Curated OER
Comparing The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring
Pupils read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien and write a comparison of the two books. In this Tolkien novel analysis lesson, students read the novels and select characters, plot, theme, or other element to...
Curated OER
Core Book Guide for The Upstairs Room
Students read "The Upstairs Room" and participate in literature analysis regarding justice. In this Holocaust Literature lesson, students read a short story and discuss critical thinking questions. Students write journal entries and...
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Whitman and Lincoln
Students determine if Lincoln and Whitman ever met and write a dialogue between the two men. In this Whitman and Lincoln lesson, students read Whitman's poem "Beat! Beat! Drums!" and connect it to the events of Lincoln's presidency....
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Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury: Benjy's Sense of Time and Narrative Voice
Students analyze narrative voice in William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. In this novel analysis lesson, students analyze Faulkner's writing style and the narrative voice of Benjy. Students create a reading journal for the lesson...
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Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales
A thorough lesson introduces learners to Hans Christian Andersen, the nineteenth-century author who created wonderful tales. They read the original texts of several of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid,"...
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Express Yourself Lesson Seed 17: Obituary
The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...
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1900 America: Historical Voices, Poetic Visions
High schoolers examine the United States at the turn of the century. Using primary source documents, they interpret them within a specific historical context. Using this information, they write a poem with metaphors and a specific meter...
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A Formal Analysis of Science Fiction
Students write a five paragraph expository theme. They explain in their theme how the story they read qualifies as science fiction. Students write using all the conventions of English correctly.
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Character Study in Macbeth
Eleventh graders analyze a Shakespeare soliloquy by writing a prose summary of it. They keep a character journal, following one character through the play and analyzing what the character does and says, as well as, might have done or...
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Public Policy Analysis
Students read an article about a pressing public policy issue. Using the text, they identify the themes, facts and ideas presented and develop an argument supporting or disagreeing with the position of the author. In groups, they...
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Structural Analysis
First graders examine the word and sentence structure of reading, writing, speaking, and listening effectively. In this structural analysis lesson, 1st graders review the ending of compound words, root words and their usages.
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Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad: From Painting to Poem
Students analyze Edward Hopper's painting and Hirsch's poem to explore the types of emotion generated by each work. In this literary and art analysis lesson, students discuss how Hopper establishes tone and analyze Hirsch's use of...
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Conflict
Students outline the action in their narrative writing assignments by brainstorming about conflict. In this conflict analysis lesson, students define conflict and discuss the different types of conflict. Students brainstorm about a...
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Poetry on the Web
Eighth graders search a website and locate a poem written by a specific poet whose work appears in the grade 8 anthology. After listening to poetry, 8th graders present oral or written examples of imagery and an analysis of the imagery.
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Music from a Place Called Half Moon
Pupils read the novel, Music from a Place Called Half Moon. They are assigned chapters to analyze for literary elements and to assign titles to the book chapters.
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The Secret Garden
Students explore plants in science and England as they synthesize data from the book, "The Secret Garden in this twelve lessons unit. Comparisons between the nuturing needs of plants and humans are made.
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Things Aren't Always What They Seem
Students use video and the Internet to make predictions, draw conclusions, determine conflict and point of view while reading a short story. For this short story analysis lesson, students watch a related video and complete a prediction...
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1st Grade - Act. 03: T-Shirt Glyph
First graders create glyphs (symbols or icons) which represents them, and read the glyphs of others using a legend to explain the data on the glyphs.
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"Compression of Emotional Power"--Responding To Unseen Poetry
Eleventh graders identify the structure, rhythm and style of a selected poem, experience utilizing poetic devices and analyze an annotated poem. They evaluate the themes and inferred meanings to a variety of poems from their textbooks.
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Imagery
Ninth graders explore poems, various poetic devices, and identify imagery used in poetry. In groups, they examine poetic devices, define them, paraphrase and summarize poetry. Students study poetry by Robert Frost as they explore...
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Chapters 34, 35
Students analyze Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in part of an analysis of imagery. In this Maya Angelou lesson, students read chapters 34 and 35 in the novel and define imager. Students work in pairs to locate two...
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Humor and Irony in Eudora Welty's The Ponder Heart
Students demonstrate an understanding of humor in writing, specifically the use of irony (verbal, situational, and dramatic). They evaluate an event from his or her life that lends itself to a humorous retelling, and demonstrate an...
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Personal Peace Symbols
Eleventh graders produce a work of art that symbolizes peace and their experiences with it. In this peace symbolism lesson, 11th graders sketch symbols associated with peace view art examples of peace images. Students complete a...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian In Your Classroom: The Music in Poetry
Take poetry off the page and put it into terms of movement, physical space and, finally, music with this series of three lessons from the Smithsonian Institution. This resource introduces students to two poetic forms that originated as...