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Unit Plan
1
1
Film Foundation

To Kill a Mockingbird: Historical and Cultural Context

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
As part of their study of the film adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird, class members analyze how Robert Mulligan uses the film lens to depict the historical period and social issues presented in Harper Lee's novel. A superior resource...
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Unit Plan
Roald Dahl

The BFG Lesson Plans

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
A 55-page unit examines the novel, The BFG, by Roald Dahl. Six lessons pay close attention to friendship, dreams, and believing themes while analyzing interesting characters, writing creative vocabulary, smilies, metaphors, an exciting...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl Matilda Lesson Plans

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Fifty eye-catching pages contain six lessons about Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda. Each lesson has a theme and covers a different subject—literacy, social-emotional learning, science, and geography. Scholars analyze characters, examine...
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Assessment
IPA Productions

A Christmas Carol - The Story

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Thirty-six pages familiarize scholars with the story and vocabulary of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After reading and listening to an abbreviated version of the holiday tale learners show what they know about the sequence of...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

Survivors and Liberators

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The end was just the beginning. The period immediately after the end of World War II and the Holocaust is often called "The Return to Life" as survivors looked to reunite and recreate broken families and shattered lives. A two-lesson...
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Lesson Plan
Digital Public Library of America

Teaching Guide: Exploring Little Women

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...
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Study Guide
Scholastic

A Reading Guide to A Wrinkle in Time

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Accompany a reading of Madeleine L'Engle's classic tale, A Wrinkle in Time, with a detailed guide equipped with 15 informative and useful chapters. Scholars discover who the author is, why she wrote the book, and crucial story elements...
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Lesson Plan
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Intensities in the Classroom

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Everyone learns and experiences life differently. A set of lessons about character intensities encourages middle and high schoolers to analyze themselves, their peers, and characters from a book based on the five listed intensities:...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Magical Musical Tour: Using Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Language arts learners don't need a lecture about poetry; they listen to poetry every day on the radio! Apply skills from literary analysis to famous songs and beautiful lyrics with a activity about literary devices. As class...
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Lesson Plan
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

It’s Greek to Me: Greek Mythology

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It's no myth: this packet on Greek mythology is an excellent addition to your social studies curriculum. With writing activities, such as short answer responses and biopoems, and reading activities, which include creation stories and...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Character Builder

For Students 5th - 12th Standards
Characters in a story are more than a name to remember. Use a character builder worksheet to write out a character's appearance, background, personality, attributes, and story relevance, including whether they are a main or minor...
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Worksheet
1
1
K12 Reader

If

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Rudyard Kipling's advice to his son in the poem "If" is a resounding message that echoes through generations. After reading the famous poem, middle schoolers work on analyzing specific lines, completing activities based on unfamiliar...
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Lesson Plan
11
11
Illinois State Board of Education

Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Curated OER

The Glorious Whitewasher

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young readers can be exposed to the literary works of Mark Twain as they interact with challenging text and gain experience by reading the complex passages of chapter two "The Glorious Whitewasher" from his famous book, The Adventures of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

For Teachers 7th Standards
Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis skills. Learners...
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Lesson Plan
Odyssey of the Mind

Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Making of a Monster

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Over the course of a week, the class will study how monsters are portrayed throughout literature. But why? Monsters in science fiction or horror often depict the darker side of human nature; they are described for their horrific physical...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Student Achievement Partners

"The Glorious Whitewasher" from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain with Mini-Assessment

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It's the classic scene: Tom Sawyer is whitewashing a fence. Expose your learners to Mark Twain's humor while reinforcing reading comprehension. Eighth graders are encouraged to read and reread, achieving as much exposure to the text as...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 3: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
The Core Knowledge Foundation offers this teacher guide to Robert Louis Stevenson's gothic novel about the duality of humankind. The 128-page guide includes a unit introduction, unit calendar, nine scripted lesson plans, assessments with...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Ballad

For Teachers 7th Standards
Young balladeers analyze examples of ballads and generate a list of common traits (story, quatrains, rhyme schemes, refrains, etc.), then identify these traits in Robert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and a ballad written by...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Personification

For Teachers 7th Standards
Spongebob Squarepants helps teach middle schoolers about personification! After discussing the human characteristics demonstrated by the cartoon character, scholars identify the personification in poems by Emily Dickinson and Langston...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 8: Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Joseph Bruchac's Code Talker tells the remarkable story of Navajo Marines' role in battles of the Pacific Theater during World War II. As scholars read the novel, they also engage in activities that expand their knowledge of Navajo...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 7: Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Frequently banned, often challenged, a mainstay of middle school curriculum, Tales from the Secret Annex, is the featured text in the seventh unit in the Teacher Guide Core Knowledge Program. The 134-page guide includes an introduction,...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 6: The Genius of the Harlem Renaissance Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Introduce your seventh graders to the Harlem Renaissance with a unit that explores this dynamic period's music, literature, and ideas. The 160-page guide includes a unit calendar, an introduction to the unit, 10 richly detailed lessons...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 5: Realms of Gold - Vol. 2 Poetry and Short Stories Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Seventh graders have a golden opportunity to learn how to read poems and short stories with a unit that introduces them to the techniques writers use to craft their works. They examine poems by William Carlos Williams and Edgar Allen Poe...