Analyze the depth and beauty of American Literature by reading Emily Dickinson's letters and poems. The class analyzes Dickinson's poetic style and discusses Thomas Wentworth Higginson's editorial relationship with Dickinson. They pay...

Teach your middle schoolers to use their ears to their highest potential! Pupils practice active listening skills and reflect on how careful listening might prove to be important in and out of the classroom.

Appropriate assertive and non-verbal assertive communication is the focus of this activity designed for the special education classroom. Using mirrors, class members practice assertive responses to a variety of situations.

Start with the basics of the Japanese language. The app, which is organized into chapters similar to a textbook, is made up of approachable text, which reads like someone calmly talking you through the aspects of the Japanese language,...

Examine the "voice" of Ganwar, a character in "Ganwar Speaks!" from Home of the Brave. Middle schoolers identify and discuss dialect, description, and tone. They then work independently to analyze voice and complete worksheets. An...

Use this poetry analysis worksheet to help your learners understand a poem of their or your choosing. This resource asks class members to summarize the poem and analyze it by looking at voice, word choice, imagery, and theme. The...

Explore the paradox of the universe - or, at least, of popular music - with this lesson. Using the songs "Inaudible Melodies" by Jack Johnson and "She" by Green Day, your class will complete a graphic organizer to help them understand...

Young scholars read to their peers from selected texts. As one person reads, the other person listens to his/her peer, noting tone and fluency. Afterward, they reflect on each other's reading. There is a guided reflection worksheet...

Introduce young actors to the key elements of performance with this handout that defines key staging terms and activities.

Singers practice perfecting the song, Alleluia. They focus on singing techniques, style, phrasing, and working with syncopation. This lesson is a microteahing lesson and includes a warm up and vocal exercises. 

Can your pupils change the world? Explore this question with Ben Harper's song "With My Own Two Hands" and John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change." After listening to the songs, they discuss the tools at their disposal for...

Partners practice reading fluency by reciting sentence strips to each other with proper expression and intonation. Partner A chooses a strip at random and reads it silently, then aloud with expression. Partner B reads the same sentence...

Young scholars create and perform a scene for play using a common fairy tale for the story line. They view and discuss a video on careers in stage and radio to identify the roles and responsibilities for each of their group members.

Imagine linking poetry to technology! Thirty-three lessons comprise a 6-week "Women in Poetry" unit for high schoolers. Class members research women poets, learn how to respond electronically to discussions, write their poems, create web...

Use a fun and creative activity to introduce junior high learners to how writing changes for different audiences and purposes. The activity begins with a reading by the instructor where teens visualize a food fight in the cafeteria. In...

Colorful contemporary images contained in a PowerPoint presentation will capture the attention of class members and model for them the how to distinguish between the subject and the theme of a work. A great want to introduce this...

Get to know the meaning behind the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from the legendary 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Groups of two take the roles of performer and questioner. Performers sing lines of the song while questioners...

Recycling and green living isn't just for the environment anymore. Studying the use of metaphors and metonymies, especially in reference to environmental sustainability, this presentation provides viewers with plenty of food for thought....

Follow this outline to write persuasive essays with your 11th grade college prep classes. Using the internet, they research a topic, citing their sources correctly. They work with a partner to peer edit their rough drafts, checking for...

Ninth grade girls get together to sing the song Hello Girls. They warm up with common voice exercises then work to maintain melody, harmony, pitch and tone. 

Students read letters written by Evans and Gunton regarding race relations. In this Progressive Movement lesson, students interpret the intentions and tone of the letters to understand contemporary racial beliefs. Students discuss the...

Students read and listen to various poems as they are read by different readers using different tones. They read "Jabberwocky" and in groups, determine what they think the nonsense words in the poem mean. The groups compare thier ideas...

Explore voice in writing with the story Chess Rumble. After examining the character's voice to understand the character better, sixth graders analyze and discuss the dialect, tone, and descriptive language used. A good way to focus...

Gain greater insight into poems using a poetry analysis worksheet. Here, scholars follow steps and answer questions to dissect any poem. Topics include the poem's meaning, theme, technique, and structure, as well as personal...