Sophia: Book Reports: Choosing a Book: Lesson 1

John Knowles' A Separate Peace provides readers with an opportunity to develop their close reading and analytical skills as they look for what Knowles feels are the factors that shape our identity.

Class members begin their study of Romeo and Juliet by examining the words Shakespeare chooses in the Prologue to Act I to create the tragic tone of his famous play about star-crossed lovers.

Where does a writer find inspiration? "Go into yourself," says Rainer Maria Rilke in "Letter One" from Letters to a Young Poet. Readers of Rilke's letter to Franz Xaver Kappus examine the words and figurative language Rilke uses to...

The complex relationship between a teacher and his student takes center stage in an instructional activity that asks readers to pay close attention to how author Ethan Canin introduces his characters and how he develops the character of...

Young journalists investigate the various ways to share news about a disaster and evaluate the pros and cons of each of these types of news. Individuals then select two different forms of media reports of a recent disaster. Using the...

Review main characters, story events, and important quotes from Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief. A crossword puzzle with 29 clues gives high schoolers the opportunity to check their understanding and revist Zusak's haunting work.

Build beautiful books in whatever style you'd like with an intuitive and adaptable app for constructing books. Kids can add images, drawings, text, and audio to make books about any subject. When complete, learners can wrap up the...

Reading goes beyond taking in information—it also involves forming impressions about what we read. Sometimes we share those impressions through book reviews, a specific type of writing outlined in a handout on the topic. Using the...

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...

Tap into the wisdom and knowledge of older members of the community with this New York Times plan. To warm up, learners write about and discuss advice they have been given. After reading "The Life Report," an op-ed column that asks older...