Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5
Your students already know when they like a story and when they don't, but they may not know that the plots of these stories are shaping that opinion. Like all resources in this series, the two activities and quizzes provided here deal...
Curated OER
End-of-the-Year Celebration Program
Students sing songs, recite a poem, share what they can now do that they couldn't before and explain how they see their accomplishments. They read "Leo The Late Bloomer" and create graduation hats.
Curated OER
All About Me from A-Z
Use the letters of the alphabet as prompts for autobiographical poems.
Curated OER
Poetic Justice: Understanding the Life of a Tethered Dog
The Humane Society provides a lesson in which class members explore the issue of tethering dogs. Through the resources used -- a comic, a poem, and narrative and expository writings -- class members realize that messages can be conveyed...
Curated OER
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Slave's Dream"
Students examine Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's contribution to the anti-slavery movement. They read and analyze a poem, identify the poem's techniques, and write a critique of the poem, "The Slave's Dream."
Curated OER
Poetry Book
Students study the following terms and concepts: word choice, dialect, invented words, concrete terms, abstract terms, figurative and sensory language. In cooperative groups, they select three of the terms, research them, and pick poems...
Curated OER
Hearing the Poetry of Langston Hughes Through the Sounds of Jazz
Students have an appreciation of Langston Hughe's poetry and his use of jazz rhythms, have the ability to read poetry closely, and freewrite to gain a fresh perspective on music and literature.
Curated OER
Much Ado About Something (Lesson 4)
Students view a film about Shakespeare and his poetry. They complete a worksheet while viewing. They discuss how to properly read a poem and practice reading his sonnets.
Curated OER
Pop Concert in Iran
Read, analyze, and critique a newspaper article about a concert with a Western singer and an Iranian band. Scholars will assess key vocabulary terms within the article, learn how to understand a short news report, and hone in on how the...
Curated OER
Using Rock to Teach Literary Devices: Jimi Hendrix “The Wind Cries Mary”
Students explore literary elements through music. In this figurative language lesson, students examine imagery and personification in "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix.
EngageNY
Writing Interview Questions
And now for the star witness! Scholars take a look at a model newspaper article and discuss the importance of eyewitness accounts. In groups of three, they take turns underlining text from eyewitnesses. They then regroup to talk about...
EngageNY
Developing Reading Fluency: Criteria for Reading Aloud
Third graders develop their reading superpowers in a lesson plan on fluency. After first listening to an audio recording or teacher read aloud, the class works together identifying criteria for fluent reading, focusing on phrasing, rate,...
Annenberg Foundation
Spirit of Nationalism
What were the virtues and values that helped form America? Pupils watch and discuss a video, read biographies of early Americans, chart the differences between early American religious movements, write journals and letters, draw, and...
Curated OER
Simile and Metaphor Lesson Ideas
Teaching students about literary devices, such as simile and metaphor, can be a year long experience.
Curated OER
The Poetics of Hip Hop
Students consider the role of rhythm, form, diction, and sound in poetry. In this integrated arts instructional activity, students discuss the attributes of poetry as they analyze Shakespearean sonnets, hip hop music lyrics, and poems by...
Curated OER
Snow Similies
Students listen to poems to explain how poets use words to paint pictures. They use hands-on materials to practice using similies and figurative language to write a poem about snow.
Curated OER
Creative Writing
High schoolers determine what grammar is and how they have learned it. In this creative writing lesson, students read "Style' Gets New Elements," and respond to the discussion questions. High schoolers then present grammatical rules to...
Curated OER
Beginning with Bosch
Students explore surrealism through the artwork of Hieronymus Bosch. In this surrealism lesson plan, students understand the characteristics of the art of Bosch and create an original artwork and poem to go with it.
Curated OER
Tell Me That You Love Me 5-7-5
Students listen to several examples of Haiku poetry and discuss the strict format. Then students create and edit their own Haiku poems and enhance them with ink designs.
EngageNY
Making a Claim: Moon Shadow’s Point of View of the Immediate Aftermath
Body paragraphs are the building blocks of every essay. Pupils view and discuss a model essay using a rubric to evaluate one of its supporting paragraphs. Next, scholars use what they've learned to continue drafting their own literary...
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Instructional Routine
After reading "The Bullet," a particularly intense chapter in Victor Martinez's Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, class members listen to the Spanish and the English versions of "Dimelo" by Enrique Iglesias. They then discuss how the song...
EngageNY
Reviewing Visual Elements of a Graphic Novel: Max Axiom
Pass the tea! Using the resource, scholars participate in a Tea Party protocol to analyze text and images about inventions that helped meet societal demands. After sharing their observations with each other, they discuss visual elements...
Curated OER
Blooming Up: Teaching the Art of Questioning
Pupils, through demonstration and example, write and answer questions at different levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
Curated OER
Teaching the Hindu-Buddhist Tradition in East Asian Culture Through Asian Literature and Film
Students explore various intellectual traditions which dominate human history through a variety of contemporary pieces of literature which exemplify the traditions. Biblical monotheism, Greek rationalism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism...