Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA): Pre-Reading In Cold Blood
Start your unit by reading the "Ballade des Pendus," by the character Villon. The class makes predictions, discusses what they might already know about the text, and reads the selection together. There are step-by-step plans detailed...
Curated OER
Attitude and Interest Survey
Are you about to launch into one of William Shakespeare's plays or a collection of his sonnets? If you doubt your class has read much Shakespeare, have them complete this attitude and interest survey. A lot of preconceived notions swirl...
Curated OER
My Antonia: K-W-H-L Strategy
Use the well-known KWHL chart as a tool for building up to a research project and oral presentation related to Willa Cather's My Antonia. Starting with a class brainstorm, pupils research and gradually narrow down topics relating to...
EngageNY
Pitching Your Claim with Best Evidence
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...
Curated OER
Fever 1793: Anticipation Guide
Introduce the themes of Fever 1793 and determine your class members’ level of background knowledge with an anticipation guide for Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel about the yellow fever epidemic that swept Philadelphia. For each prompt,...
Curated OER
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Semantic Feature Analysis
Racist, independent, conflicted? Readers of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn brainstorm words that describe the traits of characters in Twain’s novel and then rate these qualities in several of their favorite characters. Individuals...
Curated OER
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Create an online poster, or Glogster, with your class to promote Ray Bradbury's novel Dandelion Wine. This activity can be done at any time in the novel, although the directions suggest waiting until your readers near the end so they...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Bingo: Fever 1793
Prior to reading Fever 1793, class members are introduced to vocabulary drawn from the text of Laurie Halse Anderson's novel with a bingo-style activity. The vocabulary list, a teacher copy with definitions, and the bingo template are...
Curated OER
Compare Characters in Bud, Not Buddy
After your class finishes reading Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, they use the Venn diagram here to compare two characters from the novel, in this case Bud and his grandfather Herman E. Calloway. Examples of qualities on which...
Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: Cold Sassy Tree
Lots of questions arise when reading Cold Sassy Tree. As your class encounters the twentieth chapter, encourage a rich discussion with some of the questions provided here. Then, either independently, or for homework, ask your readers to...
Curated OER
KWL Comprehension Strategy: Maus I and II
How much does your class know about World War II? Before reading Art Spiegelman's Maus I, lead your class in creating a KWL chart. Knowing the background and setting of the novel are extremely important in understanding this survivor's...
Curated OER
Nightjohn: K-W-H-L Strategy
Prior to reading Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen, present your class with a KWHL. Although the actual chart isn't included here, you can easily find or create one on your own. Give your class a specific topic and start by brainstorming...
Curated OER
The Book Thief: Discussion Questions
Expand your study of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak with a question for each level of Bloom's Taxonomy. These questions focus on part four of the novel; each is paired with at least one quote from the text for context and teacher reference.
Curated OER
Lord of the Flies Quiz
How well does your class know the characters from William Golding's The Lord of the Flies? Learners respond to 25 multiple choice questions about the novel in an online interactive reading comprehension instructional activity. They...
Sharp School
Horror Fiction Multimedia Project
"There comes an end to all things" and ending a study of horror fiction with a multimedia project is "like starting a stone. . . away the stone goes, starting others. . ." In this case, groups start with a question generated by Dr....
Curated OER
'Hunger Games' Science: Investigating Genetically Engineered Organisms
In The Hunger Games novel and movie, a futuristic, dystopian society is the setting. In it, a genetically engineered bird escapes control of the government. Using this as a starting point, teenagers examine the realistic possibility of...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: KWHL
How much does your class know about the setting of Pride and Prejudice? Explore Jane Austen's romantic world with a KWHL chart that helps kids note what they already know about 18th century England, what they want to know, how they will...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 10: Author's Purpose Seminar
Why did Chinua Achebe write "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" in response to Conrad's novel? As part of a study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a socratic seminar focused on Achebe's purpose and...
Hampton-Brown
Esperanza Rising
Accompany a reading of the novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, with a series of lessons that dive deep into the literary world of a young girl and the journey she takes to start a new life. Lessons and their...
EngageNY
Paragraph Writing, Part 1: How Esperanza Responds on the Train (Revisiting Chapter 5: "Las Guayabas/Guavas")
When your class members have completed the novel Esperanza Rising, they will be ready to write an expository essay on how Esperanza responds to events and what this says about her character. Set your pupils up for success by starting out...
Curated OER
How to Write a Biography
Looking for a great instructional activity on how to write a biography? Here, middle schoolers draw from magazine articles, novels, historical figures, and current events to choose a person, or character to write about in a biography....
Curated OER
James and the Giant Peach Plot Analysis
It's all about the plot, main events, and story mapping with this lesson. As the class reads the novel James and the Giant Peach, they create an excitement graph that actually charts key events and moments of excitement. After creating...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 4
Get started with The Cay. First, provide some background information and images that relate to the novel. Then pupils can create double-entry journals. Once that is complete, read the first two chapters, encouraging individuals to record...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Harriet Beecher Stowe Sends Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Victoria and Albert, 1852
Harriet Beecher Stowe's plea for abolition is not only laid plain in her acclaimed novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, but in her written correspondence as well. High schoolers read a letter written by Stowe to Prince Albert and Queen Victoria to...