Building on a previous lesson plan, readers continue using context clues to learn new vocabulary. Additionally, they continue working on their Gathering Evidence graphic organizers, making connections between an informational text and A...

Finding the central idea in a text is equally important in fiction and nonfiction. Work on analyzing a piece of writing for the central idea with Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," complete with supporting...

You can often track a character's development based on others' reactions to their words or actions. Using Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," ninth graders work in a jigsaw activity to analyze how Mirabella's...

Address annotation, word choice, and tone in the same language arts instructional activity. Ninth graders read a section of Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" and track character development based on supporting...

Finish Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with an instructional activity focusing on the story's conclusion. After participating in literary analysis discussions with small groups, ninth graders complete a Quick...

Just like in real life, characters in short stories show their true personalities through their words and deeds. Decipher the character development in Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with a set of activities...

Young writers have written, revised, and peer-edited their historical fiction narratives by the 10th lesson plan in a language arts unit. Fourth graders finally combine their revision notes to create a second draft. The double-spaced...

Young writers compose a gripping ending to their historical fiction narratives. Following the previous lesson plan, where learners wrote a bold beginning, class members examine exciting endings from a literary text. They then draft their...

After completing three body paragraphs of an argument essay about life's rules to live by from Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis, it's time to begin writing the introduction and conclusion. Independently, pupils draft the final two...

Readers analyze David Mitchell's techniques for introducing and developing the mystery surrounding Madame Crommelynck in the "Solarium" chapter of his novel Black Swan Green.

How does word choice influence the meaning and tone of a text? To answer this question, class members listen to a masterful reading of a passage from David Mitchell's Black Swan Green and then work with a partner to conduct a close...

Class members continue their discussion of David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, focusing on how the author uses the conversation between Jason and Madame Crommelynck to refine his central idea of the meaning of beauty.

Can a life gone wrong be blamed on a single childhood incident? Hundert, the narrator of "The Palace Thief," and readers struggle with this question as they ponder events in Ethan Canin's story.

Class members read the chapter, "Serfs and Sweetness" from Sugar Changed the World, and identify the central idea that the development of beet sugar and modern farming technology changed the reliance on the plantation system and made...

In "How We Researched and Wrote this Book," the final essay in Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science, authors Aronson and Budhos discuss their research methods and purpose in writing the text....

How did the Demerara Rebellion of 1823, the death of Reverend John Smith, and the Emancipation Bill of 1833 that abolished slavery throughout the British Empire change the sugar industry? Class members examine how the authors of Sugar...

The Sugar Changed the World chapter, "The Sound of Liberty," highlights how the differing attitudes toward the slave trade shifted the issue from an economic concern to a concern for human rights. The passage contrasts Thomas Jefferson's...

What did the Crusades and plantations do with the global sugar spread? As class members continue their study of Sugar Changed the World, they examine how Crusaders brought sugar to Western Europe and how cultivating sugar led to the...

What is a megalomaniac? Scholars discover the word's meaning as they read and analyze paragraphs seven and eight from Julia Alvarez's essay "A Genetics of Justice." They also read Mark Memmott's article "Remembering to Never Forget" and...

Ambition, murder, nontraditional gender roles ... some problems just can't be fixed in marriage counseling. Learners discuss the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. As a culminating activity, pupils analyze how the characters'...

Freaky frogs are the focus of a lesson plan designed to boost reading comprehension skills using text features and asking and answering questions. Informational text and a poem supply scholars with animal-related vocabulary and facts. A...

Using the resource, scholars read Act 3.3 of Shakespeare's Hamlet. They analyze two soliloquies and discuss how Shakespeare develops the characters.

What's one way to make a good essay great? Revise! Scholars revise their drafts from a previous lesson plan to help write their final polished analytical essays about the universal refugee experience. They also practice properly citing...

What common challenges do refugees and immigrants face? Using the 9th lesson plan from the 20-part Grade 8 ELA Module 1, Unit 2 series, pupils read about the similarities between refugees' and immigrants' adaptation processes. Partners...