This week on Crash Course Literature, John Green is continuing to talk about Shakespeare's dark, bloody, Scottish play, Macbeth. This time around, we're looking at the play's characters operate, how the play deals with gender, and the...

Reading books can be fun, but there’s so much more to discover beneath the surface. In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we’ll use our background knowledge and story evidence to make inferences about E.B. White’s novel,...

How do characters make a story? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we’ll investigate the traits of characters from “King and the Dragonflies” by Kacen Callender and uncover the ways they relate to each other. Topic:...

Where do you find a theme? Deep in the characters, under the setting, entwined in the plot? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we travel through the universe with the characters in “A Wrinkle in Time” to discover its...

If you want to learn about a new topic, where do you start? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we synthesize information from two nonfiction books about a woman with an eye for insects: Maria Merian. Topic: Synthesizing...

Roses are red, violets are blue… What on Earth CAN’T a poem do? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we dive into the poems that make up Thanhhà Lại’s verse novel, “Inside Out and Back Again” and the figurative language that...

Fairy tales aren’t just “once upon a time…” and “happily ever after.” They can connect us to people across the world! In our final episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we compare and contrast different versions of “Little Red Riding...

If you want to learn about a new topic, where do you start? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we synthesize information from two nonfiction books about a woman with an eye for insects: Maria...

How do characters make a story? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we’ll investigate the traits of characters from “King and the Dragonflies” by Kacen Callender and uncover the ways they relate to each...

This video discusses the importance of literature for children and explores different types of books available to them, such as picture books and lullaby books. It emphasizes the power of reading to transport us to different worlds and...

Supporting the Main Idea Literature analyzes literature by showing how examples of paraphrasing and quotes support the main idea about the text.

Open up almost any children's book and what do you see? Pages and pages of beautifully fun poetry! Children grow up learning to read poetry, so why do so few high school students appreciate it? And when does this shift take place? In...

In which John Green teaches you about Harper Lee's famous (and only) novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. John will cover a bit about Harper Lee's personal life, (seeing as this novel has some autobiographical elements) and her long association...

John Green teaches you about Virginia Woolf's modernist novel, To the Lighthouse. Let's face it. You're not reading To the Lighthouse for the plot. There's not a whole lot of plot, unless you count the tension about the beef stew. You're...

C.S. Lewis part 2 of11: The video is a collection of different scenes and quotes, showcasing the inspiration and legacy of CS Lewis, particularly in the creation of Narnia. It also highlights the recent opening of CS Lewis Square in...

MW Penn writes stories and poetry for young children to introduce them to the seminal ideas of mathematics.



Her interests, math and literature, are not separate worlds. Children love stories and they enjoy the patterns of...

Charles Dodgson, also known as Lewis Carroll, had a deep interest in the emerging art of photography, becoming a skilled amateur photographer. Among his subjects was Alice Liddell, the inspiration behind "Alice's Adventures in...

Stephen Krashen completed his Ph.D. in Linguistics at UCLA (1972), and is currently an Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Southern California.



Krashen is the author of more than 525 articles and books in...

As a self-proclaimed radical street librarian, Storybook Maze makes books appear where they're scarce. Through initiatives like free, public book vending machines and street corner story times, she eliminates book deserts — or areas with...

In his introduction to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," L. Frank Baum claims that the book is simply an innocent children's story. But some scholars have found hidden criticisms of late-nineteenth-century economic policies in the book. Is...

Today, Clint Smith will teach you about the legendary writer Toni Morrison. Morrison is best known for her novels which chronicle the experiences of Black Americans throughout history. She was the first Black American Woman to win a...

In which John Green teaches you about one of the least family-friendly family dramas in the history of family dramas, Oedipus Rex. Sophocles' most famous play sees it's main character, who seems like he's got it all together, find out...

Speaking at LIFT 2007, Sugata Mitra talks about his Hole in the Wall project. Young kids in this project figured out how to use a PC on their own -- and then taught other kids. He asks, what else can children teach themselves?

Stephen Krashen completed his Ph.D. in Linguistics at UCLA (1972), and is currently an Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Southern California.



Krashen is the author of more than 525 articles and books in...