Curated OER
6th Grade: Express Yourself, Lesson 2: Close Read
The second activity of a pair about Paul Laurence Dunbar, this plan focuses in particular on his poem, "We Wear the Masks." After a short historical introduction, class members conduct a series or readings, marking up the text and...
Reed Novel Studies
The Incredible Journey: Novel Study
There's no place like home. Three family pets prove this in The Incredible Journey as they head out to find their way back home. Scholars read about the dangers the pets face on their journey while they learn eight vocabulary words from...
Curated OER
Poetry Writing
Students read various examples of poetry and create a poetry portfolio. In this poetry writing lesson, students work at their own pace to complete a poetry portfolio with examples of the different poetic forms demonstrated. Students...
Curated OER
Poetic Elements Are Fun!
Engage your class in the elements of poetry with a series of lessons and activities. The plans cover simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and imagery. Learners come up their their own metaphors, identify poetic...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Digging Deep for Figurative Language (Hyperbole)
What are hyperboles? Examine the attributes of hyperboles with your high school classes. Pupils read selected poems and prose selections that feature hyperboles and discuss their functions in each work of literature. Specific poems and...
Scholastic
Writing Letters to the Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets
To celebrate National Poetry Month, young writers focus on the role letter writing has played in the development of poets. They begin by journaling three to five associations to a writing prompt that requires them to identify their...
Reed Novel Studies
Skink No Surrender: Novel Study
The oldest turtle ever recorded lived to the age of 188! As it turns out, two characters from Carl Hiaasen's Skink No Surrender are fascinated by these shelled creatures. Using the novel study, scholars research three types of turtles...
Curated OER
Civil War
Historical poetry is lyrical in form and rich with content. After examining the differences between the Northern and Southern states before and during the U.S. Civil War, learners complete a Venn diagram and create an illustration of the...
Curated OER
Bio-Poems and U.S. History
Students explore U.S. History by writing poems. In this United States leader biography lesson, students identify elements needed to create a good poem, and write a Bio-Poem about themselves. Students utilize the same form to write a...
Curated OER
Understanding and Appreciating Poetry: Afro-Americans and Their Poetry
Sixth graders are introduced to poems written by African-American authors. As a class, they read excerpts of poems from different time periods and discuss how and if anything has changed over time with discrimination and equal rights...
Louisiana Department of Education
How to Write a Memoir
Who are we and what shapes our identities? Seventh graders work to answer this question as they learn how to write a memoir. Full of non-print resources and supplemental texts that range from fiction to non-fiction, scholars write their...
Curated OER
Focusing on Imagery through your Senses
Students enrich their writing of an original scene by incorporating imagery, visual pictures and scenes painted in the readers mind by using one of their senses as a unique writing tool.
Reed Novel Studies
Fever 1793: Novel Study
There is no escaping fever in 1793. Mattie, a main character, soon learns that a disease outbreak has taken over much more than her hometown. Scholars discover how Mattie responds to her circumstances by learning new vocabulary and...
Curated OER
Barn Owls and Owl Pellet Dissection
Students explore birds of prey and food chains. In this ecosystems and birds of prey cross curriculum science and literacy lesson, students brainstorm characteristics of birds after viewing photographs. Students view a video and document...
Reed Novel Studies
Snow Treasure: Novel Study
What does it mean to be courageous? With the study guide for Marie McSwigan's novel, Snow Treasure, scholars answer questions about the text and practice new vocabulary. They also write quatrain poems about courage or another theme from...
Reed Novel Studies
To Kill a Mockingbird: Novel Study
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer whose biggest claim to fame was the creation of Tarzan. Using the novel study for Harper Lee's beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, pupils research and list facts about him or another...
Curated OER
Exploring War Themes in Art and Poetry
What is war? Young scholars discuss the ethical dilemma of war by viewing Picasso's painting entitled "Guernica" and write down everything they see in the painting. Then they choose one emotion that best summarizes their emotional...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 5
Building on the previous activity in this series of lesson seeds, this plan focuses on the use of dialect in Theodore Taylor's novel, The Cay. Class members examine specific lines of text, use their reading journals to respond to the...
Reed Novel Studies
Lion: A Long Way Home: Novel Study
Home is where the heart is. Saroo, a main character in Lion: A Long Way Home, desperately wants to be home. However, he is lost in a train station and has no way to contact family or get back to his home. Scholars learn new vocabulary,...
Reed Novel Studies
The Wednesday Wars: Novel Study
Teacher's pet or enemy? Holling, a character in The Wednesday Wars, feels his teacher is out to get him. However, he has to remain on his best behavior to ensure his father's business does not suffer. How will he ever survive 7th grade?...
Reed Novel Studies
Paperboy: Novel Study
Little Man, in Vince Vawter's Paperboy, is a great baseball player, but due to stuttering he'd rather not speak to a soul. Scholars read how Little Man deals with his fears as they use vocabulary words to complete sentences, answer seven...
Reed Novel Studies
Nim's Island: Novel Study
A deserted island, a sea lion, and a volcanic eruption ... adventure awaits! Using a helpful novel study, scholars complete a brief vocabulary exercise and answer 10 reading comprehension questions about Nim's Island. Next, they write...
Reed Novel Studies
Where The Mountain Meets The Moon: Novel Study
Does good fortune lie within the man in the moon? Minli, a young girl in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, sure hopes it does, so she sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon for answers. Along the way, Minli meets several magical...