Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Why Did Mamma Change Her Mind? [Pdf]
"Why Did Mamma Change Her Mind?" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a party. Mom said her son and daughter could each have 5 friends (5 boys and 5 girls). The girl wanted all girls so the party was cancelled. It is followed...
Read Works
Read Works: I Need Quiet!
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a boy named Kahlil who figured out a way to eliminate noisy distractions so he could read. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Hide and Seek
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a girl named Tracy who played hide and seek with the cousins she was babysitting. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Nature/national Geographic: Flora's Background and Motivation
Learn about what motivated Flora, a woman from the city, to move to the African bush in this short video from Nature/National Geographic. This is one in a series of three videos about Flora's life. [7:00]
Other
America Dept. Of State: Outline of American Literature [Pdf]
This online book presents an overview of American literature chronologically. Eras and movements are explained and biographies of significant authors are provided. This is a good way to understand the background and influences of...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Using Digital Notebook to Visualize Thematic Links
Students will work in groups of two or three to produce two pages of a digital scrapbook covering a thematic element from Macbeth. The pages will then be assembled into a visual review of the play's themes and character motivations...
Universal Teacher
Moore's Teacher Resources: Studying Macbeth
A site from the UK on William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Complete with information on the historical context, character analysis, thematic elements, and review questions.
Other
Writing World: Four Ways to Bring Settings to Life
A great resource outlining four major ways to make settings appear more real and genuine in fiction. Deals with themes such as motion, experience, mood, and the senses. W.11-12.3d Sensory/precise lang narratives
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: 103 Things to Do Before/during/after Reading
The highly-respected Reading Rockets program offers both teachers and students a toolkit of ways to connect more actively with the materials they read. Some of these techniques are specifically for fiction-reading, others are designed...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Using Picture Books to Teach Plot Development and Confict Res.
Students read picture books to explore the concepts of plot development and conflict resolution. They first learn about the connections between reading and writing, and then revise their own writing. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.4
Caro Clarke
Historical Fiction: Who Rules?
This is the fifteenth article in a series designed to help the new novel author. This article focuses on the genre of historical fiction and the role of the author. Is the author a researcher or a story-teller?
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Characterization
This is a glossary entry for the term "Characterization" including a definition and the characteristics to be developed: Character's appearance, actions, thoughts, voice, and reaction from others.
Other
Literature Unit: "A Day No Pigs Would Die"
This site features questions for each of the chapters in Robert Newton Peck's "A Day No Pigs Would Die."
BBC
Bbc: Gcse Bitesize: "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"
Analyze literature through the study of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Made specifically for students preparing to take the GCSE test, this site is beneficial to all students learning about Stevenson or the elements...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Cinderella Folk Tales (Lesson Plans)
These five activities allow students to explore the various Cinderella folktales, while comparing and contrasting the characters. They provide lesson extensions, links to charts, discussion questions and the like.
Shmoop University
Shmoop: Ender's Game
Shmoop's study guide for Orson Scott Card's science fiction novel, Ender's Game, includes chapter summaries, character descriptions, explanation of themes, and analysis of various elements in the novel. It also offers study questions and...