Young scholars analyze writings by Benjamin Franklin. In this Benjamin Franklin lesson, students discover the pseudonyms under which Franklin used to write. Young scholars compare and contrast 2 selections by Franklin.

Learners explore writing techniques by comparing fiction vs. non-fiction. In this literature analysis activity, students read stories from Aesop's Fables and compare the themes and characters to stories from their own life. Learners...

Students create T-charts to analyze persuasive text. For this persuasive text lesson  students make predictions based upon titles and learn how to make arguments based on facts.

Explication may sound like a fancy word, but it's just a fancy way to say analysis. Using a handout on poetry explications, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers learn how to break down and analyze a poem. The...

Just because a story is on the news doesn't mean it's being presented fairly. Analyze news broadcasts with a lesson focused on evaluating television journalism. At home, kids watch a news show and note the stories presented, including...

Readers of Nineteen Eighty-Four engage in a close reading exercise that directs their focus to the key details Orwell provides in the opening paragraphs to introduce his dystopian society. The included worksheeet is divided into three...

Introduce your class to the Greek tragedy with a study of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Learners examine the features of a Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ achievements and contributions, and the universal themes that make the drama an...

The second lesson in a series of fourteen, this plan takes the short story basics a step further. Learners complete a quiz about the story from the previous day, discuss the text, learn about Anton Chekhov, and work in groups to begin...

A passage from Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome provides the text for an assessment that asks readers to use evidence from the excerpt to decide if Ethan is a victim of his social and physical environment, or of his own personal choices and...

While designed to supplement a viewing of the PBS Masterpiece Classic The Diary of Anne Frank, this resource can also serve as an excellent informational text and activity source for your students on the historical context and timeline...

The history of women's education can be traced back to the delicate stitching of student samplers from the 19th century. Modern-day pupils examine and analyze four primary sources, three of which are images of embroidered samplers, which...

Christmas trees can be as large and elaborate as the tree in Rockefeller Center, or as small and understated as Charlie Brown's tree in A Charlie Brown Christmas. But where did the tradition of Christmas trees come from? An engaging...

Explore the fascinating ways in which authors use specific literary devices to create interesting and realistic texts. Using non-fiction articles with the subject of rogue waves, an excerpt from The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger,...

One of my favorite things about this resource is that they use a standardized lexile to help you determine who should be reading what book. I also love this great teacher's guide for the book, The Class Election from the Black...

A lot of secrecy shrouded the creation of the atomic bomb. Readers uncover some of that secrecy using an educator's guide for the novel The Green Glass Sea. Three weeks of lesson plans feature discussion questions and reading...

President Lincoln believed in the Thirteenth Amendment so strongly that he signed 14 copies of it, but died before he could see it passed on December 18, 1965. Explore the text that forever abolished slavery in America with a document...

Some of the best information to include when writing a research paper doesn't come from books, magazine articles, or informational websites—it comes from dissertations. However, reading an entire dissertation is often a daunting task....

In this different types of text worksheet, students review, brainstorm and analyze what a persuasive text is and what an instructive text is. Students then answer what type of text ten examples are as shown.

Sixth graders locate examples of persuasive writing. In this persuasive writing lesson students work in a groups to identify and analyze the use of propaganda techniques. Students use newspapers to find editorials, or advertisements,...

In this advertising leaflets activity, students explore and analyze how to recognize persuasive language and visual features in five leaflets. Students also fill out an advertising leaflet chart.

Students analyze the features of myths and legends. They read the myths "Theseus and the Minotaur" and "Orpheus and Eurydice," identify the myth story elements, evaluate each story for the overall theme, describe the characters, and...

Learners analyze and identify elements of memoirs.  In this literature lesson students explore qualities to listen for while the teacher reads a memoir; they then break into groups and analyze a memoir independently.

High schoolers study hyperbole and imagery in advertising. In this advertising techniques lesson, students identify hyperbole and imagery in print advertisements.

Students listen to a broadcast of War of the Worlds and illustrate what they hear. In this persuasive text lesson students prepare for making a movie poster intended to persuade a director to make a film based on a short story.