The Kennedy Center
Fairy Tale Variations
Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and song....
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Analyzing the Use of Irony in a Short Story
Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...
Japan Society
Akutagawa Ryunosuke and the Taisho Modernists
Japan's Taisho Period was a time when authors like Akutagawa and other Japanese modernists began to experiment with point of view and literary form, making the literature produced during this time period a natural choice for teaching...
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Dramatizing History in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Learners study the effect of history on fictional or dramatic works of art by reading, Arthur Miller's, The Crucible. They examine the ties between a nation's history and culture with the literature it produces.
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: National Identity and Why It Matters
Combining a close reading of a classic American text with the study of history can be a very powerful strategy, and this is most certainly the case with this resource using Edward Everett Hale's The Man without a Country. Consider themes...
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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: An American Grail?
Students discuss the possibility of a treasure lost in the Sierra Madre mountains that could be considered the American holy grail. After reading a novel, they examine the relationship between the grail, gold, and characters. To end the...
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The Collaborative Works of Rodgers and Hammerstein: Show Business
Pupils study the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein in an historical context of the development of American musical theatre as an art form. Students explore "roots" of the genre as it evolves in last half of the 19th and first two decades...
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Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
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Reading Teammates
Fourth graders read the book "Teammate" after participating in pre-reading activities that include examining the concepts of segregation and discrimination. In this six week literature study, they make timelines, discuss what they know...
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Speaking in Grave Tones
Fourth graders examine how a change in attitudes about death took place from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century and was embodied in gravestones, literature, and art.
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Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 12 multiple choice questions about Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
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The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
In this online interactive reading comprehension instructional activity, students respond to 15 multiple choice questions based on The Sun Also Rises. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great American Dreamer
Students explore how F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. In novels such as Tender is the Night, This Side of Paradise, and The Great Gatsby, he captured the mood and manners of his time.
Reed Novel Studies
The Trumpet of The Swan: Novel Study
What lengths will one go to for love? Louis, a swan in The Trumpet of The Swan, struggles to gain the attentions of a girl because he cannot trumpet. Thankfully, his father creates a plan that may work. Scholars discover Louis's attempts...
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The Evolution of Transcendentalism
Key concepts, major writers, and historical events related to Transcendentalism are explored in a student-produced PowerPoint about this movement. The presentation could be used as an introduction to a unit or as a model that class...
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The Power of Fiction
Students explore fiction that moves individuals to social action. In this literature lesson, students read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and analyze its literary worth as well as its investigative journalism. Students investigate other...
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Lady Sings the Blues
Students explore women and music in the 20th century. In this music activity, students study the relationship between literature and music through The Color Purple and music by Ethel Waters, MA Rainey, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella...
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The Piano
Second graders read The Piano and become familiar with racial discrimination. For this racial discrimination book lesson, 2nd graders answer comprehension question to focus on the importance of the book. Students discuss the reader's...
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Living Thoreau As A Means Of Approaching Walden
Students investigate the essays and life of Thoreau in order to appreciate his point of view and understand his way of thinking. They participate in various activities and writing assignments to gain a similar perspective. Students write...
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Pumpkins . . . Not Just Part of Halloween
Students study the pumpkin. In this pumpkin lesson, students participate in different activities that explain the history of pumpkins and how pumpkins develop and grow, read "The Great Pumpkin Story" and answer comprehensive questions...
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Charolotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper" - the "New Woman"
Learners analyze the life of American middle to upper-class women in the mid- to late-nineteenth century and early twentieth century. In this women's suffrage lesson, students visit the given links in the lesson to analyze the changing...
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social studies: Life in Colonial America
Students explore the trials and tribulations early colonial life and note its successes. Through literature, Internet research, and interactive software, they engage in various activities to evaluate early social and cultural development.
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Dress Rehearsal
Students trace the rites of passage from the 1940's through the present in literature. They review some of their favorite expressions first and compare some of Holden's speech with their own. They discuss initial reactions to the book...
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Animals in Art
Students look at how animals are shown in literature and art as representing emotions, telling a story, or sending a message in this elementary school Language Arts and Visual Arts lesson.