Young scholars explore communication by participating in a role playing lesson. In this media analysis lesson, students answer surveys about their own television watching habits and compare them to the rest of the class. Young scholars...

Use this political cartoon handout to give a humorous edge to learning about financial reform legislation. Background information helps analysts "read between the lines," and questions prompt analysis of symbolism and message. Because...

Challenge your class to reevaluate preconceived notions about government with this political cartoon analysis. An image presents a clear example of irony, in which a disgruntled American complains about his government, yet fails to see...

Get on those thinking caps, because your class is going to analyze a political cartoon related to the 2008 presidential elections. Included is a large image of the cartoon, background information, and three guiding questions which can be...

Hop on the stock market rollercoaster! This political cartoon analysis has scholars examine a cartoon about the ups and downs of a volatile market. Background information and a quote provide context for analyzing the cartoon, and 3...

Here is a turnkey instructional activity that walks young statisticians through the development and uses of conditional probability. From dice games to surveys, Venn diagrams to frequency tables, the class learns how a given can...

Can you tell everything about a character based on their actions? Delve into the prominent characters of Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with helpful reading tips and discussion questions. A thorough lesson...

Eighth graders demonstrate their understanding with the final assessment in a literary analysis unit based on Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves." Having prepared for the assessment in the last few...

Prepare for the end-of-unit assessment in a unit focused on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves." As your class continues gathering evidence to support or argue against the success of Claudette's adaptation into...

Relationships between characters generate energy that propels the plot and connects events with a central idea. Track character development and meaningful relationships with a literary analysis lesson focused on H.G. Bissinger's Friday...

A thorough unit on literary analysis and character development culminates in a final writing assessment. Prompted to compare the parent-child relationships in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights, high...

"O, I am fortune's fool!" As they continue their analysis of Act 3, scene 1, class members consider the role of fate in the events. The lesson concludes with a viewing of a brief portion of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, in which the...

Hearken! and observe how well a literary analysis unit can help ninth graders read closely and connect text structure to a central idea. Focusing on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," learners take notes and track the development...

The slow curse of realization begins to sink in during the tenth lesson plan in a literary analysis unit on Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Ninth graders carefully read the selected lines for evidence of Oedipus' feelings during a turning...

As part of a mid-unit assessment, class members exchange their draft of a multi-paragraph essay with a classmate, review their partner's writing using the provided text analysis rubric, and evaluate the strength of evidence, the...

Scholars review the previous nine lessons of analysis of King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and use their work to create a formal essay responding to a writing prompt about the purpose of the work. This mid-unit assessment is a quick...

Scholars use a map of Asia to help them better understand the article "The Vietnam Wars," focusing on word meaning in the title and subtitle. Learners then use guided notes while reading the article and discuss their ideas with partners.

Scholars analyze a model poem to help guide their poetry writing. They use Think-Pair-Share to discuss word choice and meaning in "Papaya Tree" and "Wet and Crying." To finish, they use their discussions to collect evidence on what makes...

Readers of Pygmalion use Eliza Character Tracker Parts one and two to notice and wonder about character analysis. They read text excerpts and mark details that show how Eliza feels and why she acts in certain ways. To finish, they...

Class members work in pairs and use an Ad Analysis planning guide to begin planning their final tasks. After sharing ideas with their partners, learners begin working on their final products.

How is a poem similar to and different from a news article? Pupils use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the two genres. Also, as part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars participate in small-group discussions based on poetry...

It is an out-of-body experience. Scholars take a look at the sidebars outside the body of the text in The Exterminator. They discuss the purpose of this type of text feature and work to determine the gist. Learners write unfamiliar...

How does word choice influence the meaning and tone of a text? To answer this question, class members listen to a masterful reading of a passage from David Mitchell's Black Swan Green and then work with a partner to conduct a close...

Where does a writer find inspiration? "Go into yourself," says Rainer Maria Rilke in "Letter One" from Letters to a Young Poet. Readers of Rilke's letter to Franz Xaver Kappus examine the words and figurative language Rilke uses to...