National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Crossing the River
High schoolers analyze the multiple voices in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. In this multiple voices lesson plan, students explore the use of symbolism with the narrative voices of the text. High schoolers write a detailed profile of...
Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
High schoolers work in groups to imagine, research and simulate a dinner party involving an author, a fictional character, and a significant historical figure as dinner guests. The activity uses Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and...
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Ancient Egyptian History/African Literature Activity
Students gain a conversant knowledge of some aspect of ancient African literature of the eighteenth dynasty (1572-1315 B.C.) in Egypt. They choose either to make a crossword puzzle or a word search with at least 20 key words from their...
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Of Mice and Men: Viewing Guide
In this Of Mice and Men viewing guide worksheet, students study movie terminology as they read brief descriptions and respond to 26 short answer questions as the watch the film based on Steinbeck's novel.
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Elements of Satire
Students analyze satirical articles. In this elements of satire lesson plan, students read and analyze satirical articles from newspapers. They create Venn diagrams to compare and contrast articles. Students use calculators to create...
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Evaluating a Book By Its Cover
Students practice using predictive strategies before reading a book. In this literacy lesson, students identify the theme and characters of the novel based on the cover illustrations.
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The Old Man and the Sea: Guided Imagery
What do you imagine when you think of the sea? Put on some ocean sounds, close your eyes, and listen to a guided meditation based on the imagery from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. After class members listen to the...
Prestwick House
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The main character in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, is the focus of a crossword puzzle that asks readers to identify key events and characters in Janie Starks' life.
Orlando Shakes
Arms and the Man: Study Guide
Few aspects of life make better fodder for a comedic play than politics. A study guide introduces George Bernard's Shaw comedy Arms and the Man. Along with summaries of each scene and brief biographies of the main characters, two lesson...
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My Antonia: Body Biography Book Report
Examine the characters in Willa Cather's My Antonia with a group project. Small groups illustrate their chosen character on a large piece of paper and choose quotes from the text that tell about the character. Where students choose to...
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The Old Man and the Sea: Narrative Essay
Finish a unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea with a narrative essay. Based on Santiago's harrowing adventures, the essay prompts readers to think about a time when they were faced with a challenge, overcame a disability,...
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Persuasive Letters and The Tell Tale Heart
Students write persuasive letters based on "The Tell Tale Heart." They brainstorm topic sentences, main ideas, and details. They analyze the character and determine if he is innocent or guilty. They create a map listing their reasons to...
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Identifying Genre
In this identifying genre worksheet, 9th graders read the titles and descriptions of 15 stories, identify and write the genre and subgenre from the list provided.
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Visual Poetry Lets Students 'See' The Words
Students read a favorite poem and create a Power Point slide show depicting a visual interpretation of the images in the poem.
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Crafting Poetry: A Sensory Journey
Tenth graders experiment with poetry devices to write poems. In this poetry lesson plan, 10th graders participate in learning stations. Students create a word pool and select a word from the list to create a line of poetry. Students...
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A Separate Peace: Chapter 4 Reading and Study Guide
In this A Separate Peace study guide worksheet, pupils define 3 vocabulary words, provide examples of 2 literary terms, and respond to 9 short answer questions regarding chapter 4 of the John Knowles novel.
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You Should Not Have Believed Me: Hamlet
Students discuss the sanity of Hamlet and Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Students analyze an image from the play to address the sanity of the two characters. Then students read the text to determine whether the characters' words and...
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Lord of the Flies: Chapter 4 Reading and Study Guide
In this reading and study guide worksheet, students define 8 vocabulary words, define 1 literary term, and respond to 24 short answer questions pertaining to chapter 4 of William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
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Sound Devices
Students examine the impact of sound devices in poetry, prose, and non-fiction. For this figurative language lesson, students read instructor-selected literature and identify uses of alliteration, repetition, consonance, rhythm, rhyme,...
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Comic Book Project
Students write a fictional story into a comic book format. In this creative writing lesson, students analyze example comics and discuss the format. Students create a comic book using imaginary characters that find a solution to a problem.
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Identify and Evaluate Problem-Solving Processes and Solutions
Students identify a problem, the process by which it is solved, and the solution in a piece of literature. In this problem solving lesson, students read a nonfiction passage and use a think-pair-share strategy to identify the problem...
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Pride and Prejudice: Concept/Vocabulary Analysis
Clarify the setting, literary themes, and potential vocabulary issues with a concept analysis resource. With thoughtful explanations of many parts of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the reference sheet will be a great addition to your...
Curated OER
Shakespear Scavenger Hunt
Students use the internet to study basic biographical facts about Shakespeare in the form of an internet scavenger hunt. This activity is a great introduction to a Shakespearean unit of study.
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Assessing the Traits: What is Good Writing?
Learners assess samples of writing for each trait and discuss the rationale for scoring. They understand that the traits of writing offer a common language for revision. This lesson plan includes a scoring rubric for the students to use.