The Thinking Approach to Reading

How affected is Thinks Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe's personal biography? Using a four corners strategy, and evidence from their readings, class members debate the degree of biographical influence in Achebe's novel.

As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...

Encourage kids to think deeply about what they are reading with five thought-provoking questions about one passage. After choosing a passage that is intriguing or confusing to them, learners write a summary, explain what they like or...

The national epidemic of opioid addiction is making its way into high school populations. Educate the young scholars in your class about the ways prescription opioids can both block pain and deliver large amounts of dopamine that make it...

Whether or not your school/state has adopted the Common Core standards, you will want to add this resource to your Of Mice and Men curriculum materials. The chapter-by-chapter activities ask readers to provide evidence from the novella...

Ah, the dreaded college application essay. Here's a unique approach to crafting a powerful personal essay. Class members read The Autobiography of Malcom X and Leslie Marmon Silko's Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, analyze the...

Hamlet's famous soliloquy (Act III, scene i) gets the close reading treatment in a group of skill building exercises. Assuming the role of a WWE wrestler, a kindergarten teacher, ninja assassin, and others, learners deliver a line from...

What's going on in this picture? That's the question posed to viewers of a 40-image slide show of photos that accompanies stories from the New York Times. Without captions or context clues, individuals use their close readings skills and...

Analyze the motivation, purpose, and value of letters to the editor by examining letters written in response to the violence at Columbine High School. For homework, middle and high schoolers write their own letters to the editor about an...

Experiment with light and dark in a series of interactive activities that lead up to reading and writing poetry. Class members have the opportunity to observe their feelings while sitting in the light and dark and to play with shadow...