Set in Stone?

Students answer the question, "Should the town of Twin Cheeks ban motorized rentals on Thome Lake?" They explore the political, personal, and economic issues involved in making this decision as they assume different roles in this...

Intended as a follow up to the Protecting Your Drinking Water activity, young environmentalists use their assessment of the a hypothetical town's water supply to debate the installation of underground chemical storage tanks. With...

Three animators provide different visual interpretations of Walt Whitman's "A Noiseless Patient Spider." What a great way to generate a discussion of interpretation, mood, and tone.

A Writer's Workshop lesson plan in which young scholars read E. A. Robinson's poem "Reuben Bright" and record five different interpretations in their notebooks. Any of these interpretations can be used later as an interesting piece of...

Students simulate an Independent Counsel to represent the Spanish and the Aztecs to formulate a policy for the Roman Catholic Church in 1527. They conduct research, graph the similarities and differences, create a poster, and write a...

Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...

Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown” and Billy Joel’s “Allentown” motivate young lyricists to craft poems about their own home town. Groups compare the two songs, identifying details, symbols, and conflicts. Individuals then picture a place...

Sonnets presented in three parts, and excerpts from two plays are here in three different audio formats. RL.11-12.7 Multi Interpretations

Essay tracks the various religions associated with the African-Americans since their introduction to the New World. Different interpretations from historians are offered for discussion of whether Christianity was helpful to the slaves.

Learners recite poetry and analyze its meaning.  In this poetry interpretation instructional activity, students listen to a poem and work in groups to write what the poem is about.  Learners share and discuss the poem. ...