The poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are the focus of a unit that asks readers to consider how an artist's life and changes in society influences his or her work. After careful study of Whitman's and Dickinson's perspectives on...

How do poets convey emotion and represent their views of life? Pupils learn more about Whitman and Dickinson through the unit and analyze their bold reinvention of craft and style for poets to come. Looking at classic pieces such as...

What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...

How does memory work, and how can we recall more? Here is a five-lesson unit that covers the multi-system model of memory, as well as sensory, working, and long-term memory.

Students explore the traits of writing in this six lessons unit. Poems, fiction, and drama are evaluated to identify writing strategies. Utilization of vocabulary and writing rubrics help students judge the effectiveness of their own...

Students explore a variety of poetry and poetry concepts. They examine figurative language, mood, and literary devices. The students write and recite their own poetry.

This lesson from a unit on American Transcendentalism focuses on Walt Whitman and his invention of the American free verse. It includes links to his poems "Song of Myself" and "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer." It provides...

Take a journey through Walt Whitman's poem 'A Noiseless Patient Spider' with the help of three animators who each used a different animation style to bring this beautiful poem to life. [3:28]

Based on Emily Dickinson's poem "A Spider sewed at Night" and Walt Whitman's poem "A Noiseless Patient Spider," the authors of this site seek to "explore the nature of creativity, artistry, and audience." They bring together existing...

This is an introduction to the Transcendentalism period (1836-1860) in American Literature. It focuses on the beliefs and characteristics of transcendentalism and its leading authors: Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson and...

CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each text is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see the...

By looking to examples of popular poetry in a variety of forms, students learn to analyze, appreciate, and synthesize poetry in the classroom. "Writing Poetry Like Pros" provides several links to poetry texts and suggestions for creating...

The Heath Anthology of American Literature offers a look at classroom issues, strategies, themes, comparisons, and other criteria for teaching this William Cullen Bryant and his poetry to students.

This thirty-three-part learning module provides a poetry unit designed for 8th graders. This blendspace provides videos, web resources, and reference sheets related to the study of eighth grade poetry content.

Explore Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" with the help of pre-reading questions, vocabulary, brainstorming activities, and thought-provoking writing prompts on character, plot, and theme. Also, compare Crane's novel to works of...

Reading guide for Irene Hunt's historical fiction, "Across Five Aprils," with a variety of resources, discussion and writing questions, and brainstorming activities. Provides pre-reading material, such as an author biography, novel...