As the saying goes, art often imitates life ... and literature! A series of activities designed to accompany a visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art encourage writers to find inspiration in various landscapes. The lesson includes a...

If you need an anchor for your unit on Sense and Sensibility, use a concept analysis with key discussion points. It includes literary themes, vocabulary, background information, and suggestions for addressing gender and diversity...

Finish a unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea with a narrative essay. Based on Santiago's harrowing adventures, the essay prompts readers to think about a time when they were faced with a challenge, overcame a...

Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth lesson in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines in the classroom....

Read a short book with your first graders! Anansi and the Tug O' War is the focus of this lesson. After reading the African story together, they complete language arts activities to practice reading comprehension. A stellar...

A read-aloud anthology highlights the essential contributions of activists Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary McLeod Bethune, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Cesar Chavez. Scholars listen to stories,...

Support your writers! Clear procedures and appropriate support make this a superb resource for elementary writing instruction. Ready your class to compose original descriptive paragraphs inspired by the episode in Roald Dahl's James and...

Harry Potter, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, To Kill a Mockingbird. Kids view a slide show and then discuss the seven banned books featured in the presentation and the reasons why the books may have been banned.

Teach your class about Helen Keller and her accomplishments with a reading comprehension lesson based on A Picture Book of Helen Keller by David A. Adler. As individuals read, they answer discussion questions about Helen Keller...

Cross-comparison, the technique of focusing on two different texts with the same themes, motifs, events, etc., is employed in an exercise that asks groups to examine two different translations of “The Ruin,” a poem, written in Old...

How would you spend your last days with a loved one? The movie guide for The Fault in Our Stars prompts scholars to compare important scenes from the novel to the film and contains background information about the author, guided...

The raven is the focus of a lesson that examines trickster tales and the different stories about the bird. After listening to three tales about the raven, scholars pinpoint and discuss descriptive words. Pupils use one story to...

Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...

Get your class members thinking about a reading passage's topic, main idea, supporting details, and theme with this interactive presentation that asks scholars to define, locate, and review each term.

Students observe and demonstrate a variety of reading expression strategies. They listen to the teacher read different sentences with and without expression and discuss the difference, then in pairs read an "I Can Read" book using their...

Introduce your class to literary analysis with a series of activities that has them examine book and movie reviews. Groups then draft their own review of a text, select a digital medium, and craft a presentation.

Eliminate the hard work of creating an entire literature unit with this reading guide for the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. From background information about the author and her motivation for writing the story to...

How do you read a frame? How do you read a shot? Here's a resource that shows viewers how to read films. As part of the study, class members examine the camera angles, lighting, movement, and cinematic point of view in Mr. Smith Goes to...

A reading of Beowulf: Dragon Slayer, Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling of the classic epic poem, launches an exploration of what it means to be a hero, a noble leader, and a great warrior. A great way to introduce middle schoolers to...

Learning how to deliver good literacy instruction is key to becoming a successful teacher. This resource isn't so much a lesson as it is a guide to leading children in an interactive read-aloud session to increase fluency, comprehension,...

Guide learners through a discussion about Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a helpful graphic organizer. As they read through the novel, individuals note their reactions to statements about the book's themes, and fill out...

Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...

Love, war, race, class, religion, honor are just a few of the topics readers of Gone with the Wind are prompted to discuss by the questions included in this very thoughtful reading guide.

Support a class reading of the novel Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Taylor with this series of discussion questions. Covering a variety of topics from character and setting to historical accuracy and symbolism, these questions...