K20 LEARN
More than Meets the Eye: Direct and Indirect Characterization
Willy Wonka takes center stage in a lesson about direct and indirect characterization. Scholars read a passage from the story about Wonka's Grand Entrance and watch a film clip of the same, noting examples of direct and indirect...
K20 LEARN
The History of Spoken Word Poetry: Historical and Cultural Perspectives In Literature
Spoken word poetry, more than almost any other form, reveals the historical and cultural perspective of the poet. High schoolers listen to various spoken word poems, select one to research in-depth, and then apply what they have learned...
K20 LEARN
You Think You Have Problems: Perspective in Multi-Genre Literature
Young scholars are asked to reflect on how personal experiences might influence points of view and perspectives. They read poems and biographies of the poets and then match the poem to the poet. To justify their matches, learners...
K20 LEARN
Allotment in Indian Territory: Land Openings in Indian Territory
To understand how the allotment policy embedded in the Dawes Act, passed by the U.S. government in 1887, affected the tribal sovereignty of Native Americans, young historians examine various maps and documents and Supreme Court cases...
K20 LEARN
I Theme, You Theme, We All Theme For Ice Cream: Themes In Literature
Teach readers how to distinguish between a topic and a story's theme in a short lesson that uses the children's book, Should I Share My Ice Cream, as an exemplar. After listening to the story, pairs generate a list of topics covered in...
K20 LEARN
Femme Fatales - The Landlady and Mrs. Maloney: Character Analysis Across Multiple Texts
Two stories by Roald Dahl, "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Landlady" provide readers an opportunity to compare stories by the same author. After a close reading of the stories, teams select a character from one of the tales, craft...
K20 LEARN
Between The Lines: Inferences In The Narrative Life Of Frederick Douglass Excerpt
Good literature can be much like an iceberg requiring readers to presume that the bulk of the meaning may be inferred to be found below the surface. Here's a lesson that asks scholars to conduct a close reading of passages from The...
Facing History and Ourselves
Picture This
Sometimes what you get is far more than what you first see. The third routine in the Building Community series asks participants to engage in a See, Think, Wonder strategy. Small groups analyze a projected image, infer what is happening,...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac has enjoyed popularity since its debut in 1897 due in large part to the themes it addresses. Instructors planning on using the play with their classes will find much to like in this teaching guide. The...
Overcoming Obstacles
Introducing Conflict Resolution
Conflicts come, and conflicts go, but it's how to resolve those conflicts that learners need to know. After identifying the states of conflict in a news article and engaging in a role-play activity, class members reflect on recurring...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
With all due respect to Beatrice, Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing speaks with both mirth and matter. With the help of this guide, readers will fall in love with the "skirmish of wit" between Beatrice and Benedick, the hysterical...
Trinity University
Introduction to Poetry
Introduce fourth graders to poetry with a three-week unit that has them examine the structural elements of poetry, analyze poems, and craft their own original poems rich in sensory details and other poetic devices. Young scholars study...
National Endowment for the Humanities
“Every Day We Get More Illegal” by Juan Felipe Herrera
A study of Jan Felipe Herrera's poem "Every Day We Get More Illegal" opens the door for a discussion on immigration. To begin, class members examine the photograph "Desert Survival," record their observations of the image, and then...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Societal Schisms and Divisions
The final lesson in the Crime and Punishment unit looks at the societal injustices depicted in Dostoyevsky's novel. Scholars examine the schisms between men and women, between wealth and poverty, between religion and skepticism, and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckly: The Material and Emotional Realities of Childhood in Slavery
Young historians learn how to make generalizations based on primary sources in a instructional activity that uses the autobiographies of two women born into slavery. The class watches a historical re-enactment of scenes from the lives of...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Characterization in Lord of the Flies
Readers of Lord of the Flies hunt down direct and indirect examples of how William Golding brings his characters to life. After instructors guide learners through the process of collecting evidence of these two types of characterization...
American Institute of Physics
Historical Detective: Edward Alexander Bouchet and the Washington-Du Bois Debate over African-American Education
Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part lesson first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about the type of...
K20 LEARN
Power to the People
Black berets, black leather jackets, raised black fists, chants of "Power to the People!" These are the images that many associate with the Black Panther Party. Often forgotten are the programs the party created during the Civil Rights...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Theme Analysis in A Christmas Carol
Why does Charles Dickens have Ebenezer go from scrooge to light-hearted and generous? From "Bah, humbug!" to "God Bless Us, Every One!" After rereading Dickens' preface to A Christmas Carol, learners analyze quotations from the tale that...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Analyzing a New Narrative about a Natural Disaster, Part I
Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment by analyzing a narrative text, In the Middle of the Storm. Learners determine the gist of the text, identify synonyms, make inferences, and answer text-dependent questions to demonstrate...
EngageNY
Reading Literature about Natural Disasters: Inferring about the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on People Living in New Orleans
I survived! Scholars read a firsthand account from a natural disaster survivor in the text Save Bella! They record the gist of the text in their journals and answer text-dependent questions. They then take notes to more deeply analyze...
Workforce Solutions
On the Job
Four lessons spotlight a variety of professions while boosting listening and observational skills and making inferences. Lesson one challenges pupils to group cards based on a commonality then justify the relationship they see. Lesson...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge and Making Inferences: What Is a Natural Disaster?
That's a disaster! Scholars complete a gallery walk to view images and make inferences about natural disasters. They fill out a note catcher about what they observe and infer any questions they may have. They then participate in a World...
EngageNY
Inferring Author’s Opinions and Writing Opinion Statements: Journalists’ Opinions about Segregation Post–World War II (Promises to Keep, Pages 22–25)
Let's play ball! Scholars summarize information from Promises to Keep about segregation in professional baseball after World War II. They then listen as the teacher reads pages 22-25 aloud. Pupils write the gist in their journals of the...