Mail me a postcard. Individuals design a postcard to show what Meg Lowman from The Most Beautiful Roof in the World might have written to her friends at home. They then continue to work on writing a science journal entry.

Become acquainted with Robert Frost's life in order to allow your class to fully appreciate how his background influenced his poetry. They analyze specified poems in relation to theme, setting and the use of imagery.

Pairs help each other with reading fluency using phrase flashcards! Learners take turns reading short phrases aloud. They have one minute to read as many correctly as possible while their partner sorts the cards into a yes or no pile. At...

This pre-reading activity will certainly make your class ponder. With five questions to reflect upon, get insight to the moral dilemma Percy faced in the novel Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. 

Connect with the text using helpful annotation strategies. As your class reads the first section of Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," they note important passages that establish character...

While reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible, start or end each day with a journal activity. The project includes a list of prompts for each act of the play. Pupils choose a prompt every time they write and connect their own experiences to...

Modern Jewish holidays have ancient roots with many connections to today. Using photographs of primary sources, such as fragments of a shofar, as well as texts, such as the Hebrew Tanakh, learners explore how Jewish holidays reflect...

Why is reading a text closely a helpful skill? Using the 13th of 20 lessons from the Grade 8 ELA Module 1, Unit 2 series, scholars continue reading the informational text "Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison." They work with...

Learners create and publish a newspaper that reflects and explains pioneer and medieval societies. They become newspaper writers for a specific time period. They adopt a holistic approach to exploring community life in medieval and...

Watch your tone! Scholars analyze how diction in George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant contributes to the tone of the text. Readers watch a video, participate in a word splash, and work through a PowerPoint lesson to help them...

Was Oedipus' destiny determined by fate or by his actions? Using details from the text, ninth graders delve into a critical thinking exercise based on Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Now that Oedipus has learned his true identity, readers...

Can you see me now? Scholars discuss two definitions of invisibility and then connect the definitions to text evidence related to Louie's invisibility in Unbroken. Readers turn their attention to The Life of Miné Okubo and record text...

Writers take a look at how to gather evidence from the information text in the unit that connects to Salva and Nya’s story. They complete a Gathering Evidence from Informational Texts sheet to guide their work. Pupils then use the...

Connect global examples of attempted genocide with a well-designed social studies lesson. It includes an excellent informational text with background information on the Holocaust, as well as worksheets, book report guidelines, and...

Bring history to life through literature. The first in a series of three challenge activities designed to accompany Theme 5: One Land, Many Trails does just that through unique projects connected to historical fiction and nonfiction...

Five women of different ethnicities and living in differently colored houses own different pets, drink different beverages, and work in different professions. Who is who? Solve a logic puzzle that provides 14 clues about connections...

Often, science fiction makes a lot of connections to real life. An educator's guide for the novel Charisma by Jeanne Ryan, has readers discuss many of the real-life issues that come in the text. A brief summary helps garner interest...

Help readers make a personal connection to Homer's The Odyssey with a narrative writing assignment. Scholars select one of three prompts and craft a first-person narrative rich in sensory details that describes an experience they had...

Ninth graders demonstrate their understanding of a central idea in Oedipus the King with a mid-unit writing assessment. Writers formulate a claim about the connection between prophecy and Oedipus's actions and craft an in-class essay...

After reading a brief article on the connection between convection currents and winds, kids use information in the text to respond to a series of comprehension questions.

C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the anchor text for a three week unit that focuses on responsibilities, ethics, and virtues. While specific lesson plans are not included in this overview, a focus and discussion...

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the best-known pieces of American literature. An eBook from the Library of Congress provides access to an early edition of the text. Original layout and illustrations are preserved within.

Looking at literature through a critical lens helps readers connect the text to the larger world. An essay examining the theme "There is no ill in the world without a remedy" forms the main part of a sample comprehensive English...

Great literature discussions are a consequence of carefully crafted questions, interpretative questions that permit more than one response, and responses supported by specific evidence from the text. The discussion questions in a guide...