore the elements of film to analyze character, action, and the themes in the movie, "Quiz Show." The lesson encourages students to make personal connections and real life applications as they view the movie, critically.

High schoolers discuss works of science fiction that they read, highlight aspects that made each a part of science fiction genre, identify formal literary elements, and discuss ways each can be developed through science fiction.

Students explore symbolism, visualization of key literary elements

In this literary devices activity, learners use the bookmark format to help them when reading and looking for literary devices. Students define the devices and use the questions to help them find the devices within the text.

Twelfth graders use music to aid them in interpreting poetry. In this poetry lesson, 12th graders analyze the lyrics, figurative language, and literary devices of selected music. Students compare the music to the poetry of Samuel...

Students complete literary analysis for modern fables or urban legends. In this modern fables instructional activity, students listen to an urban legend and discuss it. Students then research urban legends online and write their own...

In this literature analysis worksheet, studnets read Dante's Inferno and write an introduction with a thesis statement. Students give a synopsis of the comedy and then write an essay. Students select from the five options to complete the...

Students identify figurative language and symbolism in poetry as well as prose. In this literary elements lesson, students read and discuss the role of symbolism in Yellow Man by Moonlight, A Christmas Carl, The House of Wings, and...

Students recognize the differences between fiction and nonfiction texts. In this genre study lesson, students discuss what nonfiction means and write the definition. Students listen to a read aloud and vote whether the text is fiction or...

Students write a context paper.  In this teaching the novel in context lesson, students view a primary sources to recreate the cultural and historical context of the novel.  Students make the connection between the literary...

Teach young readers how to compare two texts and select passages that exemplify a specific theme with Lesson 6 from Unit 3. Begin by modeling how an expert reader selects examples from a text, performing a think aloud on how Article 2 of...

Encourage readers to determine if Hamlet's madness is actually divinest sense. Class members analyze the words of the play before studying related texts, including T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," scenes from...

Provide your class with an opportunity to examine race through a variety of literary works. They read and analyze a chosen poem, interview, speech, or story describing race in America. They then use key words from the original work to...

“Yea, there thou mak’st me sad and mak’st me sin/In envy that my Lord Northumberland/Should be the father to so blest a son--.” Henry IV, Part I, provides the text for a series of exercises that ask class members to examine the...

Draw back the curtain, add a spot of joy to your class, and let learners be lesson planed by a close reading exercise that models how to develop an interpretation based on evidence drawn from a text. Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue...

Scholars look into the country's current president, past presidents, the White House, Washington D.C., and the Declaration of Independence. They identify the flag, the Statue of Liberty, as well as Mount Rushmore and the significance of...

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,"...

Students create new sentences using adverb clauses identified from a book.  In this narrative writing lesson, students write new sentences from some of the dependent clauses used in a book read to them by the teacher.  Students...