The concept of sight, whether it's a lack of sight or abundant sight of the future, plays a vital role in Sophocle's Oedipus the King. Develop your ninth graders' literary vision with a lesson that connects the prophecy of Teiresias to...

Let's see how the story unfolds. Scholars examine paragraphs of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to determine how King unfolds his analysis of the church. Before arriving at an answer, learners work in pairs and...

Rafael Trujillo was president of the Dominican Republic in the 1930s. Pupils read and analyze the first six paragraphs of Julia Alvarez's autobiographical essay "A Genetics of Justice," in which the author describes Trujillo's impact on...

Does trauma have a lasting effect on people's lives? Scholars dive into the topic as they read paragraphs 9–11 of "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez, in which the author describes her family's return to the Dominican Republic....

Scholars evaluate E.B. White's tone in his narrative. Lessons use turn-and-talk strategies to discuss details of a personal narrative essay, respond to guided questions, and work in pairs to analyze word choice. Learners demonstrate...

As part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars draft their inside-out poems and then work on their "Back Again" poems. Learners use a rubric and graphic organizers to guide their writing.

Text, speech, phone call. Scholars discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using speech and written text to express ideas. They use an Analyzing Mediums graphic organizer to analyze speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. They then...

Show me the evidence. Writers analyze the Command of Evidence row of the rubric for A Long Walk to Water essay. Pupils work in pairs to determine how the writer of a model essay meets the demands of the rubric. They then use a Forming...

Class members work in pairs and use an Ad Analysis planning guide to begin planning their final tasks. After sharing ideas with their partners, learners begin working on their final products.

Successful poetry writing requires three P's: planning, preparation, and practice. Pupils read a model two-voice poem and discuss how the author uses evidence to develop the theme. With a partner, scholars use a rubric to analyze the...

From British accents to Texan drawls, a character's dialect can be an important part of the reading experience. A Six-Trait writing activity guides learners through the analysis of a character's dialect (Daniel Keyes's Flowers for...

An excerpt from Willa Cather's O Pioneer's! provides learners with practice in finding the main idea and supporting details in a narrative. As readers record the bleak details on the included graphic organizer, they can conclude that...

Any story can be mapped onto a plot graph. This particular chart includes the mountain shape of a traditional plot graph. Each element of plot is labeled on the page and surrounded by a box to make the words stand out. Learners write in...

Climate change affects even the largest and intimidating of landforms—even Mount Everest! A resource helps teach learners the connection between global climate change and its effects on Earth. Activities include videos, class discussion,...

What was life like for William Shakespeare's sister, Judith? Scholars continue reading Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own to find out. They complete a Quick Write to explain how Woolf's comparison of the siblings develops a central...

Text annotations help readers track essential ideas. Pupils continue reading and annotating an informational article about Sudanese tribes, connecting it with A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. They also begin writing about their...

Playing the piano takes a lot of work, even before you touch the keys! Use a reading passage about learning to play the piano before answering five comprehension questions.

The most effective way to support an argument is with clear and relevant evidence. As seventh graders read and listen to Cesar Chavez's California Commonwealth Club Address, they work through five sections of a textual analysis unit,...

All good things must come to an end! Scholars put all their learning into practice by completing an end-of-unit assessment. They use textual evidence from Julia Alvarez's "A Genetics of Justice" to write essays analyzing how Alvarez...

Let's join together and make a sentence. Scholars take the next step in revising their argumentative essays by combining independent clauses to make complex sentences. Writers use a Colon and Semicolon Handout to practice different ways...

Who said that? Scholars now learn how to cite evidence, give ideas proper credit, and work to understand the meaning of plagiarism. Part of the activity includes looking at an MLA Citation handbook, handy when pupils create their works...

How does Judith Shakespeare's marriage arrangement develop the central idea of gender roles? As they continue reading Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, pupils consider the question. Scholars also complete a Quick Write, examining the...

Get hooked! Reel in and hook scholars to the unit with a slide show, text-based activity, and reading exercises. To increase curiosity, learners read only small pieces of Panic Rises in Saigon, but the Exits Are Few. Readers use the...

Learners use a jigsaw activity to examine characters in "Left Behind." Each group member focuses on a different character and then regroups to those with the same focus. Class members then return to their home groups for discussion...