Prepare for a mid-unit assessment based on Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club with a brainstorming and discussion lesson plan. Focused on two chapters from the novel ("Rules of the Game" and "Two Kinds"), the lesson plan guides tenth graders...

The Scarlet Letter may be a classic, but keeping high schoolers engaged in the reading of Hawthorne's vocabulary, syntax, imagery, and historical references presents it own set of challenges. Here's a guide that offers readers...

Use Jack London's The Call of the Wild to help young writers learn the difference between first and third person points of view. After they read a passage from the novel, they rewrite it in the first person point of view.

Six lessons comprise a unit about Roald Dahl's George's Marvelous Medicine. Over time, scholars explore themes such as the power of words, exciting writing, and mixed feelings. They examine the writing's literary devices, persuasive...

In general, pupils are not allowed to write in school-issued books; however, they can write on a bookmark that you provide! Kids can take notes on the setting, characters, themes, and connections as they read a short story or novel.

Walk your class through the process of writing compare and contrast essays with this easy-to-use graphic organizer. After first using the included Venn diagram to record the similarities and differences between two subjects,...

"Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle?" Inspired by this quote from the award-winning novel written by Andrew Celements, this instructional activity allows children to invent...

How can you tell what is going to happen next in a story? Learn to make predictions with five sections of stories. Kids read the beginning, and then write what they believe will happen next. Additionally, they provide evidence for their...

How did the Civil Rights Movement affect young people in the United States? Scholars read Christopher Paul Curtis' novel, The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963. Next, they write compare and contrast essays showing how the main...

What do you do when you find a word that's not familiar to you? Help readers use context clues when encountering unfamiliar words with a grammar activity. They note the parts of the sentences that show the meaning of the word,...

Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not...

A strong community acts as a family during difficult times. The evidence for the family aspects of Maycomb is abundant in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is the focus of a lesson on the importance of setting as it relates...

A primary source set of photographs, videos, newspaper articles, and FBI reports provides insight into race relations during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the murder of Emmitt Till. Designed to be used to...

Fifth graders study comprehension. In this writing instructional activity, 5th graders remember what they read and write an introduction for a character from a novel just read including a good description of that character.

Students read a variety of novels and watch clips of films through which they begin to feel empathy for cultures and countries occupied by foreign countries. They have the option of studying the Sino-Japanese Wars or the Russo-Japanese...

Students create oral presentations and posters about a book they have read. They try and interest their classmates to read the book by writing persuasive reports.

Learners write a four paragraph persuasive paper on Of Mice and Men. In this Of Mice and Men lesson, students take a position on whether or not George should have killed Lennie. Learners are given a paragraph-by-paragraph guide to assist...

Students listen to the teacher read a book entitled, Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. In groups, students create KWL charts concerning the book, the author, and the author's writing style. In groups, students research topics about the book and its...

Second graders read and discuss Patricia MacLaclan's book Sarah, Plain and Tall. They write a narrative putting themselves in the setting of the story.

Students create vivid, active characters for a story. For this character lesson, students discuss the characters in books they are familiar with. Students create a list of novels they have read and discuss the character types. Students...

Pupils apply vocabulary activities to two short stories in order to increase their comprehension skills. They complete three lessons in which they examine irony, examine how it is used in text, and design an ironic skit. Also, the look...

Students research social elements of the 1920s.  In this persuasive writing lesson, students make comparisons between women of the 1920s and women in the 21st century.  They work in small groups to discuss the women in The...

Students write a literary response essay to Maya Angelou's novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In this literary response lesson, students complete pre-writing activities, discuss the rubric for the essay, and visit the given websites...

In this intermediate question response worksheet, students write a response telling what their favorite movie is and why. They read an exemplary answer, write a rough draft, and a final draft of their answer.