Enjoy this thematic friendship unit compiled with ESL lessons to develop strong language development while listening, speaking, looking, and moving. Class members participate in activities covering topics like making friends, asking for...

What are the pros and cons of prolonging life? Incorporate real-world issues into the study of literature using Dr. Heidegger's Experiment. Through the exploration of pre-determined websites, scholars consider several related...

Literary themes don't just belong to literature. High schoolers listen to the lyrics of modern songs by Arrested Development, Lauryn Hill, and others to enhance their study and to connect to characters, conflicts, and themes of...

Students complete various activities linked to several stories and movies, to reinforce the concept of theme in a story.

Fathers and daughters often create a bond of great strength. Is Meg's bond strong enough to save her father? A Wrinkle In Time follows Meg and her friends as they find themselves in a supernatural world; Meg just hopes she finds her...

The second module in a series for high school seniors focuses on tracking the central idea of a text across genres and from multiple author and character perspectives. Twelfth graders read a speech by Benazir Bhutto entitled "Ideas Live...

When scholars re-tell a story, do they boil it down to important details in a logical order? Practice summarizing narratives using this think-aloud strategy, which is scripted here for your convenience. After explaining why this is an...

Use a graphic organizer to get readers thinking about main ideas as they record the who, what, where, when, and why of a story. Consider modeling this process completely before kids do this independently. They fill in five boxes charting...

High schoolers explain how individual elements (e.g., plot, theme, character, conflict, etc.) comprise the structure of a play. They write an original one-act play with developed characters, specific setting, conflict, and resolution.

At over 450 pages, John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Grapes of Wrath can be a challenging choice for full-class, book circle, or independent reading. The activities in a 10-page sample The Grapes of Wrath...

Design your unit on The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg with a concept and vocabulary analysis resource. It outlines the plot, literary elements, vocabulary issues, and any possible considerations for planning a differentiated...

A good prompt is hard to find, especially ones that encourage application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of a text. Help is here in the form of a prompt list for George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four that offers essay topics that...

Here is a one-stop planning resource for Louis Sachar's Newbery Award-winning book Holes. You'll find 21 links to worksheets and various activities designed to span the entire book. Learners draw to help analyze settings and...

Packed with activities, projects, and assessments, first-time instructors and seasoned veterans will find much to like in this overview of a nine-part unit based on William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies.

Learners view the PBS presentation of Leo Tolstoy's, "Anna Karenina." Prior and after each episode, they discuss plot and characterization and in one lesson plan, use adjectives to describe each of the main characters. Then, students...

Many critics consider William Golding's Lord of the Flies as one of the best English language novels of the 20th century! It is also one of the 100 most challenged books taught in schools! Instructors willing to accept the challenge of...

Whether new to teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or an experienced pro, you’ll find useful resources in this teacher’s guide. The 40-page packet includes background information, historical context, an annotated list of...

Designed to be used with an independent reading book, this activity provides practice with identifying and explaining literary terms. While they read, individuals find instances of literary devices and elements in use in their books....

Students explore philanthropy in literature. In this cross curriculum literacy and character development instructional activity, students read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and note charitable acts described in the story. Students...

Learners explore themes through the novels The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. In this literature lesson, students identify the themes in each novel and find supporting evidence that develops them....

Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...

Find the main idea in an informational text with a versatile lesson. Three levels of differentiation help you implement the strategy in any age or class level, based on the ability and objectives of your learners.

Eleventh graders explore the concepts of Impressionism and theme. They choose a section of narration which presents Henry Fleming's vision of war. They analyze this section to determine which images invoke the senses: sight, sound,...