Unit Plan
Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University (Dr. Mc Clennen): How to Do a Close Reading

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This guide is written for college students, but should be very useful for upper level high school students as well. The writer first describes fourteen steps to take in doing a close reading, then provides six pieces of advice on how to...
Lesson Plan
Read Works

Read Works: Main Idea 1st Grade Unit

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students learn to use titles and supporting details in both fiction and non-fiction texts in order to identify the main idea of the book in this three-lesson unit. The lessons utilize the books Animal...
Activity
University of Illinois

University of Illinois: Modern American Poetry: Archibald Mac Leish

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site houses three poems in full text from the great American poet Archibald MacLeish (1892-1982 CE), as well as criticism on two of his most famous. The three pieces are 'Baccalaureate', 'Two Poems from the War', and 'An Eternity'.
Handout
University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina: Writing Center: Writing About Literature (Fiction)

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Students are instructed in a nine-step process of how to write a literary response paper that includes a thesis, strong ideas, and specific supporting details from the text. W.11-12.9a Amer Lit 18th,19th, 20th cen/Analy
Website
Other

The Julian of Norwich Website/life and Works of Julian

For Students 9th - 10th
This site gives a brief biography of Julian of Norwich, which is then followed by almost 70 links to sources about her life and works. Click on "Showing of Love" in the third line for both text and analysis. An amazing number of resources.
Article
Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets: 103 Things to Do Before/during/after Reading

For Students K - 1st Standards
The highly-respected Reading Rockets program offers both teachers and students a toolkit of ways to connect more actively with the materials they read. Some of these techniques are specifically for fiction-reading, others are designed...
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning:ap Literature & Composition: Life, Death, and in Between

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This unit focues on life and death, text-to-text connections, archetypes, symbols, and allusions, and writing in a non-native language. It features "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, and...
Lesson Plan
Other

Steilacoom Historical School District No. 1: Dramatic Justice [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this instructional activity unit, students investigate how justice is perceived and addressed in different cultures and times by examining literature from around the world. Texts examined include: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, A...
Article
Other

Nclr: The Essentials of Teaching Reading

For Students Pre-K - 1st Standards
Find out what the essentials are for teaching reading. This site provides vital information for teachers in developing the most successful reading program for their students.
Activity
Shmoop University

Shmoop: I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain

For Students 9th - 10th
From a clear introduction which includes "Why Should I Care," to the text and then an analysis of the poem, I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain, this site contains fascinating insights into the writings of the poet. Broken into clearly...
Activity
Other

The World of Dante

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A comprehensive and interactive study of Dante Alighieri's most famous work, The Divine Comedy. Study this enormously rich text with the help of maps, diagrams, music, a timeline and a gallery. See the Italian/English text side-by-side...
Unit Plan
Department of Defense

Do Dea: Real Survival Skills

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Learn about process analysis, writing procedurals texts, the steps of the writing process, and cause and effect in this unit. Also, examine patterns of organization in writing. A handy chart shows common organizational patterns which...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Dramatizing History in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Critical analysis of both the historical documents and the literary texts connected with the Salem trials is key to this lesson, which includes a number of activities and some wonderful resources.
Lesson Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Units: 11th Grade: Thematic Unit: Values and Beliefs

For Teachers 11th Standards
Complete teaching unit for 11th Grade Thematic Unit: "Values and Beliefs." Students will read 8 short stories that examine how values and beliefs are shaped. They will analyze these stories, and the short story form, while considering...
Lesson Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Units: 9th Grade Thematic Unit: Love

For Teachers 9th Standards
Complete teaching unit for 9th Grade Thematic Unit: "Love." In this unit, 9th graders will read six texts that speak to the theme of love. They will revisit the essential question "What is love, and how does it change us?" throughout the...
Lesson Plan
Other

Teengagement: Targeted Intervention: Word Choice Shapes Meaning and Tone

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
In this instructional activity, students interpret how words are used in a literary text and examine how word choice affects meaning and tone. A sample analysis of a poem is presented, terms are defined, and question stems for assessment...
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Book Sorting: Using Observation and Comprehension

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Critical thinking, comprehension and analysis skills are the focus of this physical activity. Good beginning to teaching different ways of looking at things.
Lesson Plan
Hopelink

Hopelink: Reading Lesson Idea: Real Life Reading Materials

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
The purpose of this reading lesson is to offer a reading and comprehension lesson based on real-life reading materials. This gives students the opportunity to gain reading comprehension skills from real-life reading material.
Unit Plan
Other

Emily Dickinson: Early Feminist Essays (Pub. 1886 1915)

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an eclectic mix of Dickinson's letters, some early essays about her writing, and remembrances of her by friends and family. The texts of 32 of her poems are annotated with references to other Dickinson writings. The entire site...
Graphic
Other

Concepts and Practices for Writing Courses: Interpreting Literature

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
This tutorial surveys the way readers should interpret literature or text in symbols, syntax, meaning, and the like. The article features a Literary Toolkit for Analyzing Literature.
Website
Other

The Wondering Minstrels

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The Wondering Minstrels website provides a poem a day, complete with analysis, criticism, biographical information, literary anecdotes, trivia, and our own skewed sense of humor. RL.9-10.10a&b text complexity, RL.11-12.10a/b Text...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs American Masters: Willie Nelson: All Together Now!

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
This lesson plan is based on Willie Nelson lyrics, and the PBS feature on him. It focuses on brainstorming and choral reading skills. In addition to the lesson plan, there is information on how to do guided reading and choral reading.
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Enchanting Readers With Revisionist Fairy Tales

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Contains plans for four lessons that ask students to read, compare, and contrast different versions of fairy tales in order to explore age-appropriateness and formats of texts. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional...
Handout
Bartleby

Bartleby.com: Cambridge His of Eng and Am Lit: Place of Emerson in Amer Letters

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This chapter from vol. XV of The Cambridge History of English and American Literature is the starting point of an extensive resource for students who wish to study the life and works of this major American literary figure. Includes...