Reed Novel Studies
Surviving the Applewhites: Novel Study
The Bradys, the Flintstones, and the Simpsons are some of pop culture's most memorable families. So how do the Applewhites stack up? Using a novel study for Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, scholars answer text-based...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: Unsent Letter
What would the characters of Pride and Prejudice say to each other in a letter? Draft unsent correspondence between characters from Jane Austen's novel. A great way to explore characterization and plot structure in a creative lesson plan.
Curated OER
Inference Lesson Plan
Students practice assessing graphics to infer and identify an author's implicit and explicit meaning in a piece of text. They evaluate the effectiveness of information found in maps, charts, tables, graphs, diagrams, cutaways and through...
For the Teachers
Story Strips Sequencing
What happens next? Work on story sequence with a lesson plan that prompts kids to put a story back in order. Additionally, they discuss what would happen if one event was missing from the sequence.
EngageNY
Analyzing: Key Scenes in Pygmalion
Class members work on Pygmalion section seven text-dependent questions. They then act out part of the play in a reader's theater and finish the instructional activity by revisiting their Eliza Character Trackers, adding any new...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 6
How can a screenplay create meaning and drama in ways that other forms of writing cannot? That is the question class members must answer as they compare the cantina scene of the screenplay for George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope with...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 7: Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex Teacher Guide
Frequently banned, often challenged, a mainstay of middle school curriculum, Tales from the Secret Annex, is the featured text in the seventh unit in the Teacher Guide Core Knowledge Program. The 134-page guide includes an introduction,...
Curated OER
Tuck Everlasting Unit
Natalie Babbitt's award winning fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, is the anchor text in a unit plan that focuses on identifying similes, metaphors, imagery, and personification in the text and analyzing how these elements effect the development...
Novelinks
Count of Monte Cristo: Concept/Vocabulary Analysis
Explore the complex themes of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo with a concept and vocabulary analysis lesson plan. Lead your class in a discussion about the underlying social and historical issues surrounding the novel, as well...
Curated OER
Tuck Everlasting: UDL Team Lesson Plan
Students participate in a differentiated lesson plan about Tuck Everlasting. In this Tuck Everlasting lesson plan, students work on comprehension strategies that are leveled for their reading ability. They focus on the ability to tell...
Curated OER
Storyboard for Persuasive Text
Students demonstrate their knowledge of the main elements of a story by creating a storyboard. For this persuasive writing lesson students create storyboards that are intended to persuade a director to make a movie out of the short...
Curated OER
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Students compare and contrast characters from various texts and compile the collected data into several graphic organizers.
Curated OER
A Boxful of Character
I can't wait to try this activity with my class. It's versatile and could be modified to fit any character analysis instructional activity. To analyze characters thoroughly, learners create life boxes. Each box will pertain to a...
Brigham Young University
Socratic Seminar for Cold Sassy Tree
Tired of giving the same old multiple-choice tests, and have the urge for a new assessment? Then bring the precision of a Socratic seminar into your classroom. Even if you did not read Cold Sassy Tree the organization and explanation on...
Curated OER
Convergence with The Cay: Exploring Geographic Concepts Wrapped in a Story
Here's an awesome unit that uses The Cay as the anchor text. The 16-page packet is loaded with teaching ideas, activities, and suggested adjustments.
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...
Curated OER
Tunes for Bears to Dance to: Graphic Organizer Strategy
"What are Henry's options?" "What do you think Henry will do?" To better understand the central conflict for the main character in Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, class members engage in a compare-and-contrast activity that...
Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere
Students devise a system for watering classroom plants during school year and summer breaks. In this watering system lesson, students work in teams to investigate water needs of plants and develop systems that will keep the plants...
Curated OER
Men of Steel
Students explore early 20th century steel making. In this U.S. history steel making lesson plan, students view and describe a postcard and a picture depicting exaggerated aspects of the steel industry. Students listen to a poem about...
Curated OER
Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades
Bring the beauty of "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost to middle school language arts. After learners read a copy of the poem, they follow an instructional sequence that focuses on sound, figurative language, and theme.
Curated OER
The Little Prince: Venn Diagram Exercise
Compare and contrast your learners' traits to the characters in The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Éxupery. After they complete a Venn diagram comparing themselves to a peer, kids create a three-part Venn diagram to compare themselves...
Curated OER
Sleuthing A Writer's Skills
Students read The Train Ride Home by Robin Solomon. For this literature response lesson, students will inspect the writing of Solomon to determine how she established a certain tone through her word choice and paragraph structure....
Curated OER
What Sharing Really Means
Learners examine the meaning of generosity and how sharing can be a cultural trait. In this cultural trait lesson, students read a text about the culture of generosity in Africa. Learners complete a discussion activity and journal activity.
Aspen Institute
The Voice That Challenged a Nation
Included here are step-by-step instructions for conducting a close reading of The Voice That Challenged a Nation by Russell Freedman. After an individual and class reading, class members read carefully through the text excerpt,...