Students assess the impact of music to portray emotions and tell stories. Examples are taken from the life of Rosa Parks and a piece of band music called "A Movement for Rosa". Evaluation is accomplished through in-class participation...

Students are introduced to the ideas of the American Dream at the turn of the century. They present their ideas on the American Dream at the turn of the century through a person characterized in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.

Students read the story "Sharing in Africa". As a class, they brainstorm a list of holidays and celebrations in various cultures and identify the Congo on a world map. To end the lesson, they focus on one paragraph of the story,...

Students view the Masterpiece Theatre presentation of Oliver Twist. the lesson includes plot summaries of the three episodes as well as before and after viewing activities. In addition, there are discussion and activity suggestions to...

This resource on personification provides three different approaches aimed at different levels. The first, appropriate for upper elementary, provides examples of personification, followed by an exercise that requires replacing a word in...

Young scholars learn about the Chinese culture via literature. They read the poetry of Cathy Song, considering national pride as Americans and Chinese.

Students investigate the writings of Thoreau in order to better comprehend his impact on American Literature and unique writing style. Working to evaluate the different pieces of writing, they read the essays in order to create their own...

Students examine the diverse and unique journeys of men. After reading various pieces of literature, they identify any rites of passage or change in the characters. They write in their reflective journals sharing their thoughts on the...

The motto for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry warns that one should never tickle a sleeping dragon, but learners will definitely be tickled by the activities in a packet of materials designed to accompany a reading of the...

With its focus on nature, individualism, imagination, and rejection of traditional authority, Romanticism has great appeal to young high schoolers. After examining classic paintings and poems as well as current works, class members...

Students complete a unit of lessons examining the cultural context of the novel, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.' They write a critique of the novel, compare/contrast two published critiques, and explore various websites.

Analyze various excerpts from Hamlet and read articles to develop an argument about his sanity. Middle and high schoolers write an argument essay defending whether or not they believe Hamlet is insane. You could modify this assignment...

Are the advanced placement tests just around the corner for your Spanish classes? Read this article to collect short literary analysis activities to use before the week of the AP exam. Written in Spanish, this article showcases five...

Work together as a class and get to know the ins and outs of World War II with this engaging collaborative project. Class members are broken into groups to research particular war topics, from life on the home front to the Holocaust and...

Shakespeare's plays may be old, but they still have relevant lessons for today's world! A collection of lesson plans uses examples from The Merchant of Venice and District Merchants to teach about bravery. In addition to learning...

Students participate in completing a worksheet where they have to match the authors to the short story or book that they wrote. They have studied English Literature Authors, so this is an assessment piece type of instructional activity.

Middle and high schoolers examine the impact of irony in poetry and prose. In this figurative language activity, they read instructor-selected literature and identify uses of irony. Then they discuss how irony enhances literature.

Eighth graders implement plot summary organizers to identify essential elements such as conflict and resolution in literature. In pairs, they retell fairy tales to each other and complete plot summaries about them. As students read new...

Here is a lesson whose focus is on classical archaeology. In groups, high schoolers read various myths and legends to examine the how the culture was passed between different groups. They participate in a role-play activity in which they...

Students examine the use of titles with video. They create a short horror film based on a classic work of literature or other subject area writing. Students use a single camera and a single shot. Using Adobe Premiere Elements, students...

Students investigate and distinguish between primary and secondary sources when analyzing works of literature. They present their information on transparencies that are displayed to the class.

Why does Scout fear Boo? Why does George kill Lennie? Whether in literature or life, helping young learners recognize the relationship between actions and consequences is an important lesson. Have your class match twelve observable...

Send your high schoolers on a scavenger hunt through popular culture (music, television, video games, movies) to find allusions to Shakespeare. They must each provide three to share with the class, and the one they present cannot have...

A Novel Study is the focus of this Literature PowerPoint. A class is about to have author Chris Paul come speak to their class about his novel, The Watson's Go to Birmingham - 1963. Before his appearance, the class is directed to do an...