Curated OER
South Africa's Apartheid
Discuss South African apartheid, the anti-apartheid movement, and the literature and music it inspired. Slides contain images and facts about life in South Africa during apartheid, social uprisings such as Soweto, and the various...
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Tanka Poem
Take your haikus to the next level with tanka poems, another form of Japanese poetry that regulates the length and rhythm of each line by syllables. Young writers read the explanation, examples, and tips for tanka poems before writing...
Education World
Black History Month Rap
Young scholars write a rap or hip-hop lyric about the life of a famous Black American. They explore famous Black Americans in history and explore how the rap form compares to other forms of poetic expression.
Curated OER
Personification
Introduce your young scholars to personification. The literary device is clearly defined and illustrated with clever examples. Opportunities for guided and independent practice using poems by Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes are also...
K20 LEARN
Allow Me To Introduce Myself: Writing A Letter Of Introduction
"Who am I?" is not only a great philosophical question that requires a lot of reflection but is also at the heart of a letter of introduction. The challenge, of course, is figuring out where to start. Middle schoolers get a little help...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: A to Z Poem
A two-part lesson asks eighth graders first to draw connections between the myth of Aengus and William Butler Yeats' poem "The Song of Wandering Aengus." In the second part of the lesson, writers craft an "A to Z Poem."
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Allusion (English III Reading)
An interactive lesson introduces readers to allusions, the literary device writers use to add depth to their work. Users record notes on the provided graphic organizer as they identify the allusions in poems by Walt Whitman, Langston...
Curated OER
Sounds of the Season
During Christmas time, use common carols and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music as the basis for writing advertisements. Learners can work in teams or individually as they listen to songs via the links provided. A "Christmas Music Comparison...
Curated OER
To Market
Students examine the process of cooking a meal. For this cooking background lesson, students explore cooking utensils, recipes, songs, and literature. They go through stations that encourage dramatic play and hands-on exploration of...
Curated OER
Personification
The meaning of personification is the focus of this language arts presentation. Upper elementary writers are exposed to the concept of personification, then practice implementing the technique by adding color to the sentence, "Leaves are...
Curated OER
Prepositions Song
Students memorize a list of prepositions and are encouraged to use them in their writing.
Curated OER
Black and Blue: Jazz in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
Students analyze the impact of jazz on the novel, "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison. They read and discuss excerpts of the novel, write an essay on the influence of jazz on Ralph Ellison as a writer, and view video excerpts on jazz...
Curated OER
A Related Rate Problem
In this algebra worksheet, students calculate the rate of change as it relates to height and length. This is a word problem with 3 specific math questions as to how Frank S. Key came up with the song "Me and My Shadow"
Curated OER
Jazz Talk
Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
Amazon Web Services
Idiom Dictionary
Examining idioms is a peace of cake when using this graphic organizer! Here, grammarians identify an idiom and use it in a sentence. Then they investigate its literal meaning versus its figurative meaning, and accompany each one with a...
Penguin Books
Folklore and Fairytales: A Guide to Using Traditional Tales and Reimagined Classics
Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...
Curated OER
Music: A Nation's Voice
Students investigate the impact of popular music in 1960's America. In this music and history lesson plan, students listen to several identified songs from the decade and analyze their lyrics. Students discuss their impressions and then...
Curated OER
Know Thyself: Reflections of the Adolescent Identity Crisis in Rock and Roll
Twelfth graders define themselves through music. In this psychology lesson, 12th graders identify James Marcia's 4 states of identity and identify songs that reflect each of the states.
Curated OER
Ballad Blast
Students write epic poems, songs, or ballads to describe adventures of their own. They discover that storytellers often told stories as epic poems, songs, or ballads. They share and discuss some of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.
Curated OER
U2
Students examine the cover of a compact disc from U2 and describe what they see. They match words in English with other languages. They discover the meanings of words they do not know from the songs.
Curated OER
Journal Writing
Learners gain a better understanding of good journal writing. They examine how there are two types of journals - personal and public, yet each serves to describe the writers feelings and experiences about a given event.
Curated OER
Writing
Fourth graders review the writing process by using the English Language Arts Writer's Checklist. They examine a piece of writing for the key elements of composition. They help to make the writing pieces more interesting by correcting...
Curated OER
Poetry and PowerPoint
Third graders read and discuss the poem, "April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes. After brainstorming examples of vivid verbs, figures of speech, language patterns, and imagery used in the poem, 3rd graders write a poem on a topic of...
Curated OER
Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey
Twelfth graders read lyrics for "My Hometown" and complete a worksheet to identify setting and tone in the song. In this Romanticism lesson plan, 12th graders read Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey by Wordsworth and discuss...