Curated OER
The poetry of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
After a study of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the impact his death had on the country and on Reconstruction policy, class groups analyze primary sources that recount the writer’s response to Lincoln’s death. As guided...
Curated OER
Review of Literary Devices
Sixth graders review literary devices. They use both fiction and nonfiction texts to review metaphor, simile, alliteration, imagery, symbolism and personification. This instructional activity has a scripted guide for the teacher to follow.
Schools Linking Network & Lifeworlds Learning
How Do We All Live Together?
Explore the concepts of community and point of view with these activities complementing the children's book Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Following a class reading of the story, ask students to either draw a map of the...
Curated OER
Creating a Heroic Character
Students answer a series of defining questions that lead them to develop a fully realized heroic character. They create a variety of multimedia representations of their hero, including video interviews, HyperStudio stacks, web pages, and...
Curated OER
Cartoons: How Have Society's Views of Women Changed Over Time?
Learners explore women's rights by viewing cartoon images. In this women's history instructional activity, students view several images depicting women in a certain way while discussing the meaning of the imagery among their classmates....
Curated OER
You Kiss By the Book
High schoolers explore Shakespeare's use of poetic conventions, examine the first meeting between Romeo and Juliet and gain experience in close readng and the interpretation of verse structure and imagery.
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Othello and the Power of Language
Learners explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing his astonishing command of rhetoric and figurative language. The diverse set of activities below include short group performances, writing exercises and the guided use of...
Curated OER
Integrating Printmaking and Literature: A high school art curriculum
Pupils integrate techniques in printmaking with readings in poetry and literature. They read various pieces of student literature and poetry, and create prints using various printmaking techniques.
Curated OER
"Ode on a Grecian Urn": Theme of Innocence
In this "Ode on a Grecian Urn" activity, students discuss the Grecian urn as a representation of innocence. Students answer questions about the imagery and the meaning of the poem and whether or not the speaker's attitude changes at the...
Curated OER
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
In this story structure lesson, learners read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.
Curated OER
Strong Verb Image Makers
Students use description language to clarify ideas and create vivid images in an essay focusing of strong verbs. They discuss weak verbs and explore that the better image the words create, the better the reader understands the text.
Curated OER
The Rest Cure: Gender in Medicine and Literature
Read and discuss "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and the gender issues that the story brings up. Use articles from the time period to analyze, complete with specific discussion questions. After two days, scholars write an essay based on topics...
Curated OER
Emily Dickinson & Poetic Imagination: "Leap, plashless"
Students analyze the poems of Emily Dickinson and write their own nature poem. In this poetry analysis lesson, students read Dickinson poetry and analyze the use of imagery, sound, and metaphor. Students write their own nature poem using...
Curated OER
Beowulf Lesson Plan
Learners analyze the text of Beowulf. In this epic poetry lesson, students explore the themes and imagery in the text to evaluate their meaning. Learners analyze the Old English language and examine the cultural and historical context of...
Curated OER
I Hear Poetry
Students practice analysis of poetry by analyzing song lyrics using a worksheet to guide the analysis process. They work in small groups to assess the stylistic and literary devices used in the song lyrics then they find a published...
Curated OER
Nutrition (Weight Management)
Seventh graders explore nutrition and the effect it has by participating in class discussions. In this diet and exercise lesson plan, 7th graders analyze print advertisements and discuss how unrealistic their expectations are and how...
Curated OER
Language Arts, Music, Poetry: Blues Style
This instructional activity focuses on how the blues both operates as poetry and informs the poetry of many prominent African American poets. Students consider the poetic devices and recurring themes in blues lyrics and the significance...
Curated OER
"World Enough, And Time"-Andrew Marvell's Coy Mistress
Students read and analyze the poem, "To His Coy Mistress," by Andrew Marvell. They identify the theme of each stanza, complete a worksheet, take an online quiz, and write about a single metaphor or image from the poem.
Curated OER
Keywords: A Memorization Strategy
Here is a fabulous, five-page lesson plan on how keywords can help a reader with his/her reading comprehension. After a teacher-led discussion, pupils pair off with each other and work together to identify the main idea in a passage of...
Monarch High School
TP-CASTT Practice
Acronyms can help learners remember facts and analyze poetry. This resource includes graphic organizers for TP-CASTT, SOAPS, SOAPSTone, and DIDLS. Class members can try out one or all of these strategies to assist with that difficult job...
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Othello and the Power of Language
Students read and analyze Iago's rhetoric in specific monologues and dialogues with other characters, examine what Iago says and how he says it, define some basic rhetorical terms, and discover the sometimes dangerous power of language.
Curated OER
When I Set My Hat at a Certain Angle: Trying on Zora Neale Hurston's Voice to Dress-up Prose
After reading and evaluating examples of prose nonfiction by Zora Neale Hurston and other authors, high schoolers write a personal reflective essay rich in figurative language. By incorporating this strategy, they utilize voice within...
Curated OER
The Palm of My Heart: Poetry By African American Children
Elementary students explore African American culture by reading children's poetry. They read the book, The Palm of My Heart which features poetry by an assortment of young African American boys and girls. Students define several...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Character in Place: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” for the Common Core
How do writers use the interaction between elements like characterization and setting to create meaning? Readers of "A Worn Path" create a series of comic book-style graphics of Eudora Welty's short story and reflect on how Welty uses...