Curated OER
Mark Twain: Straddling the Civil War
Mark Twain's life, politics, writing, and role as a mirror of pre- and post-Civil War American culture are the focus 11th and 12th graders in this section from an expansive author study. A critical writing assignment comparing Twain to...
Curated OER
Mark Twain and the American West
Students analyze Mark Twain's "Western" voice. In this literature instructional activity, students read Roughing It by Twain and watch "The West." Students examine Twain's history and compare it to the history of America's developing...
Curated OER
A Report From the 21st Century - Mark Twain
Students look at Twain, the humorist - considered America's favorite storyteller and the funniest man in the world at the time. Students stretch the truth about a personal experience, and consider how delivery affects impact.
Curated OER
"The War Prayer" by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
Students explore the story "The War Prayer" by Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain. Students are introduced to the life of the author, read the story, and respond to prompting questions about the text. The story is included in this lesson.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Mark Twain and American Humor
This lesson leads high school students through a greater understanding of the conventions of the literary device of "Humor," through a study of Mark Twain and the story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." A three-part...
University of California
The Bancroft Library: Mark Twain at Large
This site provides extensive information on the author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and his travels here and abroad. The site is broken up into sections that are easily accessed from the first page. This site is full of wonderful...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: Portraits: Written and Visual
A wonderful resource on the lives and work of American authors, Louisa May Alcott and Samuel Clemens. You will get a unique look at them through the study of their portrait and their writing. Includes two great lesson plans.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: On Stage at the Kennedy Center: 2001 Mark Twain Prize: Twain and R
Use this instructional activity to study the lives of Mark Twain and Will Rogers. Analyze the writing styles of both authors, and identify the men as humorists who reflected and changed American culture.
PBS
Pbs: New Perspectives on the West
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....
PBS
Pbs: Mark Twain's Interactive Scrapbook
At this website, venture through the chapters of an interactive scrapbook detailing the life and writings of Samuel Clemens, or Mark Twain. Includes several photographs, quotes, and audio clips. This scrapbook is part of a larger PBS...
PBS
Pbs Ken Burns: American Lives: Mark Twain
In his time, Mark Twain was considered the funniest man on earth. Yet he was also an unflinching critic of human nature, using his humor to attack hypocrisy, greed and racism. In this series, Ken Burns has created an illuminating...
Blackdog Media
Classic Reader: Authors: Mark Twain
This site focuses on Mark Twain including a link to his biography and links to the full text of six of his novels, three works of nonfiction, and 26 short stories. These include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Huck Finn in Context: A Teaching Guide
From the PBS series, "Culture Shock," this teaching guide deals with the controversies that have surrounded the teaching of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The guide is designed to help teachers find reasonable...
McGraw Hill
Glencoe Literature Library: "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" Study Guide [Pdf]
Great reading guide for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain. Provides pre-reading material, including an author bio, book introduction, background articles, and journaling activities, as well as charting and brainstorming ideas...
PBS
Pbs Online News Hour: Mark Twain, a Special Report
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, a daily news broadcast on PBS, offers a special report on Mark Twain and his missing manuscript, "A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage." A timeline of Mark Twain's life is also provided.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg: Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
This ebook shares the memoir of Mark Twain. The memoir provides insights into the author's experiences when he worked as a piliot on a steamboat that traveled along the Mississippi River. The author begin with a history of the...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Mark Twain/samuel Clemens
This is a mixed media biography of Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens. It includes an excellent PowerPoint presentation, "Mark Twain: Life, Works, and Quotations," a list of bibliographical information, a short YouTube video, a list of his most...
University of North Carolina
Mark Twain: Life on the Mississippi
Here, read Mark Twain's (1835-1910 CE) book, "Life on the Mississippi," which was originally published in 1883. Download two HTML versions of the text: one providing links to images in the original text and one with images included.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: A Literature of Democracy [Pdf]
In this instructional activity, 11th graders explore the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his call for literature that was uniquely American. They then consider how Emerson would have responded to writings by Henry Thoreau, Frederick...
The Best Notes
The Best Notes: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
This is an online study guide for the novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain including author information, literary elements, chapter-by-chapter summaries/notes, study questions, and analysis.
PBS
New Perspectives on the West: Samuel Clemens
This PBS site provides a very good biography of Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain (1835-1910) with emphasis put on the time he spent in the west. Also includes a photo.
PBS
Pbs: Culture Shock: Huck Finn in Context
This site features information on themes from Huck Finn. You will find activities and discussion questions to accompany the different sections.
Universal Teacher
Moore's Teacher Resources: Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer
A great site from the UK. Includes plot analysis, characters, thematic elements, and cultural analysis of the novel.
Authors Calendar
Author's Calendar: Mark Twain
This site provides a biography of Mark Twain which includes the origin of his pseudonym. Quotes from several of his books are included.