Novelinks
The Giver: Vocabulary Bingo!
Bingo! Combine the thrill of bingo with Lois Lowry's The Giver in a fun vocabulary lesson. Kids write selected vocabulary words from the novel onto a bingo chart, and then listen for the correct definitions in order to mark off their words.
Curated OER
Storyboard for Persuasive Text
Students demonstrate their knowledge of the main elements of a story by creating a storyboard. In this persuasive writing lesson plan students create storyboards that are intended to persuade a director to make a movie out of the short...
Penguin Books
Wonder in the Classroom
Would you rather be right, or would you rather be kind? A novel unit based on R.J. Palacio's Wonder focuses on the need to be kind to others and to accept their differences. As learners read the book, they discuss the themes of family...
Annenberg Foundation
Social Realism
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...
Annenberg Foundation
The Search for Identity
Discover how writers express identity in their writing. Learners explore how issues of identity surface in the literature of minority writers. Scholars watch a video, read and discuss biographies, conduct research, engage in creative...
Annenberg Foundation
Becoming Visible
The television and interstate highways both came of age in 1950s America. Scholars use film, text, and discussion to explore how these and other cultural icons shaped the literature of the time. Pupils also create a family history...
Annenberg Foundation
Modernist Portraits
How did literature reflect people's attitudes in post-World War I America? A lesson explores the topic using a variety of activities. Individuals watch and respond to a video; read author biographies and engage in discussion; write...
Curated OER
Farewell to Manzanar
Examine human resilience across two texts with a detailed unit. Over the course of a week, learners will conduct a close reading of excerpts from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar. The resource includes clear procedures for reading and...
Novelinks
The Dark Is Rising: Biopoem
How well do your learners really know the characters in Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising? A biopoem activity prompts readers to investigate the characters and their traits. Line by line, writers add the characters' relatives,...
Japan Society
National Identity and Literature from Okinawa
A lesson plan originally designed around the short story "Mr. Saito of Heaven Building" by Yamanokuchi Baku, this resource provides historical background, discussion questions, and brief writing assignments that help your class explore...
British Council
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream takes center stage in an interactive designed for an audience of English learners. After watching a short animated version of the play, individuals read a printed version of the script, match the...
Reed Novel Studies
Holes: Novel Study
Nothing good comes from being under a curse. A study guide introduces the novel Holes by Louis Sachar and the curse the main character faces. Readers analyze key vocabulary words from book, as well as complete a series of short writing...
City College of San Francisco
Making Inferences: Reading Between the Lines
Have you ever read part of a story and had to figure out what the rest was about? Practice making inferences with several short passages and multiple choice questions.
E Reading Worksheets
Poetic Devices Finder
Track the poetic elements in any text with a guided reading worksheet. Kids note examples of consonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition, rhyme, and rhythm when reading a poem or story, and provide a short explanation as to why...
Curated OER
Puffins
In this writing learning exercise, students write an original short story on Puffins. Students utilize vivid verbs and adjectives in their stories.
Annenberg Foundation
Migrant Struggle
The American Dream is a goal that many pursue, but is it truly attainable for all people? An in-depth lesson explores the plight of migrants in twentieth-century America. The resource includes a video and author biographies and...
Curated OER
Genre Lesson: Autobiography
Have your middle schoolers write a short story about themselves with an autobiography unit about Rosa Parks. They learn the difference between biographies and autobiographies, define the different types of autobiographies and determine...
Annenberg Foundation
Native Voices
The Navajo people build their dwellings with the doors facing the rising sun in the east to welcome wealth and fortune. Pupils learn about the traditions of the Navajo people in the first part of a 16-part unit. They explore American...
Curated OER
Because of Winn-Dixie: Author's Purpose
Read the short passage provided, and have your class answer the five questions that follow. Can they identify the author's purpose for writing this passage?
US Department of State
Reader's Theater: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The opening chapters of Mark Twain's masterpiece, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, can be daunting for some readers. A reader's theater assignment divides the second chapter of the novel into a seven-role script, allowing readers to work...
Curated OER
Core Book Guide for The Upstairs Room
Students read "The Upstairs Room" and participate in literature analysis regarding justice. In this Holocaust Literature instructional activity, students read a short story and discuss critical thinking questions. Students write journal...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Reed Novel Studies
Walk Two Moons: Novel Study
Enjoy solving riddles? Perhaps Sal, a character in Walk Two Moons, is the only one capable of understanding a mysterious message left on her doorstep. On a road trip with her grandparent, Sal tries to make sense of the bizarre world...
Curated OER
Esperanza Rising: Lesson 5 of 15 in Unit Plan
Sixth graders complete activity 5 of 15 about the book Esperanza Rising. In this Esperanza Rising activity, 6th graders build on work done in the previous activity. They complete response logs, and vocabulary posters. They investigate...