National Endowment for the Humanities
Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and the Unreliable Narrator
Stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce provide readers with an opportunity to investigate unreliable narrators. The lesson plan begins with an activity about different types of point of view and continues as scholars apply their...
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Exploring the Dark Heart of an Obsessive Mind
Students complete a unit of activities for "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe in part to analyze short stories, playwriting, and video production. In this Edgar Allan Poe lesson, students complete a 37 page packet of activities...
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Edgar Allan Poe Short Story WebQuest
Introduce your class to Edgar Allan Poe with a series of mostly self-guided tasks and assignments. Class members follow the list of tasks, starting by watching a video with background information and ending with a compare-and-contrast...
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Tell-Tale Heart
Learners discuss the title of Edgar Allen Poe's story, The Tell-Tale Heart before reading it, and discuss information about the author. They use a graphic organizer to help them comprehend the story as they read.
K20 LEARN
Writing An Argumentative Paragraph: Argumentative Writing
Learning how to craft a cogent argument based on a solid claim, supported with evidence and solid reasoning, is an important life skill. Teach middle schoolers about argumentative writing with a lesson asking them to analyze the claims,...
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Tales of Edgar Allen Poe
Analyze the writing of Edgar Allen Poe by reading and then writing in a similar style. Budding authors learn about the life of Poe and read one or more of his famous works online. Partner groups create an original piece of writing using...
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Elements of a Short Story
Students read a short story, The Tell-Tale Heart and create a story map identifying the elements of a short story included in the selection. Students complete an Accelerated Reader test on the selection.
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The "Producing Edgar Allen Poe" Challenge
Students create and perform excerpts from their specific "productions" of Poe's classic Tell Tale Heart.
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Poetic Justice: A Study of Poe's Famous Works
Students explore Edgar Allan Poe's most famous short stories. In this Edgar Allan Poe lesson, students complete a 25 page packet of activities where they recognize the features of genres and literary devices Poe uses. Students read "The...
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A Native American Legend
Students compare the Native American version of Cinderella to the more popular version they know. They compare legends with fairy tales and explore character traits and discuss the meaning of good character. They write a fairy tale of...
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Edgar Allen Poe: More Than the Master of Horror
Celebrate Poe's birthday with works that don't feature incorporeal hearts or evil houses.
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Giving Generously
Students explore philanthropy. In this service learning instructional activity, students read Runaway Rice Cake, identify the elements of the story, and make rice cakes to share with others.
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Cinderella Stories - Native American Cinderella Stories
Students examine a Native American Cinderella story. In this Cinderella lesson, students listen to and compare Rafe Martin's, The Rough Face Girl, to other Cinderella stories. They complete the associated worksheets, role play scenes...
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Elements of a Short Story
Students read a short story and then map out the elements of a short story using "Inspiration" software. They read 'Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allen Poe.
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Summarizing Details in Sequence
Seventh graders write a few sentences explaining the most important events of their lives during the past year. As a class, they discuss why they chose the elements they did for their sentences. To end the lesson, they read a variety of...
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"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Lesson Ideas
There are many creative activities that can be done to extend the learning after reading "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas."
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The Three Little Pigs
Young scholars read the story The Three Little Pigs and complete language activities about them. In this The Three Little Pigs lesson plan, students research houses, draw houses, and write alliteration poems.
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Aztec Myths 1
Students write a diary entry or a letter from the viewpoint of a character in a myth. In this Aztec myths lesson, students define myths and read "The Heart of Copil" and "The Eagle of Tenochtitlan" and find the land of the Aztecs on a...
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Convergence with The Cay: Exploring Geographic Concepts Wrapped in a Story
Here's an awesome unit that uses The Cay as the anchor text. The 16-page packet is loaded with teaching ideas, activities, and suggested adjustments.
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Lesson Plans for "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss
"The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss provides a great way to teach students about Earth Day, and environmental issues.
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Using Figurative Language
Adding details and figurative language makes any story more fun to read! After reading two versions of the same story, one devoid of figurative language and one embellished, young writers are asked to add alliteration, hyperbole,...
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Interpreting History
Ninth graders analyze a given quote about history and identify the concept that inspired it. In this history lesson, 9th graders research current and historical events, figures, and relationships. Students develop a lesson plan that...
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Top Secret Rule Reasons!
Young scholars read the book The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups and write their own story based on a rule that grown-ups put upon kids. In this writing lesson plan, students focus on the trait of voice.
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Inside the Mind of the Unreliable Narrator
Create interdisciplinary connections and promote high-level inferences by studying unreliable narrators.