Curated OER
Understanding Character
Students are introduced to literary elements and definitions in the worksheet Understanding Character but reading through each of the elements and definitions aloud. They read the story, "La Bamba" and identify examples of the literary...
National Park Service
The Poet's Toolbox
If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities on...
Curated OER
Symbolism in Poetry and Fiction
Students examine the use of symbolism in literature. For this literary elements lesson, students discuss the attributes of symbolism. Students then read selected Cinderella stories and "The Fall of the House of Usher," and identify the...
Curated OER
Poetry in Song
Have your music lovers examine song lyrics and identify the poetry elements or tools used by a lyricist. They review the song individually before working in groups to discuss what they discovered about the song's narrator or character...
Curated OER
Deciphering the Mechanics of Poetry
After a review of poetic terms, groups are given an object and they create a poem using a simile, a metaphor, internal rhyme, end rhyme, alliteration, and personification. Groups then exchange objects and repeat the process. Consider...
Curated OER
1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and sounds of life...
Curated OER
Tone and Mood
How are mood and tone similar? Different? Help your readers understand the difference between the two with this helpful guide. On the first page, they read the definition for both tone and mood and identify words that are describe each....
Great Books Foundation
War Is Kind
Ponder the complexities of war, peace, and country with Stephen Crane's "War is Kind." After reading the poem, learners answer six questions in a class discussion or as an individual assessment.
E Reading Worksheets
Tone Worksheet 1
Discern the tone in four selected poems with a straightforward assignment. Junior high readers analyze the authors' word choice and text structure to define a tone for each poem, as well as each poem's meaning.
Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
K20 LEARN
It’s Never Too Late to Apologize: Character Development and Theme in “The Scarlet Ibis”
Sometimes saying I'm sorry just doesn't cut it. Scholars examine a series of apology poems, songs, and stories and consider each speaker's regrets. Using what they have learned, they analyze James Hurst's short story, "The Scarlet Ibis,"...
EngageNY
How to Read a Poem: “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”
Learners listen as a teacher models how to read a poem using The Negro Speaks of
Rivers. They use the How to Read a Poem anchor chart to help guide their thought process on how a poem requires different reading than other text. While...
Curated OER
Parody
Expand your students' literary likings with this quick PowerPoint about parodies. A detailed definition of a parody on the second slide precedes different examples of parodies in pop culture. Tip: Show videos of famous parodies your...
Curated OER
Text Features of Fiction, Poetry, Drama: Story Matrix
How do novels differ from plays? Explore with your class the text features of fiction and drama by reading The Hidden One: Native American Legend and then performing a reader’s theater script based on the story. Class members create a...
Curated OER
Author's Voice in Passage
Students explore author's voice. In this literary elements and reading comprehension lesson, students listen to two poems about snakes (included) and identify adjectives and other descriptive words and phrases that help them determine...
Curated OER
Acrostic Poem Pals
Students work in groups to determine a creative writing theme. They listen to each other to produce a group acrostic poem and then collaborate with their partners to recite their poetry. They then add drawings to add an artistic element...
Curated OER
Responses to Literature
Middle and high schoolers hone their writing skills by reading Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the poem Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out. They fill out a graphic organizer (included here), and use the organizer to write an...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Drawing Conclusions Based on Literary Elements
Students compare versions of Cinderella and draw conclusions based on the story elements identified. In this literacy comprehension and story elements lesson, students read several versions of Cinderella, complete a "Comparing Folklore"...
Curated OER
Be the Poet
Students work through a Haiku Organizer to determine the characteristics they use to write eight haiku poems on a theme that they choose. They design presentation folders of their completed work.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 9
Continue analyzing literature using textual evidence with a lesson plan on "I Felt A Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson. Ninth graders bring their annotation skills and knowledge of figurative language from the previous eight...
Read Works
City Autumn
Glimpse a beautiful moment through poetry with a reading comprehension activity. As sixth graders read through "City Autumn" by Joseph Moncure March, they answer ten questions about the setting, mood, vocabulary, and punctuation of the...
Curated OER
Dancing through Poetry
Get your class up and moving as they explore how to express movement and dance through words. Designed around two poems by Lillian Morrison about break dancing, the activity truly captures the creative and multi-sensory aspects of...
Curated OER
The Lamb Theme of Man and the Natural World
In this poetry themes learning exercise, students reflect on the theme of man in the natural world as they answer 4 short answer and essay questions based on theme in "The Lamb," by William Blake. Students are given a thesis statement...
Curated OER
Rock & Roll through Literary Terms: An Upbeat Lyrical Adventure
Students participate in a variety of activities surrounding Rock & Roll music, lyrics, drama and visual art and how they all help demonstrate examples of literary terms. They use Rock & Roll as an effective aid to stimulate their...