Poetry Foundation
Poetry Foundation: Phillip Levine (1928 2015)
Biography of contemporary American poet Phillip Levine, with personal and career history, as well as text of original poems, articles about the author, and several audio and video clips of his poetry.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Literature: Describing Setting
Short explanation of setting as a literary term. Written in the context of "What makes a good short story?" A link at the bottom of the page leads to additional information about setting.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Forms
This slideshow lesson focuses on forms of fiction: short story, novella, and novel. It describes the defining characteristics of each, provides examples, and explains how to identify each.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Action/adventure
This slideshow focuses on the genre of action/adventure; it provides background information, common elements, a list of pop culture movies (made from books), three famous literary examples, and an excerpt from a fourth with commentary.
Other
Asle: Association for the Study of Literature and Environment
This site provides links to literature about the environment. They offer publications, programs, conferences, and events that explore the topic of literature and environment.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Common Themes in Literature
This tutorial focuses on common themes in literature, beginning with a slide show discussing 11 different, common themes and literary examples. This is followed by a 11-minute YouTube video with students acting out common themes in...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Understanding Poetry (English 7 Reading)
You will learn the importance of graphical elements (e.g., capital letters, line length, word position) in the meaning of a poem.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Themes in Literary Texts (English 6 Reading)
Learn how to infer the implicit theme in a work of fiction, distinguish theme from topic, and make complex inferences using textual evidence.
Washington State University
Washington State University: Literary Movements: Brief Timeline of American Literature
This Washington State University site provides a decade-by-decade timeline of American literature with historical events going on at the same time. Most topics on the timeline are links to additional information about the author, work,...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Describe Themes in Literary Texts (English 7 Reading)
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] This lesson is about themes, the central messages in literature. Whatever their genre might be, writers have some wisdom, some universal truth or insight to share; this...
Other
Wisewire: Grade 7 Playlist: Historical and Literary Comparisons
Students will learn how to compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history. Included are lesson...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Collaborative Booktalk: Sharing and Writing Development
Are dark themes in young adult novels harmful or helpful to teens? Students will explore this question and will create an argumentative writing piece based on textual evidence. Videos of the lesson in action, examples of student work,...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Compare/contrast Themes and Genres in Literary Texts
Determining the theme is not easy; you have to use the clues the author leaves to figure it out yourself. The author implies information about the story through plot points, setting, and characters. You infer and draw conclusions based...
Blackdog Media
Classic Reader: Fiction: Alphabetical Search
This website offers the full text for thousands of short stories, novels, drama, and more. This search allows you to search by clicking on the letter of the alphabet of the text you are looking for and then find a link to the full text....
Other
Read Print Publishing: Full Text Literature
Full text and free online versions of plays, essays, fiction, nonfiction, poetry and short stories. Search by favorite author or title and immediately find your text of choice.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Elements of Poetry
Discover how literary techniques like figurative language, imagery, and symbolism contribute to the overall meaning of a poem. Explore how a poet establishes and builds on a theme and the difference between tone and mood. Through a close...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Literary Elements and Techniques Collection
These animated shorts introduce or review literary elements and techniques like theme, setting, figurative language, characterization, and conflict. They can be used when students are just learning how to identify the most commonly used...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Create a Book (Grade 3 6)
Young scholars will illustrate and write their own story.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Rise of Realism
This resource provides a wealth of information about the period of American literature from 1860-1914. There are eight good articles discussing the movements of realism, regionalism, and naturalism, the rise of black American literature,...
Library of Congress
Loc: Found Poetry With Primary Sources: The Great Depression
Students explore poetry using American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 collection of American Memory, which covers personal stories collected by the Works Progress Administration. In particular,...
AdLit
Ad lit.org: Use Easy Nonfiction to Build Background Knowledge
A Texas librarian shares his strategy of using nonfiction picture books to introduce new concepts to struggling adolescent readers and to build their background knowledge. Once students have been exposed to academic content in easy...
University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina: Writing Center: Writing About Literature (Fiction)
Students are instructed in a nine-step process of how to write a literary response paper that includes a thesis, strong ideas, and specific supporting details from the text. W.11-12.9a Amer Lit 18th,19th, 20th cen/Analy
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Fiction: Short Story & Novel Fact Sheet
This is a short story or novel fact sheet offered as a Word document or a PDF. It includes places for title; author; URL; list of important nouns, verbs, phrases, and clauses; setting (includes definition); characterization (including...
![Poetry Foundation: Dream in Color: A Guide for Middle School Teachers [Pdf] Unit Plan](http://content.lessonplanet.com/resources/thumbnails/409999/large/bwluav9tywdpy2symdiwmduymc0ymze2mc1mddbubjmuanbn.jpg?1589983063 "Poetry Foundation: Dream in Color: A Guide for Middle School Teachers [Pdf] Unit Plan")
Poetry Foundation
Poetry Foundation: Dream in Color: A Guide for Middle School Teachers [Pdf]
Visit this resource to find a wealth of poems, lesson plans, and classroom activities to help middle school students discover the diversity in African American poets and create their own voice in poetry. This resource is in PDF form.