Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is the most frequently cited novel for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Open Response Question. Those new to using the book and and veterans as well will find the teaching strategies, the...

Good discussion questions, quizzes, and tests teach as well as assess. Readers of The Great Gatsby will learn much from the materials in a 36-page packet designed to help students prepare for the AP Literature exam. Included in the...

The themes of The Great Gatsby are embodied in the images F. Scott Fitzgerald creates. To encourage reader interaction with the text, individuals create a symbolic representation of themselves, place themselves in the story,...

By The Great Horn Spoon is a fantastic novel for introducing learners to life during the California Gold Rush. First, kids research and analyze American folk songs, then they connect to the text as they listen to symphonic pieces written...

Invite your young artists to design blankets that express their own identities. Learners examine various pieces of art before brainstorming a few things that represent their identities. They use these ideas, in addition to symmetry and...

How did Native Californians and Franciscans influence one another in early California? Learners analyze a few cultural pieces to examine the impact that integration had on Franciscan and Native Californian culture.

A wonderful product called Batik is the focus of this lesson. High schoolers should love this art lesson, because each shirt will come out differently, and each student puts their original "stamp" on it. One warning: there are a lot of...

Third graders explore cultures that use clay figures in the art of storytelling. They discover the importance of cultural history being passed through generations. They also form their own storyteller from a clay figure.

Although this lesson is based on “Final Word,” Craig Wilson’s USA Today column, the strategies could be adapted to any local columnist. After reading three articles independently, groups share observations about content and style used by...

Students investigate the symbolism and meaning of samplers in American history. In this American history and sampler lesson, students examine pictures of original samplers and look at lists of the symbolism included in them. They connect...

After reading Flannery O'Connor's short stories, provide your high schoolers with these questions. You could use these to prompt higher level thinking for an upcoming test, or provide them as essay prompts. 

Hand out this worksheet and lead your class on a scavenger hunt. Pupils look for examples of shape, form, balance, pattern, perspective, space, and depth. They draw and write about the examples they've found. A great resource to add...

Teaching a unit on the Holocaust? Consider using the personal statements of Dan Pagis’s poetry to contrast with the more “distanced” historical accounts found in textbooks. Five poems, discussion questions, and background notes are...

Introduce your class to the writing of the indigenous Americans and, even more well known, their story telling. An engaging presentation describes what kinds of texts would be included in the oral stories performed and some common...

Streets and alleys is a cat and mouse game wherein the cat is chasing and trying to capture the mouse. The fun part of this game is that the streets can turn in to alleys and the alleys can turn in to streets. This can be at times...

What really knocks me out about this project list is that when you're done reading about the projects, you wish you could do them all. I'm not kidding. There are 16 terrific ideas and that doesn't happen very often.

Introduce youngsters to the important role shape and form play in art with this extensive collection of activities and projects. From teaching first graders how to create mandalas to engaging third and fourth graders in the design...

What was Shakespeare's intent? That is the question at the heart of a summer assignment designed for AP English Literature. Class members focus on five scenes from The Tempest and compare the interactions of Prospero, Caliban,...

Readers of Antigone are asked to recall events in Sophocles' tragedy to complete a 24-clue crossword puzzle. An engaging way to review for a final assessment.

Lovers, madmen, and readers of A Midsummer Night's Dream will need seething brains to complete a crossword puzzle designed for Shakespeare's engaging comedy.

Review main characters, story events, and important quotes from Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief. A crossword puzzle with 29 clues gives high schoolers the opportunity to check their understanding and revist Zusak's haunting work.

Paul Fisher, the main character in Tangerine, comes to see that it's the choices in life that lead to the consequences that make all the difference. A unit study of Bloor's young adult novel leads readers down this same path. 

Check out this 21-page text guide if Sophocles' Antigone is part of your course content. Packed with background information, suggested talking points, and activities, the guide is a must-have for instructors using the Greek tragedy. 

Pupils examine the process of creating patriotic American appliqué designs. They research American patriotic appliqué quilts, list American symbols, and design and create their own paper appliqué designs.