National Humanities Center
Teaching Emily Dickinson: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
Three of Emily Dickinson's poems, "I like to see it," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "We grow accustomed to the Dark," provide instructors with an opportunity to model for class members how to use close reading strategies to...
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Take a moment in your language or social studies class to review key terms and details from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. A quick crossword puzzle allows learners to check understanding before a larger unit, test, or...
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The Outsiders
Stay gold with a handy crossword puzzle based on S.E. Hintont's The Outsiders. As middle and high schoolers work on completing the worksheet, they review key concepts and quotes from the book.
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The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls' memoir, The Glass Castle, grapples with the idea that loving someone may or may not include forgiving them for their past behavior. Take a look at a crossword puzzle that reviews characters, plot points, and key details...
Penguin Books
Wonder in the Classroom
Would you rather be right, or would you rather be kind? A novel unit based on R.J. Palacio's Wonder focuses on the need to be kind to others and to accept their differences. As learners read the book, they discuss the themes of family...
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The Help
Kathryn Stockett's The Help opened up a rich, vivid world of strong female characters and stark societal injustices. As high schoolers read the novel, they complete a crossword puzzle that includes clues from all chapters of the book.
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Heart of Darkness
There may be plenty of horror in Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, but studying the details of the plot doesn't need to be horrific. High schoolers complete a short crossword puzzle to review the names, events, and relationships...
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A Doll’s House
Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House introduced the novel idea that women are independent people, and that their first duty is truly to themselves. Review the important details of the dramatic play with a short crossword puzzle activity.
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A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol may begin with the reminder of Marley's death, but it doesn't have to end with the last page of the book. Extend the reading into a crossword puzzle that includes clues about Jacob's accessories, the...
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Speak
Speaking your mind and standing up for yourself is the message of Laurie Halse Anderson's novel Speak. Readers review key details about characters, setting, and plot points with a crossword puzzle all about Speak.
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The Scarlet Letter
A is for. . .? Readers test their recall of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter by filling in the blanks with words missing from a line of text and by identifying characters and events a crossword puzzle based on the novel.
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The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien's powerful collection of vignettes about the experiences of a platoon of soldiers during the Vietnam War, serves as a text for a crossword puzzle. The 23 clues asks readers to recall characters,...
Teaching Channel
Storyboard Lesson Plan
Good books are accessible through a variety of literary lenses. To consider how the same story can be seen in different lights, groups develop a storyboard for a movie teaser that would focus on one of six concepts found in Suzanne...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to Sue Monk Kidd's: The Secret Life of Bees
A 12-page teacher's guide to Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees provides the discussion questions and activities that lead readers to understand not only Lily's fears, but her reasons behind them.
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Julius Caesar
Learners won't consider a practice crossword puzzle on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar proves to be the unkindest cut of all. As they complete the puzzle, high schoolers review key concepts and characters from the play, checking both reading...
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Romeo and Juliet
What is the setting of Romeo and Juliet? Who is the rich count who wants to marry Juliet? The 24 clues in a crossword puzzle test readers' knowledge of the events in Shakespeare's famous play of two young star-crossed lovers.
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Othello
Oh, beware, reader of the clues in a Othello crossword puzzle. What you know of Shakespeare's tragic tale of the Moor, his wife Desdemona, and the manipulative Iago, you know. Or you just might have to use the text of Othello to find the...
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Of Mice and Men
What is Lennie Small's dream job? What's the future George imagines? Readers of Of Mice and Men must identify character and events from John Steinbeck's novella about the friendship of two California migrant workers.
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Lovers, madmen, and readers of A Midsummer Night's Dream will need seething brains to complete a crossword puzzle designed for Shakespeare's engaging comedy.
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Invisible Man
A crossword puzzle based on Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man provides readers with an opportunity to test their knowledge of the novel's events.
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Fahrenheit 451
Readers will be burning to attack a crossword puzzle based on Ray Bradbury's dystopian classic, Fahrenheit 451. They must fill in the missing words in passages drawn from the novel and identify characters.
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Macbeth
Double the enjoyment of the Scottish play with a crossword puzzle based on Shakespeare's Macbeth. The activity tasks readers to identify characters and events and to fill in the missing words from Shakespeare's tragedy about the...
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Hamlet
Who speaks the first line of Shakespeare's Hamlet? Who is the last character to die in the tragedy? Whose death drives Ophelia mad? Readers' knowledge of the play is tested by 24 such clues in a crossword puzzle.
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The Crucible
Characters and events in The Crucible provide the clues for a crossword puzzle that asks readers to demonstrate their knowledge of Arthur Miller's allegorical play.