Museum of Tolerance
And Justice for All? Slavery Not Just in the Past
Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what), and consider...
Curated OER
Hamlet 1.2: Hamlet's First Soilloquy
O, that these too, too obscure words would resolve themselves into modern English! High school scholars are asked to do a close reading of Hamlet’s first soliloquy (I, ii) and recast these famous lines into contemporary speech, identify...
Curated OER
The Collaborative Works of Rodgers and Hammerstein: Show Business
Pupils study the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein in an historical context of the development of American musical theatre as an art form. Students explore "roots" of the genre as it evolves in last half of the 19th and first two decades...
Curated OER
Slang and Dialogue in Bud Not Buddy
Students identify the 1930's slang in the novel, Bud, Not Buddy. They compare it to modern slang and rewrite a section of the book using modern slang instead of 1930's slang.
Main Memory Network
Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith" and Whitman's "Song of Myself"
Although the work Americans do has changed over time, the plight of the American worker has largely remained the same. Facilitate a class discussion aboutAmerican workers using Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith" and...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 8: Propaganda in Visual Media
Visual and print propaganda are featured in a lesson that asks readers of A Separate Peace to examine the techniques used in propaganda from World War I, World War II, presidential elections, and in the novel.
University of Delaware
Constructing Text-Based Arguments About Social Issues
Eighth graders take a stand on a variety of controversial topics with a lesson on argumentative writing. As they view an informative presentation and work with collaborative groups, they decide which side of each argument they want to...
Curated OER
Annotated Timeline of The American Literary Movement
How did literature evolve in America? This presentation briefly covers the transition from Puritan American all the way until today's Contemporary Period. Key figures from each time period are introduced, and a brief overview of each...
Curated OER
Seventeenth Century Pick-up Lines
High schoolers analyze passages from The Mysteries of Love and Eloquence, or the Arts of Wooing and Complementing, written in the seventeenth century. Students analyze the images, words and figures of speech the author used and compare...
Curated OER
A Conventional Family
Students explore writing techniques by analyzing their own families. In this family values lesson, students view the film "The Incredibles" in class and discuss the different types of modern-day families. Students write about their...
Curated OER
Sonnets
Students examine the structure of sonnets. They compare and contrast them with modern day poetry. They write their own sonnet after changing the language in another sonnet to see why the author choosed certain words.
Curated OER
Values and Composition
Students examine and analyze the values of gray and the composition in photographs by Ansel Adams. They discuss elements of art, draw shapes and lines, complete a tone rectangle, and create a still life drawing.
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Giver
Wouldn't it be great to live an a community without pain, without danger? Such a society is the goal of the community in The Giver. Using Lois Lowry's dystopian novel as the core text, class members read primary source materials about...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 3: What Happens in the White House? A Timeline
Working in groups or individually, learners study images of important events that occurred at, or directly affected, the White House, and share their findings of a specific event. They then post the image of their event on a timeline of...
Curated OER
Word Meanings from Context
Here is a vocabulary worksheet in which your scholars determine the meaning of 10 words using context clues from short readings. They choose from among four words and write their answers on the blank lines at the bottom of the page. They...
Curated OER
Modern American Poetry
Students identify different types of literary terms in poems. They read different poems and create a packet summarizing them. They write a poem of their own and a biography of one of their favorite poets.
Curated OER
Cast of Characters Lesson Plan: Comparing Artists
Students choose an artist, examine a painting, read a statement of the artist and their biography. They research the artist using the World Wide Web, books, encyclopedias, art, prints or magazines. They write an essay using their notes.
Curated OER
What Is Your Sign
Students analyze characters' personalities and relate them to the study of astrology in Shakespeare's time. This activity increases comprehension of early modern beliefs about astrology and, in doing so, give them a greater understanding...
Curated OER
The Merchant of Venice
Pupils read parts of Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. Using primary sources, they gain a glimpse into the early modern period's negative perceptions and stereotypes of human beings of African descent.
Curated OER
Computer Applications - 6
High schoolers become familiar with the course requirements and class procedures. They develop a list of ways that the computer has changed modern society and review the Board of Education policies regarding computer and Internet use by...
Curated OER
The Scarlet Letter
Students design a model that replicates a scene from The Scarlet Letter. They design four greeting cards for the main characters to send to each other. Students create a poster that compares Hawthorne's scarlet letter to a modern scarlet...
Curated OER
"Twelfth Night": What's so funny?
Students brainstorm and discuss elements of modern humor. They compare humor in their own lives to the humor that Shakespeare used in "Twelfth Night". They perform portions of "Twelfth Night" focusing on its humor.
Curated OER
Role Models
Sixth graders examine the characteristics of role models. In this biography lesson, 6th graders debate the qualities of role models. Students work individually to research a historical or modern role model and create a mini-bulletin...
Curated OER
The English Sonnet: Michael Drayton
Students discover literature by conducting a free writing experiment. For this sonnet lesson, students read the sonnet "The Parting" and compare it to modern-day songs about breaking up. Students listen to pop music in class and complete...