Curated OER
Analyzing Literature via Literature Circles
Introduce literature circles with Roland Smith's novels. Your seventh graders will see the activity modeled as you read The Three Little Pigs together and apply the format to a Roland Smith novel of their choice. The lesson includes...
Curated OER
Discovering Japan Through Cooperative Research
Search a variety of sources to create a multimedia or book project about Japan. Learners use the independent investigation method to plan and conduct research about Japan. They use the information they discover to create a computer book...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Curated OER
Palms and Literature
Learners read and analyze the Civil War novel, 'Charley Skedaddle.' They define key vocabulary terms, develop a story map, create a concept web for a character, and take vocabulary tests.
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Early American Novel: Exploring the Emergence of a Genre
Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Interactive Reading Project
Young scholars discuss books they are reading during the semester through e-mail with other students. They complete a reading interest survey, e-mail their partner weekly, and read and suggest six novels by the end of the semester.
Curated OER
Changing Perspectives on the Japanese Internment Experience
Students explore the issue of Japanese-American internment. In this World War II lesson plan, students analyze historical biases regarding Japanese-American internment as they analyze literature, research print and Internet sources, and...
Curated OER
Character Traits in Fables
Combining art, music, dance, and reading comprehension, this instructional activity is geared to reach all ability levels. After reading a variety of fables and discussing story elements and character traits, class members select a moral...
University of Pennsylvania
Decoding Propaganda: J’Accuse…! vs. J’Accuse…!
Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...
Curated OER
Responding To Rembrandt's Work Through Poetry
Students write poetry in response to Rembrandt's landscapes and portraits. They create accompanying illustrations based on interpretations of Rembrandt's work and present them along with the poems in book format.
Curated OER
The Prince and the Pauper
Mark Twain, the famous American author, is often studied in the school system. Use "The Prince and the Pauper" to analyze the differences between the text and its video version. This lesson includes several culminating project...
Curated OER
Heritage
Students examine Florida literary heritage. They use multimedia learning activities to focus on Florida heritage and the literature of Florida. Students investigate books and special web sites on Florida cities and Florida authors....
Curated OER
I Am Special and You Are Special Too #4
The students listen to a book about being different and investigate that everyone is different, but special in their own unique way. The students draw a picture of themselves using multi-cultural markers. Along with the drawing, the...
Curated OER
Character in a Box
Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...
Curated OER
A New Point of View
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
Curated OER
Once Upon a Time...
Model for emergent readers how to write a story by interpreting picture clues. For guided practice a second book is used, and then pupils work independently or with an adult to write their own stories based on illustrations.
Curated OER
Voices of Tragedy and Horror: Remembering the Holocaust
Young scholars consider the implications of the Holocaust. In this World War II lesson, students read the graphic novel Maus at the end of a unit on World War II. Young scholars discuss the impact of reading about the Holocaust as well...
Curated OER
What are the Elements of Poetry
Young scholars read the poem "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" and analyze the form, figurative language, and mood. They complete a T-chart containing what they have learned about Pablo and the evidence from the poem supporting their...
Curated OER
Understanding Poetry
Students search the Internet to find a poem to research, analyze and present their interpretation of the poem to the class. They develop their interpretation in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
Curated OER
Understanding Character
Readers practice character analysis by reviewing Gary Soto's short story "La Bamba" with the whole class (anything you've read together will work). They design t-shirts that feature traits and story elements to reveal the nature of a...
Curated OER
MONSTERS AND MYTHS: SCRIPTS /SCULPTS
Seventh graders are introduced to myths formed by many cultures as a unique genre of literature. They use critical thinking skills to compare and contrast mythic tales, compare versions of the same story, and respond to literature in...
Curated OER
Early Settlements
Students embark on a journey through colonial times. In this early settlement lesson plan, students come to understand what life was like for the settlers in the early colonies. Students research and create projects illustrating...
Curated OER
Globe Trotting Cinderella
Students explore the fairy tale genre of literature. In this Cinderella lesson, students read fairy tales and discuss their attributes and cultural background. Students examine and write their own fractured fairy tales.
Curated OER
Trash or Treasure?
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning activity, students pull together to clean up a community park and reflect on the experience through literature.