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Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism
Students read London's "To Build a Fire" and Crane's "The Open Boat" and compare and contrast the authors' style as they explore the genre known as American literary naturalism.
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Grappling with Identity in Latino Poetry
Students identify some common themes involving the Latino immigrant experience as conveyed through a variety of media, explore issues of identity in some examples of poetry written by Latinos and learn some basic poetry reading strategies.
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Persuade or Die!
Students read Patrick Henry's speech. They review prior learning about persuasive writing, and the American revolutionary war. Students listen as the teacher reads Patrick Henry's speech aloud to the class using lots of emotion and...
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Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi: Mixing Words and Pictures
Create meaningful illustrations to accompany stories in a web-based art and literacy lesson focused on "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The class takes a virtual art safari with the Museum of Modern Art and then discusses how...
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The Collaborative Works of Rodgers and Hammerstein: Show Business
Students study the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein in an historical context of the development of American musical theatre as an art form. Students explore "roots" of the genre as it evolves in last half of the 19th and first two decades...
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???The Hell of Mirrors??? by Edogawa Rampo
Students read and analyze the story "The Hell of Mirrors," by Edogawa Rampo. They watch a video excerpt, answer discussion questions, construct a periscope, complete handouts, define key vocabulary terms, take a quiz, and write a book...
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Poet Naomi Shihab Nye
High schoolers read and analyze poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye. They define stereotypes, view and discuss a video interview with Nye, present an oral reading of a poem, and write a persuasive letter to an author.
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Portraits Visual and Written: Louisa May Alcott and Samuel Clemens
Students discover the life and work of an American author, either Samuel Clemens or Louisa May Alcott. For this study of visual and written portraits lesson, students take a look at the authors through four different sources: a portrait,...
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Lady Sings the Blues
Students explore women and music in the 20th century. In this music lesson, students study the relationship between literature and music through The Color Purple and music by Ethel Waters, MA Rainey, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella...
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Poetry and Our National Anthem
Young scholars express the meaning of the Star-Spangled Banner. In this American history lesson, students read through the national anthem and complete an activities from a list of choices. Some choices include: writing the anthem in...
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Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism
Young scholars identify the key characteristics that comprise American literary naturalism in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" and Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat." For this naturalism analysis lesson, students identify characteristics of...
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Creating an Anthology
Student compile a poetry anthology. In this literature activity, students examine notable poetry anthologies. Students then select a theme to build their anthologies of 10 poems pertaining to their chosen theme.
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Electronic Journals about Latin American Folktales
Students exchange folktales with a key-pal using dialog journal writing. They write out a folktale from their own cultural background and exchange it with students of another. They record their impressions of each other's folktales.
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African-American History and Culture in the English Classroom
Ninth graders identify and recognize characteristics of nonfiction in literary works, explore language and culture of Gullah people, compare and contrast purposes of spirituals and quilts in terms of their relationships to escape from...
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The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush: Native American Life
Students read," The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" by Tomie dePaola and discuss the way legends are passed down orally. They then create their own legend and illustrate it on a simulated "Buffalo Skin" made from brown paper.
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On Stage Tonight . . .
Eleventh graders explore the World Wide Web for information concerning the period known as "The Harlem Renaissance." They study the contributions made by African Americans in the areas of literature, art, and music during this period in...
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Life in Colonial Times
Fifth graders examine significant ideas, beliefs and themes in US history. They identify causes and effects of historical events in the American Revolution. Evaluate critical issues and events. Analyze the views and lives of people of...
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Recognizing Similes: Fast as a Whip
Students review basic knowledge of similes and engage with similes on a more abstract level. In this similes instructional activity, students define similes and identify examples. Students read and analyze the similes used in poetry by...
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Heart (and Arm) of Darkness
Middle schoolers read and translate a 19th-century American ghost tale into a Japanese hanging scroll in this exciting instructional activity for middle-level Language Art classes. The instructional activity can be completed in four or...
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Modernism
Young scholars engage in a study of the literature of modernism in America. They conduct research and read different texts for clarification of the genre style. Students discuss the background influences of culture that shaped modernism.
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Cinderella Stories From Around the World
Fifth graders are read a variety of Cinderella stories from around the world. In groups, they complete a comparison chart for each story and how it compares to the American version. To end the instructional activity, they participate...
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What Difference Does it Make How Old I Am?
Students identify subtle messages advertisers send (often unintentionally) about age in the course of trying to sell products; to analyze the consequences, both positive and negative, those messages have on the American audience; to...
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Perspective on the Slave Narrative
Students work with the slave narrative as a resource for historical study and evaluate it as a work of literature; students then examine the narrative in the context of political controversy as an argument for abolition.
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Linking Lines to Landscape
Students evaluate art to enhance their core knowledge of fiction, American folk heroes, and the water cycle. In this art lesson, students complete a unit of activities to use art to study various topics of literature, history, and...