Should schools serve soda to students? Learners read an artlcle that argues against the sale of soda in schools and engage in a class discussion. They then complete a short assessment to check for comprehension and reflect on the...

Seventh graders are able to use active listening skills, take notes and identify literary elements of a short story. They use/create graphic organizer, compare/contrast literary elements from various stories and compare and contrast traits.

What are the three types of irony? High schoolers engage in a lesson about the use of irony while reading O.Henry's short story "Gift of the Magi." They'll discuss rising action, climax, and resolution in the text before highlighting the...

Students read a short story about a young Iraqi boy, which opens up classroom discussion about the difficulties some immigrant students face, especially in the days after September 11.

Explore Chinese culture and customs with your class and allow them time to connect and compare their own experiences with experiences of character a from the short story The All-American Slurp. They create a short presentation on some...

Read an excerpt from Sonia Mycak's short story A Dual Existence in a Seemingly Singular Country and consider the emotional and social implications of not being able to speak English in Australia. This would be a great lesson for EFL...

Readers practice character analysis by reviewing Gary Soto's short story "La Bamba" with the whole class (anything you've read together will work). They design t-shirts that feature traits and story elements to reveal the nature of a...

High schoolers evaluate several works by Edgar Allen Poe based on the criteria in his essay, "The Philosophy of Composotion" Their analysis is documented using a graphic organizer. Learners begin the pre-writing process for their own...

Using a three-column chart labeled "Character," "Action," and "Trait," pupils analyze the traits of several characters from a short story. The lesson is designed for a SMART board, but a teacher could easily do the lesson without the...

Learners discuss the characteristics of the literary genre known as "Southern Gothic". They write an analysis of the short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor.

After listening to the opening description in Of Mice and Men, high schoolers try their hand at writing a short story that includes a mugging. The story should include all five senses. Each of the pupils reads their opening paragraph to...

Explore ancient Rome through reading The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. Readers activate prior knowledge by examining objects that relate to the story and predict the significance of the items. Their curiosity is aroused...

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a treasure trove of symbolism and literary themes. Help your kids note the richest passages in the book with a lesson and graphic organizer. The lesson prepares kids to come up with a thesis...

Learners predict outcomes of a text. For this comprehension strategy lesson, students read a poem and compare it to the play A Raisin in the Sun. Learners discuss their similarities and the power of dreams.

Fourth graders focus on fluency by reading the book Charlotte's Web. In this reading strategies lesson plan, 4th graders partner read, do guided reading, and independent reading to increase fluency. Students use Venn Diagrams,...

Students complete a variety of activities related to the short /u/ sound. As a class they recite a tongue twister, then trace and write the letter U. Students then listen to a list of words and identify the words containing the short...

Students examine all of the jobs a mother does. For this Mother's Day lesson, the teacher read the book Five Minutes' Peace, then students brainstorm a list of things their mother does. Students role play the job of a mom and how to...

Students explore a Japanese science fiction story that deals with the dangers of technology, failed attempts at utopia, mind control, and loss of loved ones through the reading of Yasutaka Tsutaka's "Standing Woman."

Students examine the process of summarizing text. They participate in a class discussion, and read an assigned passage from their textbook, highlighting the main points of the text. Students then write a short summary of their...

Students read a short fiction book and demostrate comprehension by identifying the main characters, setting, conflict, theme, and summarizing the main points. They organize the information in Inspiration and create a powerpoint to show...

Young historians discover the life of an incredible African American woman who, as an anti-slavery lecturer prior to the Civil War, defied stereotypes of what women could accomplish. Pupils explore the concept of stereotyping, read...

Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson that models...

Students read and analyze the short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," by Flannery O'Connor. They write a one-page response, explore various websites, take an online interactive journey, and write a final assessment paper.

Students, after reading a short story, predict possible missing words by utilizing context clues and graphophonic clues. A picture book with several words covered up sets the scene for this lesson plan. They share their predictions in...