EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 18
The punishment must fit the crime, even for a king. Sophocles' Oedipus the King meets its grisly end with a lesson that focuses on the conclusion of the play and Oedipus' self-assigned punishment. Learners connect the symbolism of his...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Concept Analysis
Use this analysis of My Antonia to help inform your instruction and prepare your pupils for the project and enrichment ideas listed at the end of the resource. The analysis covers big questions related to the text, themes, plot elements,...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: Anticipation Guide
Focus on the literary themes of Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter with an anticipation guide. Kids read statements about respect, abandonment, and love, and mark their agreement or disagreement before beginning the novel. After they...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 19
Now that readers can see the full scope of Sophocles' Oedipus the King, they can draw connections between the dramatic ending and the textual evidence throughout the Greek tragedy. As they prepare for the unit assessment writing prompt,...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: What Is Happiness?
Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Macbeth: Influence of Supernatural
Something wickedly wonderful this way comes in a lesson that focuses on Macbeth. After a close reading of the play, class members craft a literary analysis essay in which they use evidence from the text to show how Shakespeare uses the...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Structure Forming Meaning
Teach literary lovers how to form opinions about form. Scholars read
informational text about the form used in villanelles. After analyzing
the structure used in the poetry with graphic organizers and gallery
walks, writers create...
Livaudais-Baker English Classroom
Lord of the Flies: William Golding's Masterpiece
Spoiler Alert! An 18-slide presentation includes information about author William Golding, his experiences reflected in Lord of the Flies, a summary of the story, the political and religious allegorical levels of the novel, and the themes.
Simon & Schuster
Curriculum Guide to: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Five lessons make up a curriculum guide to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Readers find examples of Twain's use of irony, closely examine Huck's colloquial language, as well as his sense of morality, and identify themes in the novel....
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
A 16-page packet includes three activities for a unit study of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Before beginning the novel, class members identify the factors in their lives that helped create their frame of reference,...
Simon & Schuster
Curriculum Guide to: The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad's novellas The Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer are the focus of five lessons in this Curriculum Guide. Lessons are designed to advance analytical reading skills, examine Conrad's use of "The Double" theme, the...
Curated OER
The Negro Speaks of Rivers Themes
In this poetry analysis worksheet, students respond to 5 discussion questions that require them to investigate the symbolism of rivers in the Langston Hughes poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers."
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Narrative Text Structure, Story Pieces
An activity boosts reading comprehension by challenging scholars to answer questions about a narrative tale detailing elements—plot, characters, setting, theme, problem, and solution.
Curriculum Corner
Academic Reading Vocabulary
From A to Z, learners define, draw, and find examples of specific reading focus skills in an alphabetized reading vocabulary packet. Words include dialogue, theme, text structure, genre, paraphrase, and many more.
Bermudian Springs School District
John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath — Independent Reading
Lies, deceit, betrayal, criminality: these topics are just a few of the reasons that John Steinbeck's classic novel The Grapes of Wrath has captivated people since its 1939 publication. Scholars begin the lesson by reading background...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Whom Do We Trust, and Why?
Is it possible to regain trust? Scholars put much thought into the subject of trust after reading Shakespeare's Macbeth. Readers work together to analyze how the character relationships develop the a message about trust. They then create...
EngageNY
Analyzing How Shakespeare’s Play Draws upon Greek Mythology: Part 3
How do the narrative and play versions of the myth "Pyramus and Thisbe" affect meaning? Scholars reread Act 5, Scene 1 from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and compare its structure to "Pyramus and Thisbe." Next, they use a...
EngageNY
Analyzing a Thematic Concept: The Invisibility of Captives during WWII (Pages 182-188)
Readers complete a word web-based on the word dignity. They use their Understanding Invisibility note catcher to discuss how dignity relates to the theme of invisibility. After group discussion comparing invisibility and loss of dignity,...
EngageNY
Drafting an Analytical Mini-Essay: Using Partner Talk and Graphic Organizers to Guide Thinking
Moving on up ... Scholars take a look at how the author of the model essay Elements of Mythology and Theme of Cronus moved up in the writing process from a graphic organizer to an essay. After walking through the writing process of the...
EngageNY
Close Read, Part 1: “Hugo, the Lord’s Nephew”
Fourth time is a charm. Learners complete multiple reads of Hugo, the Lord’s Nephew. On the fourth read, they make notes about each page on sticky notes. They then complete a think-pair-share activity with a partner to determine the...
EngageNY
Jigsaw, Part 1: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
Complete a puzzle one piece at a time. Scholars gather in triads to complete jigsaw activities over a monologue from Good Masters! Sweet Ladies. They read as a group and independently and use sticky notes to identify the gist of each...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Developing the Narrator’s Point of View, Figurative Language, and Connecting Passages across the Novel Dragonwings
Let's get creative! As part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars create a piece of artwork illustrating the theme from Laurence Yep's novel, Dragonwings. Additionally, pupils use a graphic organizer to identify figurative language in the...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac has enjoyed popularity since its debut in 1897 due in large part to the themes it addresses. Instructors planning on using the play with their classes will find much to like in this teaching guide. The...
K20 LEARN
Lord of the Flies Unit, Lesson 8: In The End
To end the unit, groups use the Honeycomb Harvest strategy to show connections among a character, symbols, and themes in the novel and then create an Anchor Chart for the character that includes a symbol that best represents him. They...