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...
Developing a Global Perspective for Educators
Imagine Being Me
The design of this two-day lesson eloquently exposes learners to the topic of social justice for people with disabilities. The plan is built off the reading of Are You Alone on Purpose? by Nancy Werlin. The activity introduces...
Curated OER
Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense
Introduce your class to the delights of nonsense poetry and explore literary devices with the writing of Edward Lear. Learners identify rhyme and meter as well as figures of speech, alliteration, and onomatopoeia in "The Owl and the...
Curated OER
One With Nature
Students discover the connection between Japanese art and Romantic literature using a variety of sources and the impact of nature on these two art forms. This lesson is a three-day exploration.
Curated OER
That Reminds Me
Students investigate various forms of literature using drawings, sentences, and class discussion. They pick the text to look at to keep student interest. The teacher helps the students use appropriate reading level books. They complete a...
Curated OER
The Name Game
Students identify acts of philanthropy in different works of literature. They idenify and illustrate examples in colonial America. They also read "Miss Rumphius" on how they can make the world a more beautiful place.
Curated OER
What Is Technology?
Second graders engage in a literature study that is concerned with transmitting new knowledge about modern technology. They identify different forms of technology and how it is used in everyday society. The lesson includes vocabulary...
Curated OER
A CLOSER LOOK
Students group objects by their physical characteristics and various compositions using literature to stimulate recall.
Curated OER
Exploring the Sonnet
Students research English/Shakespearean and Italian/Petrarchan sonnet forms. They write an original sonnet on their preferred form (English or Italian), write the poem on the wordprocessor and publish and post it on the net at the Sonnet...
Curated OER
The Underground Railroad
Fourth graders participate in a literature circle after reading a book about the Underground Railroad. They discuss their selected book with their literature circle group, and complete a handout about their role in the circle. Students...
Curated OER
How Tragic!
Learners study and interpret a classical tragedy and role play a character from the play. In this tragedy lesson, students discuss a specific work to discover the form, structure, and characteristics of the genre and interpret the...
Curated OER
Famous Poems and Poets
Students investigate well known poets, forms, and poetry terms. They explore various websites, complete an online scavenger hunt, and take an online poetry test.
Curated OER
Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
Learners analyze the conventions used in Noh plays and write an introduction to a Noh play of their own. In this Noh play lesson, students identify the conventions of the Noh form and analyze the realizations the main character achieves....
Curated OER
Making Singular Nouns Plural
Third graders complete worksheets and participate in interactive activities to classify plural words based on their singular form.
Curated OER
Kolam: A Living Art of South Asia
Young scholars will read the short story "Meenakshi's Magic Hands" by Santhini Govindan and view a slide show of photo images interspersed with the text to learn of the art form of Kolam. Students read and reflect upon a nonfiction...
Curated OER
Shadow Puppetry in South India
Students read a variety of literature from India, including folktales and fables. They then select a scene or story to script, work together to design and craft shadow puppets of characters and scenery, narrate a story, manipulate the...
Curated OER
We Can Work It Out
Middle schoolers read different pieces of literature and practice using narrative reading strategies to gain meaning. They use conflict resolution techniques found in literature and apply it to a real world situation. They discover how...
Curated OER
Writers and the Old South Myth
Learners are introduced to authors of the South. In groups, they compare and contrast the pastoral and counter pastoral traditions present in some forms of Southern literature. They use a database to examine the covers of the books...
Curated OER
Easy to Read
Young scholars compare reading passages in paragraph form to book form. They determine that the reading passages on the state assessments are no more difficult than the books they choose to read. They turn their favorite books into...
Curated OER
Would You Like to Become a Millionaire?
Learners answer questions written by other teams about literature in an attempt to become "millionaires." In small groups they write a motivational introduction to their teams selected books, publish their questions as a HyperCard...
Curated OER
Storytelling
Students discuss how they know certain aspects about their families and customs. As a class, they discover that life changes over time and stories are only preserved if they are told. They read many different pieces of literature to...
Curated OER
Fantasies and Myths
Fourth graders examine different types of literature, specifically myths and fantasy. They listen to "The Giving Tree", identify in which genre of literature it belongs, and view several myths on a website. At end of lesson, 4th...
Curated OER
Lyric Poetry Lesson
Students synthesize the "textbook" definition of lyric poetry and discuss various forms (love lyric, complaint lyric, loss lyric, satiric lyric). They discover the relationship of poetry to musical selections.
Curated OER
Introduction to "Julius Caesar"
Students discuss American form of government. They read the play Julius Caesar.