Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
Curated OER
Visual Arts:Literature and World Civilization
Fourth graders examine the art of the Middle Ages or Medieval time period through the activities in this unit.
Curated OER
The Literature of Classical Greece
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read a passage about Classical Greece and then answer fifteen multiple choice reading comprehension questions.
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Old Hobbits Are Hard to Break
Explore film adaptation of literature with this activity, which focuses on the world of film advertisements. Middle schoolers discuss various films (including The Lord of the Rings) and create advertisements for a pretend film based on a...
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Robin Hood
Fourth graders read and analyze the novel, Robin Hood. They create a vocabulary word map, complete a Venn diagram comparing Robin Hood and Little John, act out a chapter, create a wedding announcement, and write a new epitaph for Robin...
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Senior English Beowulf Test
The first thirty-seven questions on this assessment check for knowledge of the events in Beowulf. The short answer prompt asks readers to identify five characteristics of an epic and to give examples from Beowulf in support. Finally,...
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The Canterbury Tales
Learners read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and examine life in the Middle Ages. They create word webs and timelines about the Middle Ages. They complete research papers on chivalry and Thomas a Becket.
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Spain and France Influence in Europe and in the New World
Students examine the conditions in France and Spain during the Middle Ages and the Discovery of America. In groups, they compare and contrast the political situations in both countries and what effect they had on the New World. To end...
Discover Earth
Weather Stations
Transform your classroom into a fully functioning weather station with this series of hands-on investigations. Covering the topics of temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and cloud formation, these activities engage young...
Curated OER
Great Expectations Character Adoption
Learners write a detailed character analysis by adopting a character from the novel, Great Expectations, and become an authority on the character.
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Natural Twig Journals
Artists of all ages participate in a very basic bookbinding technique incorporating a dimensional object and simple fastening method. They create their own book to use as a sketchbook, writing surface or scrapbook. The results are...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Vengeful Verbs in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
It's time for pupils to read, examine, and contemplate literature to explore the difference between vivid and generic verbs. Pupils distinguish between the two types of verbs as they read the ghost scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet. They...
Curated OER
"Zebra" by Chaim Potok
Combine art and literature to teach greater themes and symbolic meaning. Using the plan outlined in this resource, expose your class to the story "Zebra" by Chaim Potok, conduct discussions about social issues and nicknames, and ask...
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The Victorian Era - History Through Literature
Students can learn about the Victorian Era through famous novels, such as "Wuthering Heights" and "Great Expectations".
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Chaucer's Wife of Bath
Students analyze Chaucer's portrayal of the Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales. Students prepare class reports on the institution of marriage and the place of women in the Medieval society.
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Whether new to teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or an experienced pro, you’ll find useful resources in this teacher’s guide. The 40-page packet includes background information, historical context, an annotated list of...
Curated OER
How Do You Know?
What is the difference between primary and secondary sources? Help your middle schoolers develop a knowledge of appropriate sources to use when doing accurate research. They develop unique ways to incorporate literature in historical...
Curated OER
Manga and Me
Upper elementary and middle school learners study Manga cartooning and create a Japanese character based on their own features and personalities. This style of cartooning is easily-accessible for most students. With a little practice,...
Curated OER
The Giver
Learners read the novel The Giver and complete six tasks. They identify vocabulary that they did not recongize, create a different ending for the book, produce character cards and pick important events and objects from the novel.
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Children's Literature and African American Culture
Third graders examine various stories and poems and identify characteristics that make each individual unique. After analyzing the readings, they create their own personality poems to accompany self-portrait drawings. The poems and...
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Folktales around the World (Middle, Reading/Writing)
Students analyze, synthesize, and use the elements of various US cultural folk tales to describe the elements of fiction in general and in folk tales specifically.
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Honoring Holocaust Remembrance Week
Examining a difficult history through contextual foundations, personal stories, and Dr. Seuss.
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The Cotillion or One Good Bull is Half the Herd, a Black Arts Movement novel by John O. Killens
Students study late twentieth-century African American satirical literature as well as its cultural antecedents. they analyze and discuss, within the contexts of race and gender, the social criticism of the middle classes presented by...
Curated OER
Sayings and Phrases
Fourth graders respond to six sayings that are introduced in this lesson. They brainstorm, justify, explain, describe, create and relate as they respond.