Curated OER
Review of Literary Devices
Sixth graders review literary devices. They use both fiction and nonfiction texts to review metaphor, simile, alliteration, imagery, symbolism and personification. This instructional activity has a scripted guide for the teacher to follow.
Curated OER
Music from a Place Called Half Moon
Learners read the novel, Music from a Place Called Half Moon. They are assigned chapters to analyze for literary elements and to assign titles to the book chapters.
Curated OER
Go Free or Die
Groups of older elementary learners begin their study of figurative language by visiting a website and completing the exercises detailed there. They then apply what they have learned by finding examples in several poems. Finally, they...
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Othello and the Power of Language
Learners explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing his astonishing command of rhetoric and figurative language. The diverse set of activities below include short group performances, writing exercises and the guided use of...
Curated OER
Language Arts, Music, Poetry: Blues Style
This instructional activity focuses on how the blues both operates as poetry and informs the poetry of many prominent African American poets. Students consider the poetic devices and recurring themes in blues lyrics and the significance...
Curated OER
Emily Dickinson & Poetic Imagination: "Leap, plashless"
Students analyze the poems of Emily Dickinson and write their own nature poem. In this poetry analysis lesson, students read Dickinson poetry and analyze the use of imagery, sound, and metaphor. Students write their own nature poem using...
Curated OER
Getting To Know You
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes ten lessons from the American Literature series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response activities are included for each...
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Othello and the Power of Language
Students explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing Shakespeare's use of rhetoric and figurative language. In this Othello instructional activity, students analyze Iago's rhetoric in monologues and dialogues with other...
Curated OER
Recognizing Similes: Fast as a Whip
Students review basic knowledge of similes and engage with similes on a more abstract level. For this similes lesson, students define similes and identify examples. Students read and analyze the similes used in poetry by Derricotte,...
Curated OER
I Hear Poetry
Students practice analysis of poetry by analyzing song lyrics using a worksheet to guide the analysis process. They work in small groups to assess the stylistic and literary devices used in the song lyrics then they find a published...
Schools Linking Network & Lifeworlds Learning
How Do We All Live Together?
Explore the concepts of community and point of view with these activities complementing the children's book Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Following a class reading of the story, ask students to either draw a map of the...
Curated OER
Nutrition (Weight Management)
Seventh graders explore nutrition and the effect it has by participating in class discussions. In this diet and exercise lesson plan, 7th graders analyze print advertisements and discuss how unrealistic their expectations are and how...
Curated OER
6 Room Image Poem (adapted from Georgia Heard’s Awakening the Heart)
Students explore emotions and memories in preparation for poetry writing. In this poetry lesson plan students use a graphic organizer and prompts to begin to describe a specific memory which they will turned into a poem.
Curated OER
Studying Pillow The Book
Students investigate the content of The Pillow Book. They conduct research and complete journals about the readings. There are target questions to guide the writing and reflection process.
Curated OER
Memories, A Connection to the Past
Third graders read four books related to the past and memories. With a partner, they complete a graphic organizer for each story in English or Spanish. To end the lesson, they write a short paper summarizing the material and putting...
National Endowment for the Humanities
“House by the Railroad”: A Painting and a Poem for the Common Core
Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading of the two...
Curated OER
A Balloon Dance
Students identify three different levels of movement and sensation of buoyancy, respond spontaneously in movement to the stimuli of imagery and feelings, and formulate his or her own unique sequence of movements based on personal...
Curated OER
Oliver/Kenyon
Learners, through two pieces of writing, identify poetic/language devices through the speakers, personification , imagery, metaphor, etc. They assess the patterns those devices are used in and analyze the theme of each. Each student...
Curated OER
"World Enough, And Time"-Andrew Marvell's Coy Mistress
Students read and analyze the poem, "To His Coy Mistress," by Andrew Marvell. They identify the theme of each stanza, complete a worksheet, take an online quiz, and write about a single metaphor or image from the poem.
Curated OER
"Leap, plashless": Emily Dickinson & Poetic Imagination
Young scholars examine different poems from Emily Dickinson. They practice listening for meter in the poems and make connections between the texts. They also practice their own creative writing skills.
Curated OER
Writing an Autobiography
Young scholars identify life goals as they write an autobiography. They write a strong introduction for their autobiography. Students write a sequences of events using their Life Map as a graphic organizer. They write facts accurately...
National Endowment for the Humanities
From Courage to Freedom: Slavery's Dehumanizing Effects
Learners analyze slavery and its effects on humanity using Frederick Douglass' autobiography. In this slavery instructional activity, high schoolers analyze instances of reality and romanticized myth using a slave narrative. Learners...
Curated OER
School Autobiography
Students brainstorm for fifteen minutes independently, sketching out what they remember or how they want to organize their data. they write a journal along the lines of "what do you remember about kindergarten? Write to a (fictional)...
Curated OER
Bums in the Attic
Students engage in a study about the life of young girl in the book "Bums In The Attic". They read the narrative story while considering the first person point of view. Students write a journal that analyzes the author's style of writing.