A 10-page guide to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men includes a brief plot summary, information about preparing readers for the language in the novel, pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading questions, essay prompts, and project...

This first in a series of four resources is designed for instructors to use Octavia E. Butler's Kindred in their classes. The packet includes an overview of the unit, a day-to-day calendar, links to background articles, and reading...

Many American writers in the late nineteenth century wanted their writing to reflect real life. Individuals watch and discuss a video, read and explore author biographies, write a journal entry and a poem, and complete a multimedia...

Real or fantasy? Dogzilla, the Giant of Barletta, the Garden of Abdul Gassazi. To enrich their understanding of incredible stories, teams create a mouse newspaper and report on the invasion of Dogzilla, craft folktales, and draft a story...

Considering the evolution of democracy and civilization to this day, is there any reason to believe the Persians should have defeated the Greeks in the Persian War? Why could the legacy of Ancient Greece be considered "profoundly...

The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...

Create meaningful illustrations to accompany stories in a web-based art and literacy lesson plan focused on "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The class takes a virtual art safari with the Museum of Modern Art and then discusses how...

You and your high school class can examine the idea of artistic movements with this lesson. Explore various websites, compare/contrast paintings, after which the assignments are to complete a chart, and write an essay.

Imagine how the world would be different if all diplomats' children were required to serve in the military. Or if all high school graduates were required to do two years of community service before post-secondary education. A 30-page...

To conclude a study of One Hundred Years of Solitude, class members analyze Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Nobel Prize in Literature acceptance speech. After a whole-class discussion of the main ideas in the speech, individuals draft a...

A lesson on magical realism has young historians research how Garcia Marquez weaves historical events and his own experiences into One Hundred Years of Solitude. Using historical records and information found in a biography of Garcia...

How does Gabriel Garcia Marquez make the magical elements of his novel appear so real? That's the challenge facing readers of One Hundred Years of Solitude. Scholars examine the tone and descriptive details Garcia Marquez uses to make...

A 16-slide PowerPoint presentation introduces readers to the themes, motifs, and literary devices used by Octavia E. Butler in her time-travel, first person slave narrative.

Pop art food sculptures may look good enough to eat, but don't bite into them! Paying close attention to detail, ninth-graders use modeling clay to sculpt then paint a realistic item of food, reflecting the American popular culture of...

Using an informative video about French theater and drama, scholars learn about the idea of realism in the theater before taking a look at naturalism. Viewers hear about writing styles from Victor Hugo in his works Cromwell and Hernani,...

Four stories by Kate Chopin offer high schoolers an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the ways authors use various literary elements and movements to develop their themes and social commentaries. 

Pupils read a short biography of Walt Whitman and a portion of Whitman's epic poem "Song of Myself." Readers then respond to a series of comprehension questions.

More than 15 of Jane Austen's novels have been adapted into films. While viewers enjoy the lush sets, period costumes, and the depictions of eighteenth-century British gentry, what is often lost in these adaptations is Austen's satire. A...

Politics and theater go hand-in-hand. The 39th video in the Crash Course Theater and Drama series introduces plays from the futurist and constructivist movements, including works from an Italian fascist. A summary of "The Storming of the...

Two European playwrights of the nineteenth century shared a love of theater—but also happened to be enemies. Viewers learn of the differences between Henrik Isben of Norway and August Strindberg of Sweden and how their rivalry changed...

Just how real is realism? It seems that the Theater Duke, as the video discusses, felt every realistic detail mattered. Scholars learn about the use of realism in plays and the importance of realistic details in props, costumes, and more.