Engaging narratives blend the forms of expository writing with the tropes of creative writing. Introduce class members to narrative writing techniques with a 28-lesson unit that not only uses The Autobiography of Malcolm X as a model of...

Delve into the depths of madness with a literary analysis unit focused on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and Emily Dickinson's "I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain." It features thought-provoking discussion questions, evidence-based...

When is a theme not a theme? The resources in this collection explain the difference between subject, motif, and theme, model how to determine the theme(s) in literature and art, and offer opportunities to practice identifying the themes...

How does Gabriel Garcia Marquez make the magical elements in his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude seem real? That is the essential question for readers of his acclaimed novel to tackle in a three-lesson unit module. Scholars begin by...

Who says a play must be realistic? Certainly not Tennessee Williams, who chose to use expressionistic techniques to tell his tale of Tom, Amanda, and Laura Wingfield. A three-lesson unit module has readers examine how Williams uses these...

A two-part lesson examines the works and biographies of Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce. Part One focuses on the authors’ narrators and asks readers to consider whether the narrators of “A Tell-Tale Heart” and “Occurrence at Owl Creek...

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is the anchor text for a three-lesson unit module. The first instructional activity models for readers how authors use direct and indirect characterization to establish their characters. Other lessons...

Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol offers students a chance to practice their close reading skills. Using the provided worksheets, readers examine context clues to determine the meanings of words, direct and indirect characterization...

Ten resources make up the AP Poetry Unit Module. The first resource, designed for instructors, provides an overview of and links to all materials required for a four-week poetry unit. Next, a 27-slide presentation introduces scholars to...

Packed with activities, presentations, projects, and assessments, first-time instructors and seasoned veterans will find much to like in this unit based on William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies. An 18-slide presentation includes...

Luke Skywalker meets Hamlet in a 10-lesson plan unit based on Ian Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope (WSSW). Using Star Wars® as source material, Doescher has transformed Lucas's film into a Shakespearian...

Hemingway: BH, AH. Before Hemingway and after Hemingway. A collection of PBS lessons, authored by Julia E. Torres, uses clips from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s documentary to EXPLORE the influence events in Hemingway’s life had on his...

Forsooth! Here’s a collection that has everything you ever wanted to know about the theater and drama—everyone from Aristotle to Chikamatsu, from Moliere to Shakespeare to Williams. From Banraku to Zaju, every type from comedy to...

How does an author’s culture influence their perspective and point of view? Moreover, how does an author’s purpose affect their point of view? These are the questions middle schoolers investigate in a three-unit module that uses works by...

In the second unit in the 3A module, scholars examine how an author’s purpose affects point of view. They compare excerpts from “Comprehending the Calamity,” Emma Burke’s informational text about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, to...

The first unit in this three-module set introduces sixth-graders to a study of how authors’ culture influences and is evident in their writing. Laurence Yep’s novel, Dragonwings, and his biography The Lost Garden serve as the core texts....

In this three-unit module, juniors examine literary and nonfiction text, observing how authors develop their central ideas. In Units 1 and 2, scholars practice close reading, annotating text, and evidence-based discussions and writing....

The first unit in Module 1 uses The Autobiography of Malcolm X as the core text. Scholars practice close reading, evidence-based writing and discussion, critical analysis of narrative texts, and narrative writing techniques. Marmon...

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the anchor text in a three-unit module that has eighth graders examine how Shakespeare develops the theme of control. Young scholars look at why and how the characters seek control and the results of...

In the three units in Grade 8, ELA Module 2A, eighth-graders continue their study of the theme of taking a stand. In Unit 1, scholars develop their close reading skills as they examine speeches of real people taking a stand. They...

Eighth-graders develop their ability to read and understand a complex text as they consider the plight of refugees. The first unit uses Thanhha Lai’s novel, Inside Out & Back Again, as well as informational text, to build background...

What makes stories powerful? That’s the question seventh-graders consider in a three-unit, eight-week module. Scholars analyze how Frederick Douglas, in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, uses figurative language and word...

The three units in Module 2A present seventh-graders with literary and informational texts—Katherine Paterson’s novel Lyddie and a speech by Cesar Chavez—that examine historical and present-day working conditions. Pupils learn how to...

An eight-week module has seventh-graders investigate the impact of the Second Sudanese Civil War on the peoples of Southern Sudan. Using Linda Sue Park’s novel, A Long Walk to Water, and informational texts, young historians learn how to...