National Endowment for the Humanities
A Wrinkle in Time: The Board Game
Tackle some big questions about A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle with a board game project. As learners brainstorm for and complete their board games, they consider what helps and hinders Meg on her journey and why she succeeds in...
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide - The Prince and the Pauper
Offering several reading comprehension activities, such as a character map and a plot flow chart, this book report form will help your class through Mark Twain's Prince and the Pauper. The activities in the lesson lend well to class...
Learn NC
A Christmas Carol Chronology
Which comes first? The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, or Future? What clues can readers use to establish the chronology of A Christmas Carol? The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, Marley, and Tiny Tim provides the text for an activity that...
Curated OER
Analyzing Story Elements
Lesson ideas to teach students how to analyze story elements through visual representation.
Curated OER
A New Point of View
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide: To Kill a Mockingbird
Teaching tools designed to support student-centered literature study. Geared toward homeschoolers reading Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird, I would use these in my classroom. The materials are applicable to any text: graphic...
Curated OER
Analyzing Literary Devices
Eighth graders identify figurative language and poetry in this literary analysis lesson. Using Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll and a YouTube video for "The Walrus and the Carpenter," young readers complete a literary device...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: List-Group-Label
What words would you use to describe Mr. Darcy? What about Elizabeth? Use vivid vocabulary to create lists of adjectives to describe the characters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. After kids come up with their own lists of words,...
Curated OER
What Makes a Novel a Novel?
As your authors prepare to write a hypothetical novel, they need all the inspiration they can find! Using a book they have already read (and enjoyed), learners complete a literary analysis by filling in eight short-answer questions....
Curated OER
Literary Skills
Develop their literary skills. In this literature lesson, students collaborate to read portions of books and examine settings, plots, main ideas, and conclusions.
Curated OER
William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': Conflict Resolution and Happy Endings
Students analyze the characters and conflicts in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream. In this conflict resolution lesson, students read the play and track the character actions with the specific plots. Students then predict endings...
Curriculum Corner
8th Grade ELA "I Can" Statement Posters
Eighth grades can master the ELA Common Core standards! Show your learners the connection between classroom activities and assignments and the standards with this set of "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been rewritten as an...
Hampton-Brown
From "First Crossing"
Young scholars look closely at four tales taken from the collection of short stories, First Crossing edited by Donald R. Galloby. While examining the life of four teenagers and the lives they lead as U.S. immigrants, your enthusiastic...
Ohio Department of Education
A Glossary of Literary Terms
If you're tired of defining allusion, onomatopoeia, and satire for your language arts students, hand out a complete list of literary devices to keep the terms straight. Each term includes a definition that is easy to understand and...
Novelinks
The Hobbit: Concept/Vocabulary Analysis
Considering using Tolkien's The Hobbit for book circles or whole-class reading? Check out this packet that provides an overview of the novel, some interesting background materials, and links to additional resources.
Curated OER
Reading and Activity Suggestions for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Students learn about characterization techniques in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In this Adventures of Tom Sawyerlesson, students write a description of one character through the eyes of another character and identify scenes that give...
Curated OER
Nibble, Nibble, Little Mouse
Learners complete activities to analyze points of view in different texts. For this point of view lesson, students read Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Circle and discuss the points of view. Learners choose a character from the story and...
Curated OER
A New Look at Romeo and Juliet
Students explore life and language development in the Elizabethan Age. In this English lesson students complete web-quests and other activities surrounding Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Curated OER
Using Inspiration Software to Explore Characters In Stories
Learners identify characters, their qualities, and examples of their qualities and use Inspiration to organize them in a clear and understandable format. After a lecture/demo, students use the program on the next story by themselves.
Curated OER
Into the Wild: Creating Characters
Pupils analyze well-known fairy tale characters to learn about characterization. After choosing two fairy tale characters and determining what the characters most want and most fear, students switch characters and stories. They create...
Curated OER
Building Two Literature Pyramids
Middle schoolers create literature pyramids. They read selections of various societies, eras, and ideas. They complete two pyramid sheets for the same literary element including either plot, character, setting, or theme. They color-code...
Curated OER
The Outsiders: Chapters 1-2 Questions
In this fill-in-the-blank worksheet, middle schoolers identify specific details of the first two chapters of The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. Graphic organizers are provided for two of the questions in order to help the student organize...
Freeology
Daily Reading Log
Sometimes the hardest part of required reading for kids is keeping track of it. With a simple form, all they need to do is fill out each box after they have finished their reading, then turn it in at the end of the week.
Curated OER
Thank you Ma'm Langston Hughes-Devoloping the concept of Theme
Students complete various activities linked to several stories and movies, to reinforce the concept of theme in a story.