Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Letter from Birmingham Jail: The Power of Nonviolent Direct Action

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
What strategies are most effective in changing an unjust law? Class members examine the tactics used in the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 (Project C) to achieve social justice and social transformation. After examining documents that...
Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

Vocabulary in Context: Inside the World of Wizards

For Teachers 8th Standards
Enter the world of Harry Potter and learn new vocabulary at the same time. A high-interest reading passage provides insight into the history of Harry Potter. Follow-up activities incorporate key vocabulary strategies, such as using...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Things they Carried: Directed Reading Thinking Activity

For Teachers 10th - 12th
To generate interest in and enable readers to connect to The Things They Carried, class members write about what they carry—both tangible and intangible things. The class then makes a list of these things and compares the list to...
Lesson Plan
Novelinks

The Joy Luck Club: Vocabulary Strategy (Magic Squares)

For Teachers 9th - 12th
As part of their study of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, readers engage in a magic squares vocabulary activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Literature Circles

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Literature circles can be so enjoyable and enlightening, but it's tough to make it around to each group in a short amount of time. This lesson suggests that each group records their discussion, and a different reading strategy is used...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “One day is there of the series” by Emily Dickinson

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
A lesson plan begins with learners saying three words they associate with Thanksgiving dinner. They examine a picture of a menu from a Thanksgiving meal and discuss what they believe the artist wants them to feel, pointing out details....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Metamorphosis: List-Group-Label Strategy

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is one of the most prominent and influential books to come out of the existential movement. Host a group discussion in which learners list different characteristics of existent art, group...
Lesson Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Ray Charles

For Students K - 3rd Standards
Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Antigone's Themes Today: The Greek Drama Antigone

For Teachers 10th Standards
Is Antigone relevant to today's readers? After reading Sophocles' tragedy, scholars must decide if the themes are universal and timeless. Class members engage in a series of activities designed to have them closely consider the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Travels With Charley By John Steinbeck

For Teachers 7th Standards
A paragraph from John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley provides English language learners with an opportunity to practice strategies for answering guiding questions about the academic text. Class members locate keywords in the annotated...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 3

For Teachers 10th Standards
Few studies have captured the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, such as Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. Tenth graders read "Rules of the Game," which describes Waverly's youth in chess tournaments, and compare how she...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Launching Lyddie

For Teachers 7th Standards
Pupils engage in a close reading of chapter one of Katherine Paterson's novel, Lyddie. After answering text-dependent questions based on their reading, they complete reader's notes about how the setting, characters, and plot interact.
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

"Three Stones Back": Using Informational Text to Enhance Understanding of Ball Don't Lie

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
"Three Stones Back," a passage from Matt de la Pena's best-seller, Ball Don't Lie, allows readers to practice their close reading skills as they compare the passage to an information text about wealth inequality. 
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Pitching Your Claim with Best Evidence

For Teachers 6th Standards
Does Bud use his rules to survive or thrive? That is the driving question of a lesson plan following the reading of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. In an argument essay prewriting activity, pupils use textual evidence to...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge: The Lost Boys of Sudan

For Teachers 7th Standards
Get deep! Teach scholars how to make connections between texts to deepen their understanding of a topic. Using the resource, pupils read and annotate a short informational text about Sudan's Civil War and refugee crisis. Next, they...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge: The Dinka Tribe (“Loss of Culturally Vital Cattle Leaves Dinka Tribe Adrift in Refugee Camps” Excerpt 1)

For Teachers 7th Standards
Text annotations help readers track essential ideas. Pupils continue reading and annotating an informational article about Sudanese tribes, connecting it with A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. They also begin writing about their...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Paraphrasing and Evaluating Sources: Pages 112–116 of The Big Thirst

For Teachers 7th Standards
Agriculture and water—it's a fine balance. So how exactly do industry and agriculture currently manage water? Pupils consider the question as they continue reading excerpts from Charles Fishman's The Big Thirst and adding notes to their...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Interaction: Categories of Water Management in The Big Thirst

For Teachers 7th Standards
It's puzzle time! Pupils participate in a jigsaw activity to discuss the various uses of water, including personal, agricultural, and industrial uses. They also conduct a close reading of The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman and answer...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Building Background Knowledge About the Hero’s Journey, Part 2: Acts 2 and 3 Plus Focusing on Key Vocabulary in “The Hero’s Journey”

For Teachers 6th Standards
It's all in the details. Scholars read acts two and three of The Hero's Journey and collect important details from the text. They share their notes with their peers and listen for key words from the story. They then turn their attention...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Identifying Theme: Connecting Passages from Esperanza Rising to Human Rights

For Teachers 5th Standards
Even fictional characters have rights. Scholars read selected passages from Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising and consider which of the five categories from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the text relates to. They glue each...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Summarizing Informational Text: “Hawaii’s Endangered Happy Face Spider”

For Teachers 5th Standards
Put on a happy face. Using an interesting resource, pupils read an informational text about Hawaii's endangered Happy Face Spider. Next, they participate in a jigsaw discussion to find the gist of the article. 
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Expert Research Groups: How the Traffic Signal and Airplane Met Society’s Needs, Part 3

For Teachers 5th Standards
Pupils work in expert research groups, reading an informational article about an invention and completing a note-catcher worksheet. Afterward, scholars work in triads to answer questions based on the text.
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Identifying Author’s Opinion and Evidence: The Value of Sports in People’s Lives, Part I

For Teachers 5th Standards
Just like instant replay, it's time to take a closer look! Pupils work together to add ideas to a Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart. They then put their knowledge to the test as they read an informational article about the...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

If You're a Bird, I'm a Bird: Symbolism

For Teachers 8th - 9th Standards
Would a bluebird be as scary as a vulture? Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is the central text in a lesson about symbolism. After a close reading of the poem, learners consider what the raven might represent to the narrator. They then...

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