Curated OER
During Reading Strategy: Literary Newspaper
Add some writing to your class's reading of Cold Sassy Tree! With this plan, readers assume the role of journalist and create a segment of a paper with their peers. Suggested segments are included, and a worksheet dividing the text into...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 8: Nonfiction Close Reading
As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...
Literacy Design Collaborative
To Be or Not to Be: The Evolution of Hamlet’s Personality
How does Hamlet's state of mind change over the course of Shakespeare's most famous revenge tragedy? After a close reading of Hamlet's soliloquies in Act III, scene 1 and Act IV, scene iv, class members engage in a Paideia/Socratic...
Scholastic
Step-by-Step Strategies for Teaching Expository Writing
A carefully crafted, logically organized, 128-page packet is an excellent addition to your unit on expository writing.
Curated OER
3R Activity (Reading-Relating-Responding)
Students read for detail. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read a passage and share their thoughts with a small group. Students reflect upon the passage and develop an oral summary of the text.
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 5: Motivation - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs provides the lens class members use to analyze and evaluate the motivations of the characters in Sylvia Plath's "Initiation" and scenes from Mean Girls. Readers then select a character from A Separate...
Curated OER
Chain Connection and Un-Connection Activity
Learners practice remaining on topic during a conversation using printouts of chains as visual models for their work. Chains are placed in sequence while students stay on a shared topic of conversation, and a broken chain is used as a...
Curated OER
Vowel Lessons: To Help Improve Spelling
There are a few things every good speller knows: spelling rules, vowel sounds, and word endings. Help your learner with dyslexia become a more efficient speller with a few tips from a dyslexia expert. Included in the lesson is a video,...
Curated OER
Revisiting Writing through Revision
Strategies to teach and motivate your students to revise their writing.
Curated OER
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Students complete activities for the autobiography of Maya Angelou. In this autobiography lesson, students write a journal entry about their life and discuss the morphology of the word autobiography. Students use active reading...
Curated OER
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Preface and Chapter 1
Learners complete chapter analysis activities for Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.In this chapter analysis lesson, students read the preface and chapter 1 and complete vocabulary activities, journal activities, and use the...
Reed Novel Studies
Hatchet: Novel Study
Thanks to Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, teen readers now know it's possible to survive in the wilderness. A study guide for the novel discusses common topics and vocabulary words found within the text. Additionally, readers get the chance to...
Albert Shanker Institute
Dream Under Development
As part of their study of the 1963 March on Washington, class members do a side-by-side comparison of the original text of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech" with a transcript of the speech he delivered. The take away from the...
Curated OER
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Students complete QAR activities for Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In this literary analysis activity, students read chapters 2 and 3 and complete reading check questions. Students discuss chapter highlights and the QAR...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a great story to share with your class, and this lesson plan focuses on just that story! The eighth in a fourteen-lesson plan series on short stories, the plan has learners study some vocabulary, read...
Curated OER
St. Patrick's Day: James Joyce
Whether it's St. Patrick's Day or not, this lesson can be a great way to study James Joyce and how his heritage has influenced his writing. The lesson is meant to be used with the Gale database, specifically the Student Resource Center...
Curated OER
The Final Word
Although this lesson plan is based on “Final Word,” Craig Wilson’s USA Today column, the strategies could be adapted to any local columnist. After reading three articles independently, groups share observations about content and style...
Brigham Young University
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Fishbowl Discussion
After reading through Act II of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, take some time to discuss the references to death in the play. For this fishbowl discussion, learners prepare questions, practice answering individually and with...
Curated OER
Showdown in the New Wild West
What is the root of the conflict between ranchers and environmentalists? Middle schoolers write their impressions of what an environmentalist is and does. They read the New York Times article "In New Wild West, It's Cowboys vs. Radical...
Curated OER
Creatively Creating Expository Essays
Students, after reading Fahrenheit 451, brainstorm inventions that could have been in the novel. They present their invention to the class and writing an expository essay about their creation.
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...
Curated OER
No Regrets: a Poetry Analysis
Students read a poem and use the TPCASTT strategy for analysis. In this poetry analysis lesson, students journal about their future goals and read John Updike's "Ex-Basketball Player." Students discuss the purpose of the poem and...
Curated OER
Fighting the War in Your Head
Students analyze the experiences of a fictional soldier in a war and create a mental health profile for that individual. They emulate psychiatrists and propose treatment strategies for their particular soldier's post-traumatic stress...
Curated OER
"Body Decorating and the Risks"
Students read and outline a piece of expository writing to study the risks associated with tattoos and body piercing. They brainstorm low risk, healthful ways of expressing their identity as teens.