Eleventh graders examine their natural surroundings as a way to begin thinking about an abstract idea. They analyze and compare or contrast the rhetorical stategies of two essayists. Students interpret and evaluate images culled from...

If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...

In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 13 multiple choice questions based on the Transcendentalist literary movement. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

Assess whether your class members can comprehend complex informational text with a series of drills based on selections from Emerson, Thoreau, and G.K. Chesterton. The exercises could also be used for group work or a full-class discussion.

The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...

Students participate in a panel discussion on materialism, assuming the identities of Henry David Thoreau and other experts on materialism.  In this Walden lesson, students create a panel discussion of prominent people, including...

In this Walden activity, students discuss the experience of Thoreau at Walden Pond and evaluate the importance of the experiment. Students write essays which discuss the details, the genres, the mythological references, and the author...

Students investigate the essays and life of Thoreau in order to appreciate his point of view and understand his way of thinking. They participate in various activities and writing assignments to gain a similar perspective. Students write...

Students investigate the writings of Thoreau in order to better comprehend his impact on American Literature and unique writing style. Working to evaluate the different pieces of writing, they read the essays in order to create their own...

Students explore readings from Emerson, Thoreau and Melville. In preparation for writing, students sit in a quiet, tranquil location and observe their surroundings. Later, they recreate the experience by putting it into words. ...

Students explore the life and philosophy of Henry David Thoreau. Students watch a slide show on Henry David Thoreau. They visit a quiet, tranquil location and observe nature. After reading and discussing Thoreau's works, students create...

Students are responsible for producing works for, coordinating (with the teacher?s assistance) and mounting an exhibition to be presented at a parent-teacher open house. They examine literature by Henry David Thoreau and other writers....

Eighth graders appreciate and better understand nature by reflecting on Henry David Thoreau's quotes, making observations of the outside world, and using nature in their writings of stories and/or poems.

High schoolers engage in a literature study unit. They use various exercises to build reading comprehension using a wide variety of literature texts. While reading the books, students are encouraged to think reflectively in order to...

Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...

Twelfth graders explore their social, cultural and political surroundings. They explore the responsibility and power individuals have as writers. In groups, 12th graders examine the works of Henry David Thoreau. After spending time...

Students investigate the writings of Thoreau. They read passages orally and look for words of imagery in the text. Students also answer a series of questions and they convert passages of writing into theatrical presentations in order to...

Eleventh graders have a basic comprehension of transcendentalism and a familiarity with the principal propenents of the philosophy. They recognize of the unique role played by Concord, MA in the dispersion of transcendentalism. ...

Students study American transcendentalism through readings of Emerson and Thoreau. They make cognitive connections to the similarities to Buddhism in these writings. The connection of the literary movement is explained in the art of the...

Tenth graders discover how various writers approach the themes of : alienation and solitude, living life "deliberately" and "phonies." Through reading, journaling, class discussion, and writing assignments they realize the power of the...

Give your class a deeper understanding of the context and meaning behind early American song lyrics. By reading the lyrics to "Yankee Doodle" and  "Revolutionary Tea," high schoolers will practice analysis by examining the...

A 12-page teacher's guide to Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees provides the discussion questions and activities that lead readers to understand not only Lily's fears, but her reasons behind them.

Young scholars criticially read an unfinished creative writing piece, answer factual questions concerning the piece, and then finish the story or create their own story about their own neigborhood and possible environmental issues.

High schoolers examine a variety of songs, poems, and books exploring and analyzing the theme of self reliance and being true to one's self. They write a poem, essay, or letter that captures their true spirit and individuality and then...