Curated OER
Literary Analysis of Theme
Remember reading "The Lottery" and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson? Learners can experience and analyze the tension, themes, and human experience found in these pieces through reading and class discussion. They use...
Curated OER
The Study of Theme and Figurative Language in Poetry and/or Prose
Identify and analyze the use of figurative language used in select pieces of writing. These pieces of literature will represent at least two pieces by one writer and at least two pieces by different writers. This lesson would be a great...
Writing Educators Symposium
Asking the Right Questions
It can be difficult to find the theme of a book or story if you don't know the questions to ask. Teach your kids to discern the universal theme in works of literature with a set of activities that promote critical thinking and...
Curated OER
Around the Room Short Story
Collective story writing is a great way to reinforce the concept of story elements and collaborative learning. Young writers discuss story elements such as, setting, character, action, climax, conclusion, foreshadowing, dialogue, and...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Curated OER
Theme: The Search for Meaning
Students explore themes. In this literary elements instructional activity, students view a PowerPoint presentation defining and describing examples of common theme traits. Students read several short passages, then infer the theme of...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Surprise!: Extra Support Lessons (Theme 2)
Surprise! is the theme of a unit covering such topics as consonants, blending, short vowels sounds, high frequency words, and number words. The unit's lessons also include teachable moments covering story structure, illustrations,...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Family and Friends: Extra Support Lessons (Theme 4)
Family and Friends is the theme of a unit offering extra support lessons. Follow each lesson plan's teach, blend, guided practice or practice/apply routine to reinforce concepts such as clusters, responding to reading, drawing...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Reading Literature - An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce’s short story, is used to model how structural moves, the decisions an author makes about setting, point of view, time order, etc., can be examined to reveal an author’s purpose. Groups...
CPALMS
Analyzing Vonnegut's View of the Future and His Commentary on the Present in Harrison Bergeron
Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" engages adolescents with its theme about the dangers of complete societal equality. Learners complete a graphic organizer to track literary elements in the story, as well as an inference...
Pace University
Short Stories
A reading of Kevin Lamb's short story "Lost in the Woods" launches a study of how writers use elements such as foreshadowing, mood, character development, setting, and conflict to engage readers. Class members then demonstrate what they...
Novelinks
Lord of the Flies: Themes and Notetaking
William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a treasure trove of symbolism and literary themes. Help your kids note the richest passages in the book with a lesson and graphic organizer. The lesson prepares kids to come up with a thesis...
Longman
Stories for reading comprehension
A packet full of old-fashioned short stories could be a review activity for a reading comprehension lesson. Learners read 14 stories before answering multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank sentences, and vocabulary exercises.
Curated OER
Comparing Themes and Plots: "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil"
Students read two stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne and write an essay comparing plots and themes. In this Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories lesson, students read "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil." After a class...
Curated OER
"User Friendly" Cause and Effect
Bring literature to life with your SMART board and this literary analysis lesson. While reading "User Friendly" by T. Ernesto Bethancourt (from the Holt Elements of Literature textbook by Kylene Beers), have your class discuss the theme...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Family and Friends: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 4)
Family and Friends is the theme of a unit consisting of English language development lessons. Reinforce language proficiency, particularly in family vocabulary, basic needs, feelings, short vowel sounds, blending, reading high frequency...
Film English
My Shoes
Engage your pupils in short story and short film. Using a still from the film as inspiration, pairs compose short stories, which they later share and compare with other members of the class. They then watch the film and respond to a...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Problem Solvers: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 4)
How can you teach a text to a group of readers who struggling with the language? The second in a set of three ESL lessons related to Theme 4: Problem Solvers engages English language learners by introducing vocabulary and grammar...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
A World of Animals: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 10)
Animals are the theme of this series of English language development lessons. Scholars take part in grand conversations about woodland, jungle, and grassland animals. They also go on picture walks, read poems and high...
Film English
We've All Been There
What does empathy look like? Encourage your pupils to put themselves in another person's shoes with several writing and discussion activities that relate to a featured short film. Over the course of the lesson, individuals collaborate...
Curated OER
Lesson: Paul Chan: 1st Light and 5th Light
Paul Chan's latest exhibit includes seven manifestations of light. Today, kids analyze the pieces 1st Light and 5th Light. They consider the concept of opposed or dualistic realities found in literature, society, and Chan's work....
Maine Content Literacy Project
The Process of Reading vocabulary, literary elements
Cover Freytag's Triangle and examine Anton Chekhov's "The Bet" in this third lesson plan in a series of fourteen based around short stories. Learners take a quiz and discuss Freytag's triangle. They apply the triangle to "The Bet" and...
Curated OER
Learning to Hate Math
Give your class a different kind of reading assignment with the text included here. Anne Miller's essay "Learning to Hate Mathematics" details a hatred of math that grew from early childhood and still haunts the author today. After...
Curated OER
Details, Details: How Choices Reveal Character, Setting, Tone, and Theme. (Analyzing and Interpreting, Making Inferences)
Students respond to works of art. In this art interpretation instructional activity, students examine images of art while using concepts they learned as they read literary pieces. They detail the setting, characters, and the mood and...