National Endowment for the Humanities
"Old Southwest" Humorists and George Washington Harris
Young scholars discover the work of George Washington Harris and his influence on American humor. For this George Washington Harris lesson, discuss cultural differences in the United States and read Sut Lovongwood stories by George...
Scholastic
The Class Election from the Black Lagoon Storia Teaching Guide
One of my favorite things about this resource is that they use a standardized lexile to help you determine who should be reading what book. I also love this great teacher's guide for the book, The Class Election from the Black Lagoon. In...
We are Teachers
Phrases to Outlaw in Students' Writing
If your writing classroom was the Wild West, what phrases would be "outlawed"? Here is one poster that every writing instructor, and really, any teacher of communication, should have in their classroom!
Curated OER
In 'Other words' Writing Gently Humorous Essays About Stereotypes
Define and understand what stereotypes are by reading an article with stereotyping in it. Students will locate how it shows stereotyping and answer questions about the stereotypes. Finally, they will write their own pieces of original work.
Orlando Shakes
Shakespeare in Love: Study Guide
What word has two syllables and means a ray of moonlight? If young readers guessed moonbeam, they are correct! With the Shakespeare in Love study guide, participants test their guessing skills in an exciting game of Shakespeare Taboo...
Curated OER
Satire and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Does Mark Twain’s satire become sarcasm and does he cross the line of propriety in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? As an introduction of satire, class members view an excerpt from The Daily Show and discuss Stewart's use of this...
University of Virginia
Analyzing Social Commentary in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn continues to be one of the most frequently banned books. The satire and social commentary present challenges when using the book as a core text. Direct readers' attention to how Twain uses plot,...
Reed Novel Studies
Flush: Novel Study
Standing up for beliefs sometimes leads to trouble! The father in Flush takes knows this all too well when he sinks a boat in protest to its illegal dumping. With his dad behind bars, the son, Noah, takes matters into his hands by...
Curated OER
Stir Up a Character Analysis Recipe
What ingredients make up a character? A cup of honesty, a dash of humor, a pinch of cynicism? Based on real cookbooks they review in class, learners at any grade level three and up write recipes to describe characters familiar to your...
Curated OER
Cartoons in the Classroom: Gas Pains Again
The price of gas has increased around the country, and many political cartoons, such as this one, have used humor to get people thinking about it. With the help of three very good critical thinking prompts, learners will analyze a...
Curated OER
Writing a Halloween Poem
A delightful lesson on poetry is here for you and your middle schoolers. Learners are instructed to write a Halloween poem. They get to choose the age range for the audience of the poem. So, it may be scary (for older kids), or humorous...
Longman
Stories for reading comprehension
A packet full of old-fashioned short stories could be a review activity for a reading comprehension lesson. Learners read 14 stories before answering multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank sentences, and vocabulary exercises.
Curated OER
Literature Comprehension
For this reading comprehension worksheet, students use the SADDR method to understand the literary tools used in a book. Students complete a speech analysis, action analysis, description analysis, drawing activity, reactions of others...
Curated OER
Shakespearean Comedy on Film
This lesson will focus on the aspects of Shakespeare's comedy that become more evident in performance. By viewing clips of the same Shakespeare scene in different film versions, high schoolers have the opportunity to engage in a close...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 3
To make the point that there are many forms of language, each with its own purpose, class members select 10 lines from Doescher's play, translate these lines first into contemporary English and then into "SMS/Tweet."
Curated OER
You Are What You Eat!
Young scholars create believable self-portraits incorporating selected food items as details, forms, and texturesThe compositional focus is a head-and-shoulders portrait appropriate to the food theme resulting in a humorous illustration....
Curated OER
Her stories: African American folktales, fairy tales, and true tales
Students discuss the illustration's allusion to the myth, Pandora's Box. Students locate instances of folk sayings or expressions that make these tales seem authentic to the reader. Students draw a Venn diagram comparing Catskinella and...
Curated OER
Howl Questions
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 5 short answer and essay questions based on the poem "Howl," by Allen Ginsberg.
Curated OER
Reading, Writing, Reciting Exciting Poetry!
Students complete a poetry analysis unit. In this poetry analysis lesson, students study poetry by reading, reciting, and analyzing poems and their poets. Students study poetic devices, write their own poems, and complete hands-on...
Curated OER
Quiz on Genre and Subgenre
For this quiz on genre and subgenre worksheet, 9th graders match 12 definitions to terms, then answer 3 multiple choice questions identifying genres.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: 9/11 Revisited
Political cartoons about the September 11 terrorist attacks provide an opportunity for class members to analyze the inferences embedded in the drawings.
Curated OER
Horse Character: Ceramics Lesson
Animals oftentimes elicit various characteristics which make them symbolic or representative of human feeling, action, or emotion. The class creates horse characters out of clay to show character action and symbolism. This is a great...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: What's Next in 2011?
Examine the toolbox of political cartoons with this analysis handout, which features a cartoon utilizing satire, sarcasm, and irony as it predicts the current events of 2011. Interestingly, this will also serve to get scholars looking...
Curated OER
Synonyms - How Authors Make Comparisons
A very good 13-slide presentation on similes and metaphors is here for you. It introduces young poets to each term, gives examples, and prompts them to work together to identify similes and metaphors in several different sentences.