Houston Teachers Institute
Alice in Wonderland: Nonsense and Logic in Literature
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is known for its fantastical imagery and nonsense verse. This unit plan offers a basic exploration into nonsense verse through poetry and teacher read-alouds. It incorporates activities involving...
National Park Service
Petrified Forest National Park
Poetry Soup, a reading and writing unit constructed by the Petrified Forest National Park, will have scholars hungry to learn about nature. The cross-content unit contains topics related to history, science, and language arts. Content...
Curated OER
The Lightning Thief: Vocabulary Strategy
Take an in-depth look into the vocabulary from the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. With a list of words to choose from, scholars discover the definition, origin, stories associated with...
Curated OER
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Vocab Squares
Creatively develop and reinforce new vocabulary from the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, using these vocabulary squares. Each square is divided into four quadrants asking scholars to input the word, a...
K12 Reader
Working with Figurative Language
Are your middle schoolers able to identify the literary devices featured on this worksheet? They must demonstrate their understanding of figurative language by matching the terms with their definitions and label the devices...
Novelinks
The Devil’s Arithmetic: Concept Analysis
A helpful guide to Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic for your literature unit. Use the sections on point-of-view, dramatic irony, and background knowledge, among others, to frame your lessons in an engaging and educational way.
Novelinks
Count of Monte Cristo: Concept/Vocabulary Analysis
Explore the complex themes of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo with a concept and vocabulary analysis lesson plan. Lead your class in a discussion about the underlying social and historical issues surrounding the novel, as...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: Knowledge Rating Scale
How well do your kids know key terms from Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori? Have them review a list of words that they will encounter in the novel, and mark which words they know well, which words they've seen before, and which...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: List-Group-Label Strategy
Help your learners navigate the vocabulary of Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori with a lesson on categorizing words. After coming up with a list of things that grow from the earth, learners decide which categories each words belong in.
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: Before, During, After Lesson Plan
Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori presents a vivid picture of Japanese culture and history. As kids read through the third chapter, they find novel-specific vocabulary to enhance their understanding and use context clues to...
Curated OER
"The Great Figure": Theme of Technology and Modernization
Learners respond to four short answer and essay questions based on themes in the poem "The Great Figure" by William Carlos Williams. The poem itself is not included, but the questions could lead to some very interesting class...
Curated OER
"The Great Figure": Theme of Time
Click on and read the poem "The Great Figure" by William Carlos Williams, and then answer the four short answer and essay questions based on themes therein. A link to the summary and analysis questions is also included.
Curated OER
Create a Video Poem
Collaborate to create a visual version of a poem using video. Before class, choose a poem to pick apart. Read it aloud and then analyze it in detail as a class. Assign a line or short section to each student to expand upon using a...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Avalanche, Aztek, or Bravada? A Connotation Minilesson
Interesting lesson which stresses the importance of connotation in writing by examining car names. Students participate in an interactive lesson in which they learn the value of connotation and begin to master the technique.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Common Words With Multiple Meanings
This lesson explains common words with multiple meanings: some similar and some very different meanings and the impact of parts of speech on meaning. It discusses six common words with their multiple meanings and different parts of...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Diction
This lesson uses text and an accompanying audio to discuss diction including its definition, what it includes, and an explanation and an example of how word choice, word order, and phrasing can change the tone of writing.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Extended Metaphor
This slideshow focuses on the extended metaphor including defining it, stating its purpose, showing the difference between a metaphor and an extended metaphor, and providing a literary example -- Shakespeare's "As You Like It"-- with...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Grammar Basics: Metaphors
This tutorial focuses on metaphors using a PowerPoint presentation which offers definitions, examples, and various types of metaphors, as well as, similes for comparison. It provides two YouTube videos: the first includes popular songs...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Onomatopoeia
This slideshow lesson focuses on the literary device onomatopoeia; it defines it and explains its purpose. It provides a list of word examples and examples used in sentences.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Analogy
This slideshow focuses on analogy including defining it, discussing its purpose, and providing two literary examples. W.11-12.2d Lang/Fig/Voc
Other
Streeter: Semiotics and Advertising
A slide show that offers a good study of connotation and how it refers to semiotics. Symbols are not the things they represent. L.11-12.5b Nuance
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Exploring the Power of Allusion
Something seems familiar here: Students learn how allusion invites more into a text. Using "The House On Mango Street" students will learn about allusion by paralleling events from both the Bible and from Greek mythology.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Literary Terminology: Practice 5 (English I Reading)
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] To be "in the know" in literature, you need to know the terminology used to describe, interpret, and analyze poetry, drama, and fiction. As you proceed through the sections...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Understanding and Analysis of Literary Text: Allusion
A learning module that teaches students about allusion as a literary device in five mini-lessons: Introduction, Allusion Defined, Allusion in Speeches, Allusion in Writing, Test Your Understanding.