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Article
The New York Times

Teaching Orwell and '1984’ with the New York Times

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Doublethink and alternate facts? Big Brother and Facebook? 1984 and 2019? Sales of 1984 have surged and so has the use of George Orwell's dystopian classic in classrooms. Whether new to teaching the novel or a seasoned veteran you'll...
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Lesson Plan
Literacy Design Collaborative

The Scarlet Letter and Hester Prynne

For Students 11th Standards
Is Hester Prynne a virtuous woman? To conclude a unit study of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter class members craft an argument essay in which they use the standards listed in Proverbs 31 from the Bible to judge Hester's virtues.
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Website
Shakespeare Globe Trust

Much Ado About Nothing

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Love, deception, witty bante—that's much ado about a lot!  As learners navigate the resource, they view an interactive character map and read character biographies from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Pupils also listen to...
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Website
Shakespeare Globe Trust

Othello

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Emilia mocks Bianca, who is in a relationship with Cassio, who attacks Montano. Using the resource, learners explore profiles of the characters from Shakespeare's Othello. They also read a scene-by-scene synopsis and follow a weekly blog...
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Website
Shakespeare Globe Trust

A Midsummer Night's Dream

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Do most people resemble Titania, the fairy queen; Puck, the mischief-maker; or someone else? Pupils take a fun quiz to find out which character they are most like from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. They also explore a weekly...
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Website
Shakespeare Globe Trust

Macbeth

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Why do characters do what they do? Scholars use the resource to explore character motivation in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Additionally, they discover pictures, interviews, and videos from the Deutsche Bank production of the play. 
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Website
Shakespeare Globe Trust

The Taming of the Shrew

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
What does it take to build a stage production from the ground up? Scholars read a weekly blog detailing the behind-the-scenes action of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. They also listen to interviews with the cast, meet the...
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Lesson Plan
Literacy Design Collaborative

In Pursuit of Happiness

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
What ideas and philosophies guided the Transcendentalist movement in America? Scholars explore the topic, reading texts by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Additionally, they write essays comparing the authors' structural...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Figurative Language and Foreshadowing in The Outsiders

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is still relatable to teenagers today, even though it was written more than 50 years ago. Explore how the figurative language of the story works to establish characterization, and how foreshadowing lays out...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Symbolism and Personification in The Outsiders

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
A shirt can't really swallow you—right? Readers find examples of symbolism and personification in S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders with two straightforward lessons.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Catch-22: What It Means to Be a(n Anti)Hero

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed Standards
Catch-22, Joseph Heller's send-up of military organizational bureaucracy, provides readers with an opportunity to consider the importance of the anti-hero. Class members fill out a worksheet comparing and contrasting the qualities of...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Catch-22: Satirize This!

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed Standards
Some assignments are great, some can become great, and some have greatness thrust upon them. This one is great. After completing Joseph Heller's classic satire, Catch-22, groups craft and present their own political satire.
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Interactive
PBS

Exploring the Drive to Create in Frankenstein

For Students 10th - 12th Standards
Is it hubris that drives the creative process? Is it the desire to be remembered long past death? An interactive asks readers of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and Percy Shelley's poem "Ozymandias" to consider what this wife and...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Symbolism and the Use of “New Language” in The Handmaid’s Tale

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed Standards
Words matter. Words frame thought. Words are symbolic. Readers of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale examine how the words In Gilead's "New Language" reinforce the power of the government and provided insight into the symbolic level...
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Unit Plan
University of Wisconsin

Don Quixote in Wisconsin

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Are you looking for background information on Cervantes and his Don Quixote? How about a study guide and discussion questions or project ideas? Even journal prompts, tests, and quizzes? A 98-page teaching guide simplifies the quest with...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin has generated controversy since its publication in 1852. Here is a set of 12 primary sources that capture the controversies of the times while adding dimension and depth to any study of the novel.
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Poetry of Emily Dickinson

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Are you contemplating a poetry study featuring Emily Dickinson? Finding good primary sources to accompany the study can be a challenge—never fear, help is here! Check out this primary source set that includes manuscripts of several of...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their eyes Were Watching God has been highly praised and severely criticized for its depiction of African American folk culture. A set of primary source materials, including photographs, articles, essays, and...
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Lesson Plan
Idaho Coalition

The Hunger Games: Gender Empowerment

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The odds are in your favor that your pupils will love this lesson that uses The Hunger Games to launch a study of gender empowerment, as well as the influence of social constructs of gender. Groups discuss how Katniss Everdeen and Peeta...
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Unit Plan
Simon & Schuster

Curriculum Guide to: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Eight lessons and worksheets comprise a curriculum guide for Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Class members create a timeline that includes world-historical events as well as events in the novel. They analyze the speaking styles of...
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Unit Plan
Simon & Schuster

Curriculum Guide to: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
An 18-page curriculum guide for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice consists of five lessons. The first plan asks readers to compare the manners, social behaviors, and class issues in Austen's novel to today's. Next, pupils examine a...
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Unit Plan
Simon & Schuster

Classroom Activities for Emma by Jane Austen

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Coldhearted snob or warm and caring? A series of activities prepares scholars to evaluate the main character in Jane Austen's Emma. To begin, class members compare the gender expectations for women in Regency England and those of today....
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Unit Plan
Simon & Schuster

Curriculum Guide to: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The activities in a curriculum guide to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein provide readers with an opportunity to explore various concepts in depth. First, groups research controversial scientists, examine their work, and decide whether or not,...

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