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Protest Art in Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Students study the social class conflicts that existed during the Russian Revolution by reading the short stories of Anton Chekov and Leo Tolstoy. They analyze the stories to find criticisms of pre-Revolutionary Russia before designing...
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Teachers See the Truth but Wait: Teaching Short Stories with Literature Circles
Students use literature circles to analyze four short stories from the Realms of Gold, Volume 3. In this literature circle lesson, students are assigned a role in the literature circle to improve their critical thinking skills for...
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Multicultural Fairy Tales
Third graders explore the elements of a story using fairy tales from all over the world. They compare and contrast story elements, key ideas and concepts found in a variety of texts from around the world.
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Literacy: Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth
Learners explore language arts by analyzing a children's book in class. In this vocabulary lesson, students read the book Slowly, Slowly, Slowly... by Eric Carle. Learners identify the characters, setting and plot of the story before...
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"Favorite Fairy Tale Characters"
Third graders enter the results of their survey on a spreadsheet. They construct a bar graph showing the results.
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To Be Or Not To Be... (Hamlet)
Students complete a unit of lessons on William Shakespeare's Hamlet. They analyze the plot, themes, and characterization, relate songs to thematic issues, develop plot summaries and translations, and compare the play to a movie version.
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Map the Mystery!
Seventh graders read the novel, "The House of Dies Drear", and create a story map to analyze the plot and recall events.
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The Story Project: A Lesson Plan for the Combining Voices Literary Competition
Students analyze Simple Answer, by John Cleaveland, and use this image to inspire a short story. They use both verbal and visual language to help them create the characters and the plot. The lesson plan contains steps that helps the...
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Literature of the Islands and the Sea
Students read an age-appropriate novel in which an island setting plays an important role from a provided list. This will help them understand life on an island. They will analyze the plot, theme, characterization, setting, and style...
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What About Films?
High schoolers watch and analyze a film of an Appalachian folktale. They define trickster and anti-hero, view and discuss the film, complete a handout, compose an original film review, and debate each character's behavior.
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Point of View and Mentor Relationships
Tenth graders analyze the role of mentors, point of view, and prejudice using the texts of To Kill a Mockingbird and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. For this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders review Scout's...
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Problem/solution
Students examine presentations of problems and reaching solutions in literature. In this writing skills lesson, students read "The Three Little Pigs," and respond to several discussion questions about plot, characters, setting, conflict,...
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Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
Students analyze the conventions used in Noh plays and write an introduction to a Noh play of their own. In this Noh play lesson, students identify the conventions of the Noh form and analyze the realizations the main character achieves....
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Building a Literature Pyramid
Pupils create a literature pyramid. They review and discuss their assessment task and rubric and select the literature for their pyramid. They read the literary selection and complete a pyramid sheet for one of the four literary...
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A Water Droplet's Experience in the Hydrologic Cycle
Students write a story from the perspective of a water droplet on a journey through the water cycle. They use the 6+1 Traits writing method to focus on voice in the writing as they create characters that their water droplet has...
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Comic and Film Strip Writing
Students write a funny story and illustrate it in a comic strip. In this comic strip lesson, students study comic strips and determine the plot of each story. Students then write a short story and illustrate it using a comic strip...
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You Kiss the Book: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Students analyze imagery in Shakespeare's, Romeo and Juliet, and act out the passage to see how the author includes stage directions with his poetry.
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The Bracelet: Five Senses
Students investigate the 5 senses by reading children's literature. In this descriptive writing activity, students read the story The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida, analyzing the story and characters as they go. Students identify the use of...
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Cause and Effect with the Treasure of Green Lake
Students, after reading the book, "Holes," answer questions about the story's plot, make decisions about game play that involve cause and effect relationships and utilize problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination to navigate a...
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Comprehension
Fifth graders take part in a panel discussion. In this character lesson students show their understanding of the connection between events in a story and the development of characters. Students provide evidence from the story to support...
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Shakespeare's Othello and the Power of Language
Students explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing Shakespeare's use of rhetoric and figurative language. In this Othello instructional activity, students analyze Iago's rhetoric in monologues and dialogues with other...
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Native American Literature: A Paradigm Shift
Students explore Native American literature. In this cultural diversity lesson, students read selected Native American books and analyze the themes of the books and familiarize themselves with the vocabulary used in the books.
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Exploring Prejudice and Text-to-Text Relationships
Tenth graders use the novel To Kill a Mockingbird to analyze relationships in society. In this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders participate in a shoe activity where they bring in one shoe belonging to someone they know and a...
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Final Project for Unit on Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun"
Twelfth graders read and analyze Act III of "A Raisin in the Sun." They write and create the first scene of an imaginary Act IV, writing dialogue, themes, and stage direction for the characters.