Introduce young scholars to the concept of the author's perspective with a lesson that uses Emma Lazarus's poem, "The New Colossus," as the anchor text. Groups use a T-chart to identify words that reveal the author's point of view...

Here is a lesson plan that provides scholars with two opportunities to stretch their compare-and-contrast muscles. First, learners compare and contrast their experience reading the fourth stanza of If by Rudyard Kipling to listening to...

Can three works of literature work together to establish and develop a common central idea? Put your thoughts into writing with a final assessment focused on a unit-long analysis of Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepard to His...

Boost reading comprehension skills with a lesson all about freaky frogs. A poem hooks scholars and takes them into a reading of an informational text followed by peer discussions. A three-page worksheet focuses on text features and...

Why is it important to make connections across texts? Scholars discover the answer with instructional activity 12 of 14 from the Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 2 series. Pupils analyze the development of ideas in three nonfiction texts,...

Two minds are better than one. Learners engage in an evidence-based discussion to identify central ideas in Audre Lorde's poem "From the House of Yamanjá" and one additional nonfiction text. They complete a Cross-Evidence Collection Tool...

Young poets view a model two-voice poem while discussing capitalization and punctuation. Pupils also complete an end-of-unit assessment about using strong evidence to support a literary analysis. 

"Who am I?" Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace," Julio Naboa Polanco's poem "Identity," and a clip from a Jason Bourne film provide learners with a context to consider the traits that makeup identity. Scholars create a...

Your class can participate in a writing program involving four building blocks. By exploring words, sentences, writing forms, and story organization, they improve their creative writing skills throughout this year-long unit. Early in the...

Never Forget. As part of a study of the Holocaust, class members watch a PowerPoint about Terezin, read selections from I Never Saw Another Butterfly, Children's Drawings, and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, then craft their...

Explore the Earth's different ecosystems through four lessons, an assessment, and extension activities. Lessons include informative text and step-by-step instructions to apply knowledge in interactive, and thought provoking ways; such as...

A close examination of John Gast's painting "American Progress" launches a study of the concept of Manifest Destiny used to justify United States' policy of westward expansion. Young historians read statements from persons with different...

How do statistics help people understand the universal refugee experience? Using the resource, scholars engage in an activity called a Chalk Talk, working in teams to analyze statistics from informational texts about refugees. Also, they...

A little adversity is good for writing. Scholars review narrative-based monologues and concrete poems and choose which genre to use to express their own theme of adversity. Pupils also consider how to structure their narratives by...

Young scholars explore and evaluate poetry. In small groups, they read and summarize poems, complete a handout, create and perform a dramatization of a poem, and write a journal entry in response to their performance.

Students analyze lyrics and narration by reading poetry.  In this language arts lesson, students read and examine the poem Belfast Confetti.  Students discuss the topics and questions asked by the author Ciaran Carson.

Do leaders need to be more moral than followers? Does power corrupt? Can anyone be a leader? Begin a study of leadership with a reading of excerpts from the Epic of Gilgamesh. After examining the ancient Mesopotamian hero, class members...

Introduce your class to epic heroes with these activities for Beowulf. After watching a video clip, taking notes on heroes, and tracking characteristics of heroism throughout Beowulf, class members retell an episode of Beowulf using a...

Pupils read poems, read phrases, and create a poster for what math is and relate it back to literature. They also discuss the impact math has had on literature.

Here is a rather esoteric resource that presents the archetypes found in “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” and would be appropriate for a college-level psychology or literature class, or as a teacher resource. Considered the “world’s oldest...

Students discover the 5 senses by analyzing poetry.  For this poetry lesson, students read a poem with their class and analyze how each sense plays into their understanding of the poem.  Students write a poem based on a...

Pupils discuss and research litter and write an anti litter poem. In this litter lesson plan, students also discuss what they can do to stop litter.

Students learn to recite poems and songs that they will recite and sing at their graduation for kindergarten. In this graduation lesson, students memorize and practice 5 poems and songs.

Students write Cinquain poems about a novel.