Curated OER
Portraits, Pears, and Perfect Landscapes: Investigating Genre in the Visual Arts
Young scholars define genre in the visual arts, particularly in Western painting and explain the differences between subject and genre. The genre of a variety of works of art is identified.
Curated OER
An Introduction to Nonfiction
Examine the elements of nonfiction writings in this lesson. Learners list common features of nonfiction and compare nonfiction and fiction books on the same topic. Create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two genres.
Curated OER
Analyzing Folklore: Redwall
Brian Jacques’ novel Redwall provides the focus for a series of lessons involving the analysis of folklore. Adopting the persona of a character, groups write letters in the voice of their character, assemble a collage using Microsoft...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Early American Novel: Exploring the Emergence of a Genre
Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its own...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Practical Criticism
As an introduction to literary criticism, class members recreate I.A. Richards' close reading experiment. Individuals select a poem, paraphrase the story, focus on the imagery used, consider what the imagery adds to the tale, and...
Curated OER
School Autobiography
Learners brainstorm for fifteen minutes independently, sketching out what they remember or how they want to organize their data. they write a journal along the lines of "what do you remember about kindergarten? Write to a (fictional)...
Curated OER
An Introduction to Poetry
Pupils examine the genre of poetry. They read and discuss list poems, write a list poem, research and read poetry online, and write a free form poem.
Curated OER
Introducing Nonfiction
Students are introduced to nonfiction text. In this five esson unti, students explore nonfiction as a genre. They identify the components and text structure of text structure of nonfiction text. Students read a nonfiction passage and...
Curated OER
Find an Animal! Find a Book!
Students identify the themes of different books by classifying their genre. In this genre lesson, students examine a specific animal by reading both a nonfiction and fiction book about the species. Students compare the different books...
Curated OER
Would You Like to Become a Millionaire?
Students answer questions written by other teams about literature in an attempt to become "millionaires." In small groups they write a motivational introduction to their teams selected books, publish their questions as a HyperCard...
Curated OER
Fantasy Book Report
Fourth graders choose a fantasy genre to research and summarize information on in text. They utilize a variety of communication techniques, including oral, visual as well as written/multimedia reports and then present information...
Curated OER
Objectivity
Help young readers examine historic artifacts to determine if they were designed to help people survive or to create enjoyment. They identify objects that were designed to help people to survive and to enjoy themselves. Then compare and...
Curated OER
Read Across Texas
Sixth graders read various books about the state of Texas. They read their assigned book, write a book report, and create an illustration or a shadow box of a scene from their assigned book.
Curated OER
Celebrate A People!
Learners explore African-American students literature as an integral building block in empowering all learners to a better awareness when reading and writing. They use as a productive Social Studies tool for overall understanding of the...
National First Ladies' Library
Writing (and Rewriting!) History
Middle schoolers differentiate between fiction and non-fiction, discuss historical fiction, which combines both genres, choose historical novel from list and read independently, and write original short stories that combine elements of...
Curated OER
TOTAL LITERATURE SERIES
Fifth graders listen and react to the book Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry. They write in their journals every day approximately one page or more as a reflection on the reading.
National First Ladies' Library
The Many Voices of Literature
Students discover the wealth of literature written by individuals not born in the United States. They discover the literature of individuals of multiple ethnicities born in the United States. Students compile a list of books they would...
Curated OER
Time Travel
Students investigate the concept of time travel and quantum physics. They complete a Webquest, read excerpts from the book, 'The Time Machine,' play an online time traveler game, and read and evaluate newspaper articles about time.
Curated OER
Coming On Home Soon
Young scholars explore the role of women during World War II. Through a reading of the book "Coming On Home Soon" students gain insight into the ways women helped the war effort. Research and writing activities help support their point...
Curated OER
2105
Students read excerpts from Jon Scieszka's novel, 2095, prior to presenting their vision of the future in a creative project accompanied by written explanation. They design a museum exhibit which shows a scene from a science fiction book...
Curated OER
Writers and the Old South Myth
Young scholars are introduced to authors of the South. In groups, they compare and contrast the pastoral and counter pastoral traditions present in some forms of Southern literature. They use a database to examine the covers of the...
Curated OER
My Favorite Things
Young scholars identify "masterpieces" and mass-produced objects. They explain why they value a given object and determine what physical materials were used to create the objects. They create a class book featuring objects that they value.
Curated OER
Memior: The Stuff of Our Lives
Fourth graders reflect upon the significance of remembered events and to keep a "notebook" of their thoughts and feelings. They read books that exemplify memior writing. They write their memiors, taking it through the writing process.
Curated OER
Haiku: Observation and Writing in the Japanese Garden
Young scholars observe a Botanical Gardens. Upon returning to the classroom, students write their own Haiku based on their observations.