Middle school is a time of many changes and developments. Have your class reflect on their personalities during this tumultuous time with a portfolio full of autobiographical writing prompts. Kids write about the way they feel now, their...

Readers of Solomon Northup's brutally frank slave narrative Twelve Years a Slave examine passages that support the argument that slavery "undermined and corrupted" the institution of marriage. Background information is provided by a...

Encourage your middle and high schoolers to share their memories of a recent event. After reading a New York Times article, they discuss Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night. They write their own memoir about a significant event that affected...

Love this activity! This activity takes writing a memoir to the next level. Pupils listen to a story from The New York Times, bring in a picture which is meaningful to them, and use it to create a project about their life. Within the...

For the end-of-unit assessment, scholars engage in small group Socratic seminars to connect the lyrics of two songs to texts they read and studied. They discuss how the songs "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around" and "Lift Every Voice...

Five hundred school children first performed the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in 1900 to celebrate President Lincoln's birthday. Scholars listen to the historic song and discuss the lyrics with partners. They continue preparing notes...

Song lyrics can help people better understand literary texts. Scholars continue listening to "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around" and discuss the connections between the song's lyrics and Carlotta Walls LaNier's memoir, A Mighty Long...

The longest journey begins with a single step. Scholars analyze the details of Carlotta Walls LaNier's journey through the desegregation of schools in the United States. They continue reading the author's memoir, A Mighty Long Way, and...

The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case connected to the Jim Crow laws. Scholars explore the topic by engaging in the World Café protocol to analyze specific Jim Crow laws. They discuss how the laws relate to Plessy v. Ferguson as well...

Scholars begin building background knowledge about Plessy v. Ferguson by watching a video about the landmark Supreme Court decision. They engage in discussions to analyze the importance of the case and to deepen their understanding of...

How do incidents in A Mighty Long Way provoke the author, Carlotta Walls LaNier, to make certain decisions that shape her story? Scholars engage in a close reading of the memoir, analyzing events in US history and in Carlotta's personal...

What was life like in the American South following the Civil War? Scholars watch a video that discusses the aftermath of the Civil War and the events during the Reconstruction Period. Additionally, they continue reading Carlotta Walls...

Are dogs truly a man's best friend? Pupils read a newspaper column by John Grogan about the death of his dog, Marley. Next, they answer text-dependent questions and complete graphic organizers to examine Grogan's feelings about his dog....

To conclude a study of the French Revolution, young historians adopt the voice of critics of Napoleon Bonaparte and lay charges against him. They then craft a memoir in Napoleon's voice that details his motives and what he sees as his...

The memoir A Long Way Gone tells the story of a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. A crossword puzzle helps reinforce key ideas found in the memoir. The puzzle addresses characters, key events, and other details from the...

Lois Lowry's The Giver is one of the most engaging and thought-provoking works of literature in the middle school curriculum. Round out your novel unit with a collection of reading activities, comprehension questions, memoir and journal...

Considering using James McBride's autobiography/memoir The Color of Water with your class? Check out this seven-page informational packet that includes background information on McBride, the organization pattern of the book, and issues...

It's a book list for every possible purpose! The resource starts out with some reading comprehension support materials and worksheets, and then moves into pages and pages of categorized lists of books and stories that you can use to...

"I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth." Just who is this "I"? In the third of ten-lesson plan unit that uses The Things They Carried as the anchor text, class members...

Start kids thinking about point of view and autobiographies by telling them a short story about your morning (first person), and then asking a volunteer to re-tell the story to you (second person). There are tips to help you tie this...