PBS
Character Study: Scout Finch
Scout Finch, the rough-and-tumble protagonist of Harper Lee's iconic To Kill a Mockingbird, learns quite a bit about how the world works as she observes her father's defense of Tom Robinson. Learn more about Scout and her distinctive...
PBS
The Continuing Fight for Tom Robinson and To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960, but its messages remain just as true today as they were in Harper Lee's novel. Learners watch a video that details the story of Anthony Ray Hinton, who was sent to prison for a crime he...
PBS
Family and Identity through To Kill a Mockingbird
How does the Finch family structure set it apart from their community, even before Atticus begins defending Tom Robinson? Watch a video that discusses how Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird establishes a distinctly American world...
PBS
Chosen Family and The Outsiders
Can you choose your family after all? The greasers in S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders are as close as family, even though only Pony Boy and his brothers are related. A short video features commentary by hip-hop artist Danny Boy O'Connor...
PBS
S. E. Hinton, Danny Boy O'Connor, and The Outsiders
Could your 16-year-old students write a novel? S.E. Hinton did! An engaging video reviews the setting and themes of Hinton's breakout novel The Outsiders through the perspective of hip-hop artist Danny Boy O'Connor, as well as the author...
PBS
The Call of the Wild
Jack London's books feature male characters, but that doesn't mean they're just for boys! Chelsea Clinton and Shanna Peeples discuss the underlying messages of love and sacrifice in The Call of the Wild, as well as the conflict of man...
TED-Ed
Why Should You Read "Hamlet"?
Romeo may appeal to more romantic students, but the broodier teenagers in your class are bound to relate to the melancholic, inward-facing Hamlet. Show an enthralling video that summarizes plot elements, characterization, and the...
British Council
Hamlet 1: His Father's Ghost
The lessons in Shakespeare's Hamlet transcend language and culture. An actor describes his view of the play in a short video accompanied by tasks, part of the Shakespeare English exercises series. While listening to the video,...
Flocabulary
The Importance of Setting in a Story
Where does it happen? When did it happen? These are two questions that play a key role in understanding the setting of a story. The fourth and final video in a Language Arts playlist uses a song to explain how the setting connects to...
The School of Life
Jane Austen
Jane Austen wrote about strong women, social boundaries, and relationship dynamics in the early 19th century to educate her readers about the state of humanity. Learn more about the themes woven throughout her works,...
TED-Ed
What Makes a Poem … a Poem?
What makes a poem a poem? The narrator of a short video wades into the debate with the contention that the three characteristics that poems share are musical qualities, condensed language, and intense feelings.
Crash Course
Stoichiometry: Chemistry for Massive Creatures
Moles exist in chemistry? These are not animals that live underground and dig through your gardens — they are quantities of elements. Learn about moles and how they help chemists determine amounts of substances (from atomic mass to grams).
TED-Ed
An Anti-Hero of Ones Own
The antihero, the flawed protagonist of so much of contemporary literature such as Fahrenheit 451, is the subject of a short video that traces the fall from grace of the divine heroes of classical literature to the flawed, far more human...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Character vs. Character
This tutorial uses a screencast to present a lesson on character vs. character conflict. It defines character vs. character conflict, explores its roles in literature, and provides specific examples such as "Beowulf" and "Othello." Real...
Imagine Learning Classroom
Learn Zillion: Compare One Character's Point of View With Another's
In this lesson, you will learn how a complex character is developed by contrasting that character's perception of themselves with the perception of others. [7:03]
Imagine Learning Classroom
Learn Zillion: Analyze How a Complex Character Advances the Plot
In this lesson, you will learn to analyze how a complex character advances the plot of a text by examining different interpretations of that character's narration of events. [8:00]
Imagine Learning Classroom
Learn Zillion: Analyze a Character's Interactions With Other Characters
In this lesson, you will learn how a character develops over the course of a text by analyzing his or her interactions with other characters. [7:38]
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Literary Elements and Techniques: Theme
Learn how to identify theme in a literary work in this short animated video [2:26] from WNET.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Literary Elements and Techniques: Conflict
Learn how to identify different types of conflict in literature in this animated video [2:46] from WNET.
PBS
Pbs: Retelling a Story: Strategies for Students With Cognitive Disabilities
Video, effective for engaging students with significant cognitive disabilities, demonstrates an activity for retelling a story.
PBS
Pbs: Opportunities to Engage With the Word Wall
In this self-contained high school classroom, the teacher has students identify the beginning sound in a word, then selects a student to match the beginning sound of a word to the correct letter on the word wall.
PBS
Pbs: Planning for Communication/strategies for Students With Cognitive Disabilities
In this self-contained high school classroom, the teacher encourages the student to use the communication system as well as a vocal response while learning a new word.
PBS
Pbs: Conveying a Clear Message
In this self-contained high school classroom, a teacher supports her student in being persistent in her communication attempt. They use both the student's verbal abilities and her augmentative communication system to try and convey a...
PBS
Pbs: Indicating Letters With an Eye Gaze System
The video demonstrates effective strategies for engaging students with significant cognitive disabilities in literacy instruction, in particular the eye gaze system.