A View of Yourself Through Famous Writers

How do cultural and historical background impact thought? To explore this essential question, class members view of portion of the film, The Passage to India, read an excerpt from The Magician’s Nephew, and Nissim Ezekiel’s poem, "In...

Investigate the importance of author's point of view. Young linguists study primary source documents related to the Treaty of Casco Bay. The first source is authored by the Native American Chiefs, the second by an English...

How can you tell what point of view a narrator is using, and why does it matter when reading or writing? Use a handy flow chart to determine whether or not your narrator is telling the story from a first or third person point of view.

Help your class examine humanity's unpredictable nature through "Life Steps Almost Straight." Learners read various works from philosophers such as Viktor Frankl, The Buddha, and Nietzsche to gather textual evidence and explain their...

Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson plan. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in...

Do the places you have lived influence what you write? Class members research the lives of writers and look for how places these writers have lived might have influenced their writings. 

"Dad jokes" aren't the only ways to hear some groan-worthy puns! A poetry lesson plan explores how figurative language, particularly puns, can make poetry funny, before class members create their own silly poems.

Creating an argument that acknowledges opposing views can be challenging for new writers. Have your middle school class watch a short video during an argument essay unit and help them craft their argument based on its importance and...

Thorough and well-organized, this lesson plan helps pupils to weigh, build, and refute an argument (the latter of which is featured here; the first two parts are linked within the resource). Given a simplified argument and counter...

Calling all junior detectives! Scholars use the tools of investigation to determine the causes and impacts of the American Civil War. Using viewing guides, videos, group research, and written resources, they discover what it takes to...