National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 1: In Depth with the Full Spectrum
High schoolers study the ways in which an artist can use color. They view various images of artwork and discuss the effect of color on spacial dimensions, focal points, tone, and mood.
Curated OER
Reading and Activity Suggestions for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Students learn about characterization techniques in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. For this Adventures of Tom Sawyerlesson, students write a description of one character through the eyes of another character and identify scenes that give...
EngageNY
Analyzing Different Mediums: Advantages and Disadvantages
How do authors play to people's moods? After briefly reviewing mood using a Conditional and Subjunctive Mood handout, learners practice identifying conditional and subjunctive sentences in the Montgomery Bus Boycott speech before reading...
Brigham Young University
Introducing the Text and Learning the Process of Script Analysis
Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...
Media Smarts
Teaching TV: Critically Evaluating TV
Mercer Mayer's There's a Nightmare in my Closet creates the framework for a specific discussion of nightmares generated by TV and a more general discussion of other emotions evoked by programs.
Curated OER
Are You Aware?
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read several short paragraphs about farm animals and then answer five multiple questions about each paragraph.
Curated OER
Go Ahead--Say What You Feel!
Learners observe and demonstrate a variety of strategies for reading with expression. They listen to the teacher read sentences with and without expression and discuss the type of punctuation that is needed. Students then listen to the...
Curated OER
We All Need Speed Limits
Students consider fluency and speed of reading. In this speed limits lesson, students discuss the importance of speed when reading and how the rate affects comprehension and listening skills. Teacher models think aloud as a strategy.
Curated OER
Symbol Beneath the Surface in "The Life You Save May Be Your Own"
Students identify the value of symbols in shorts stories and analyze Flannery O'Connor's use of symbolism. In this symbolism instructional activity, students complete a worksheet about symbols for cars. Students answer questions about...
Curated OER
Newbery Books: Guaranteed Good Reading
Sixth graders explore and analyze Newbery Medal books. They view a Powerpoint presentation on the Newbery Medal book of that current year, select a book, read and analyze the book, and prepare a multimedia book report presentation.
Curated OER
The Individual and His Role in Society
Tenth graders discover how various writers approach the themes of : alienation and solitude, living life "deliberately" and "phonies." Through reading, journaling, class discussion, and writing assignments they realize the power of the...
Curated OER
Reading and Writing Poems About Place
Students explore images, metaphor and simile, personification, detail, inference, tone, meaning. They identify words, phrases, sentences they do and don't understand, and ask questions of themselves and others.
Curated OER
Evaluate Problem-Solving in the Context of Culture and Time-frame
Students examine literary elements in non-fiction literature. In this problem solving lesson, students read Rosa Parks, My Story and Beyond the Limits. Students make oral presentations based on the causes and effects, conflicts, and...
Curated OER
Using Songs in the LCTL Classroom
Students in a beginning to intermediate foreign language/ESL classroom complete a variety of activities involving music and lyrics that are designed to enhance their listening and vocabulary skills. They practice grammar and making...
Curated OER
Clue In On Color
High schoolers consider the effects of color on moods and feelings. They participate in a variety of demonstrations to explore the role of illusion and suggestion in human perception. They consider which color best represents their...
Curated OER
We Are All Different in Many Ways!
Students draw a picture with only one color crayon. As a class, they discuss how the world would be different if there were only one color crayon to use. After being read a book, they discuss how each person is important even though...
Curated OER
Back in Time - Next Stop the Middle Ages
Students are introduced to the Middle Ages through Powerpoint presentations and books. During the presentations students work on various reading skills by reading made up papers about the Middle Ages detailing certain events in history.
Curated OER
Halloween Literature Unit: Little Critter’s Halloween
Students are read Happy Halloween Little Critter, by Mercer Mayer. In this emotions lesson plan, students discover how their mood is often affected by their feelings. They discuss the story as a class and then work independently on a...
Curated OER
African American Literature in Art
Pupils compare art and literature by examining a contemporary painting by Glenn Ligon and the essay by James Baldwin that inspired it. They write an essay about a personal experience that relates to the theme of being an "outsider."
Curated OER
MTV and Othello
After reading Acts III and IV of Othello, give your class a fun, interactive, music-related activity. Begin by asking young scholars about songs they have heard in movies or plays. Let them look up the lyrics online and ruminate about...
Curated OER
Adding Strong Voice to Your Writing
Identify examples of strong voice in popular picture books. Young authors add voice to their writing and revise their own writing. In addition, they share their writing with their peers.
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Hearts of Writers
Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson plan focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of...
Curated OER
Using Poetry As Inspiration for Composition
A reading of Robert Frost’s "The Road Not Taken" launches an interdisciplinary study of the connection between the meters of a poem and a melody. After identifying the number of beats in each line of the poem, young musicians use...
Curated OER
Cross Patch
Leaners will recite "Cross Patch" and examine its related emotions and vocabulary. They chant "Cross Patch", participate in listening games and identify rhyming words. Afterward, they place the rhyme in their "My Very Own Nursery Rhyme...