Novelinks
Treasure Island: Anticipation Guide
Captain Long John Silver himself would consider this anticipation guide a treasure. Full of rereading predictions for readers to consider, the anticipation guide makes the class excited to begin reading Robert Lois Stevenson's Treasure...
Curated OER
Lesson 8: Settings that Reinforce Characters
The best way to be a good writer is to read good writing. Learners read and discuss an excerpt from a book that will help them comprehend the relationship between setting and character. They will use what they've gleaned from discussion...
Novelinks
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter: Anticipation Guide
Get readers thinking about issues raised by Chapter 5 of Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter with an anticipation guide. Individuals decide whether they agree or disagree with a series of statements and discuss their...
Novelinks
Things Fall Apart: Problematic Situation
If you could pick characteristics you would want your child to possess, what would they be? To better understand Okonkwo, one of the key characters in Things Fall Apart, class groups engage in an activity that asks them to consider this...
Curated OER
Night Compare Contrast
Using a constructivist approach and a graphic organizer, small groups work together to begin a paper, comparing and contrasting the novella Night and the movie Life is Beautiful. Assuming that your learners have studied both of these...
Novelinks
Touching Spirit Bear: The Literary Mandala
Even someone with a dark side can make a good decision—and vice versa. Readers explore Cole's traits and decisions in Ben Mikaelson's Touching Spirit Bear and analyze his sunside and...
PBS
The Symbolism of Sneakers in Ghost
As part of a study of Jason Reynold's Ghost, readers take a close look at sneaker culture and how Reynold uses sneakers as a symbol in his award-winning young adult novel. Groups explore links to "Sneakerology 101", a Carnegie...
Curated OER
The Giver: Lesson 1
Do “memories need to be shared?" Are “memories…forever?" Would you give up memory to live in a perfect world? Introduce a unit centered on Lois Lowry’s utopian/dystopian novel The Giver with a series of activities that has groups...
Heritage Foundation
Courts and Judges
If the Supreme Court is so supreme, why do all cases not just start there? High schoolers learn why every case does not start at the Supreme Court as well as the importance of hierarchy in the US judicial system in the 11th installment...
Curated OER
Blubber: Discussion Guide
Students read Blubber by Judy Blume. In this Blubber discussion lesson, students answer pre-, during, and post- reading of the novel to assist them with comprehension. Themes addressed are problem solving, perspectives, leadership, and...
Curated OER
Hoot: List-Group-Label
Word association is a great way to explore vocabulary and new ideas. In a unit about Carl Hiassen's Hoot, kids think about the word environmentalist and come up with additional words that they associate with environmentalism on...
Novelinks
The Lightning Thief: Problematic Situation Strategy
In the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Percy is faced with a major decision. After reading, chapter 19, discuss the decision-making process Percy took, what he decided to...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Strategy: Call of the Wild
Here is a strategy for groups to contribute to whole class vocabulary development. Teams (based on seating rows) work together to look up dictionary definitions of words from upcoming sections of the book (though previous sections seem...
Curated OER
Romeo and Juliet & Shakespearean Theater
The Bard? Folly? Tragedy? How familiar are your pupils with terms associated with Romeo and Juliet? Class members rate their knowledge of a list of words and then share what they know with the class. The worksheet, discussion questions,...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for Day Five Part One of Unit on Bless Me, Ultima
Tenth graders participate in literature circles to discuss the novel, Bless Me, Ultima. They formulate questions based on their reading and answer them in small discussion groups.
Curated OER
A Separate Peace: Chapter 2 Reading and Study Guide
In this reading and study guide worksheet, students define 4 vocabulary words, define 3 literary terms, and respond to 17 short answer questions pertaining to chapter 2 of John Knowles's A Separate Peace.
Curated OER
Collaborative Literature Circle For the 21st Century
Using ichat or Edmodo 4th -6th graders participate in an inter-school literature circle. Students from two different schools pair up online through ichat and use a blog to conduct a book circle. This lesson is wonderful; it fully...
Curated OER
A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools
Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...
Novelinks
The Dark Is Rising: Problematic Situation Strategy
What items would you need to save the world from an evil wizard? Prior to reading Susan Cooper's young adult contemporary fantasy The Dark is Rising, and to generate interest in the tale, class groups must reach consensus on a...
Curated OER
Things Fall Apart: Research, Writing & Presentation Project
A great resource for your unit on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Small groups conduct research about related topics (list included), write papers, present PowerPoint slide shows, and take a student-created test. Fill in a few...
Curated OER
Wildwood Dancing: K-W-H-L Reading Strategy On Prejudice
As part of a study of Juliet Marillier's Wildwood Dancing, class members create a KWHL chart listing what they know, what the want to know, how they will find information, and what they have learned about prejudice.
EngageNY
Connecting Informational Text with Litearature: Building Background Knowledge About Mexican Immigration, California, and the Great Depression
Help your class transition as the setting in the novel Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, moves from Mexico to California. Beginning with prior knowledge, and moving into jigsaw research groups, class members add to and create posters...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Beowulf
Beowulf, the Old English epic hero, comes alive again in the activities found in a teacher's guide designed to accompany a reading of the classic poem.
Reed Novel Studies
The Outsiders: Novel Study
The greasers and Socs, both gangs in S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, came from opposite sides of the tracks, yet seemed to live in two different worlds. Scholars answer comprehension questions, create alliterations, and work with...