Book Smarts

Kathryn Stockett's The Help opened up a rich, vivid world of strong female characters and stark societal injustices. As high schoolers read the novel, they complete a crossword puzzle that includes clues from all chapters of the book.

Billy Collins' "Rain" introduces the Random House 104-page magazine for educators that focuses on censorship and banned books. The resource is packed with teaching guides, articles by noted authors, and links to organizations against...

Have you always wanted to try Literature Circles in your ELD class, but couldn't find a good way to start? This instructional activity is made for you, your middle-school readers and ideally, your SMARTboard (though the instructional...

Help your pupils track the plot of a short story with this SMART Board activity. Using the short story "The Dinner Party" by Mona Gardner (though the lesson would work with any other short story), they define the exposition, rising...

Novel study is a great way to bring an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Pupils read Shackleton's Stowaway. While they read the book, they research many aspects of Antarctica, such as the living conditions, climate, and travel....

Students discuss the definition of intelligence and the possibility of measuring intelligence. They consider the elements of intelligence by reading and discussing the article "'Jeopardy' Millionaire is Smart, but Is He a Genius?They...

Bring literature to life with your SMART board and this literary analysis lesson. While reading "User Friendly" by T. Ernesto Bethancourt (from the Holt Elements of Literature textbook by Kylene Beers), have your class discuss the theme...

Using the SMART Board, teacher reviews the elements of a short story while students follow along in their notebook. Continuing with the SMART Board, teacher introduces the definition of plot and the five parts as students take notes....

Before reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" in your class, walk learners through this scavenger hunt that teaches them about Poe's life and works. Though the lesson is designed for 15:1 special education class, it could work in any...

Tenth graders review the structural elements of a literary paragraph and organizational paragraph formats. They author a paragraph examining and reviewing a piece of literature currently being read in class. Students peer-review the...