Curated OER
Introduction to Writing Traits and Writing Strategies
Intended for an audience of teachers, this presentation lays out the six traits of writing, the writing process, and the teaching process for traits and strategies. If you are trying to understand the writing process more fully, you...
The New York Times
Making Do: Learning and Growing Through Adversity
What is it that makes people keep going when they face challenges in life? Ask your class to consider this question in relation to their own experiences and as they read material from The New York Times. Using personal experiences and...
Ohio Literacy Resource Center
Compare & Contrast Essay
Comparing two texts can build a greater understanding of the texts and themes of the works. Take some time to follow the steps here to guide your pupils through the process of composing compare-and-contrast essays.
Curated OER
Poverty and Natural Disasters: Exploring the Connections
Students explore the connections between natural disasters and poverty. In this economic lesson plan students examine worksheets and activities for each level.
Curated OER
Effective Writing Prompts: Getting Beyond the Dark and Stormy Night
Help struggling writers with strategies to reach different learning styles and reduce anxiety.
Scholastic
Narrative Writing
If you're looking to start a unit based around narrative writing, make sure to consider this resource while you're planning. This book covers five topics: writing personal narratives, writing narratives about others, writing narratives...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 11: The Historical/Biographical Approach to Literature
How affected is Thinks Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe's personal biography? Using a four corners strategy, and evidence from their readings, class members debate the degree of biographical influence in Achebe's novel.
Curated OER
Conducting a Rhetorical Analysis
What is the author trying to achieve? What strategies does he/she use to meet this goal? How affective are these strategies? These three questions, the heart of rhetorical analysis, are examined in a presentation that also details the...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 3: Igbo Culture
What cultural concepts must readers understand in order to connect to Things Fall Apart? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe’s novel, class members research Nigeria and the Igbo culture to create a collaborative, web-based, annotated...
Curated OER
The "Ad" Survey-What Makes a Print Ad Convincing?
Students develop opinions from a variety of materials, recognize and analyze bias, propaganda and stereotypes, and evaluate effectiveness of print advertisements.
Curated OER
Imagine That! Analyzing Imagery
Poems by O. Henry, Marion Dane Bauer, Monty Roberts, and Langston Hughes provide the text for a study of symbolism, hyperbole, and imagery. Employing the “think-pair-share” strategy learners generate definitions of these terms and locate...
Virginia Department of Education
Media Literacy and Persuasive Writing
Investigate ways to persuade by introducing learners to the three rhetorical appeals (Pathos, Logos, Ethos). Pupils receive a worksheet for their definition development of the terms and coinciding vocabulary words. The activity continues...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to Literacy Criticism
As learners continue to examine a short story of their choice, they take some time to look at analysis completed by others on the same story. In the eleventh lesson in a series of fourteen, pupils explore various sites for literary...
Curated OER
Teaching Imagery
Students review the terms idyll and imagery. They read "A Winter Idyll" from "Snowbound" as a class. They break into groups of 5 and respond/react to their lines to make connections to the text.
Northern Lights Special Education Cooperative
Lessons from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens
As part of a study of Sean Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens learners write autobiographical e-mails, hold discussions, create a collage, and compose a personal mission statement. Pupils then have a chance to...
Curated OER
Introducing Literature Circle Roles to Students
Students read a narrative selection and select a literature circle role. In this reading comprehension lesson, students work in groups to identify vocabulary, make text connections, or other reading comprehension strategies. Students...
Curated OER
Fly, Fly Away
High schoolers use materials from their own environment to design a kite. In this kite design activity, students research the history of kites and obtain a formal mathematical definition of a kite. High schoolers sketch kite designs...
Curated OER
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Preface and Chapter 1
Students complete chapter analysis activities for Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.In this chapter analysis lesson plan, students read the preface and chapter 1 and complete vocabulary activities, journal activities, and...
Curated OER
Total English Upper Intermediate: Phrasal Verb Fun
For this phrasal verbs worksheet, students unscramble the 10 groups of words to form 10 complete sentences. Students then discuss their answers to 5 questions with a partner and then make sentences using the 10 phrasal verbs listed.
Curated OER
Marine Poetry
Young scholars identify characteristics of good poetry and compose their own. In this marine poetry lesson, students are introduced to several different types of poetry with a marine theme. After discussing the elements that make up a...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Persuasion
Students examine the characteristics of persuasive writing. They identify arguments, supporting details, and discuss how to reorganize and present information in more effective ways. Students compose their own essays and discuss their...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 9: Debating Imperialism
To gain an understanding of Imperialism, class members read Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The White Man's Burden" and Mark Twain's essay, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness." Groups compare these perceptions of non-white cultures with the...
Curated OER
Aztec Myths: Writing Editorials
Middle schoolers write an editorial giving an opinion of whether or not Quetzalcoatl has arrived and if so, what the Aztecs should do. They discuss whether or not they believe Quetzalcoatl is a god or a man, and use an Editorial...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...