Set your class up for success with writing descriptive settings with these two graphic organizers. On the first page, writers note specifc details about their chosen setting and comment on how each character views the setting. The second...

If you're tired of defining allusion, onomatopoeia, and satire for your language arts students, hand out a complete list of literary devices to keep the terms straight. Each term includes a definition that is easy to understand and...

Your advanced Latin learners mark the metrical pattern in Catullus 58, a poem written by Catullus concerning his love and hatred of Lesbia. Spend time translating the poem so your learners have a complete understanding of the passage. 

What is on your pupils' "Bucket Lists" - the list of things they want to do before they die? Their choices of activities for this list could be very revealing, and is a great source of inspiration for a personal poem. The lesson plan...

Your health class reads two biographical stories: one about a girl who has allergies and the other about a girl who has asthma. They watch a quick cartoon on the KidsHealth website about immunity and take the related online quiz. You...

Bridge cultural awareness, community, government, and art with an introspective and thought-provoking lesson. Upper graders become globally and socially aware as they analyze and explore the art of Jeremy Deller. They consider his images...

Readers must go beyond the surface level of Guy de Maupassant's story, "The False Gems," to answer the questions on this worksheet. They must draw inferences, evaluate character's actions, and analyze how irony and symbolism give depth...

The second lesson plan in a series of fourteen, this plan takes the short story basics a step further. Learners complete a quiz about the story from the previous day, discuss the text, learn about Anton Chekhov, and work in groups to...

How should pupils read short stories? Set them up for this unit with an introductory lesson that goes over the main characteristics of a short story and starts learners off reading their first short story of the unit. In order to get a...

Pair your reading of Farmer McPeepers and His Missing Milk Cows with the questions and activities provided here. Learners answer questions about the text, create story maps, put together brochures, relate math to the story, practice...

Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...

Looking to set up literature circles in your class? Use these materials to support pupils when they meet in groups. Pupils take on various roles over the course of reading and meet with their groups to share the work they have done on...

Maya Angelou's first autobiography,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, demonstrates both the author's exemplary writing and the themes of gender and racial injustice that perpetuate beyond the limits of the 20th century. Use a...

Students complete a unit of activities for "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe in part to analyze short stories, playwriting, and video production. In this Edgar Allan Poe lesson, students complete a 37 page packet of...

Students examine the story elements in the book, Miss Nelson is Missing. In this literary elements instructional activity, students listen to the story and identify the sequence of events in the test. Students also use an online...

Cassandra Clare's City of Bones is the first book in the Mortal Instruments series and is quite popular with young adults. This online multiple choice quiz tests readers' understanding of basic plot elements.

In this literature worksheet, students match the correct word from the first column to the best definition found in the second column. There are twenty words and definitions to match.

Students explore The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  In this book review lesson, students examine the elements included in a book review, such as author, opinions of the book, summary, character information, main points and plot summary....

Young scholars explore "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. In this literature lesson, students read the story and take notes. Young scholars choose a literary element such as character, setting, or theme....

Eighth graders develop plot lines as a part of narrative writing process. In this plot lines lesson, 8th graders work in learning groups to create a plot line for a piece of literature they've read. Students discuss the general plot and...

Students explore The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. For this plot summary lesson, students read the book and take notes about the plot.  Students write a plot summary of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Students create a movie flyer to advertise the novel that the class has just finished reading in small groups. They search the Internet, format their flyer, select a slogan for their film, write a brief plot summary, without giving away...

Students will explore And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.  In this analysis lesson, students read And Then There Were None and take notes about the book as they read. Students write a plot summary of the book. 

Students analyze graphical forms of Eudora Welty and interpret the shorts stories in the representations. In this graphical representations lesson, students analyze the short story genre in comic strips. Students then create their own...