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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When I Set My Hat at a Certain Angle: Trying on Zora Neale Hurston's Voice to Dress-up Prose

For Teachers 9th - 12th
After reading and evaluating examples of prose nonfiction by Zora Neale Hurston and other authors, high schoolers write a personal reflective essay rich in figurative language. By incorporating this strategy, they utilize voice within...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Their Eyes Were Watching God: The Impact of Language

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed Standards
Author, filmmaker, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston was also a dialectologist. The dialogue of the characters in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God reveals her fascination with accents and dialects. A short video from the Great...
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Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

Black Women Writers: What Gets Black Women Heard?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Folklore in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students read Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and explore her life history as well as novel analysis activities. In this novel analysis lesson, students identify elements in the novel and its overall literary impact. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Zora Hurston Teacher's Guide

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students explore American culture by reading classic literature in class. In this African-American history lesson, students read the story Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree while identifying the work and contributions of the real life...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading and Writing the Autobiography With a Study of Zora Neale Hurston

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the possible relationships between characters in a novel. They read the novel 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' and answer all the questions on each chapter so that the characters and events are familiar to the students.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The WPA, Zora Neale Hurston, and the Cross City Turpentine Camp

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read Zora Neale Hurston's essay "Turpentine" and analyze the document using the Document Analysis Worksheet. They determine the author's purpose and point of view and their effects on the text.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harlem Renaissance Research Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students complete a group research project on the Harlem Renaissance. In this Harlem lesson plan, students pick from a list of topics all related to the Harlem renaissance. They create a PowerPoint presentation, topic outline, and...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Being Heard

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Examine the work of contemporary authors who use their writing to express opinions about the struggle against prejudice and oppression in our society. A short instructional activity on the Harlem Renaissance introduces learners to the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Women Writers and Dissent in 20th and 21st Century American Literature

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders read examples of writings by women authors showing their dissent. After completion of their reading, they brainstorm on why they believe female authors have criticized society. In groups, they use the Internet to research...
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PPT
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Did you know that the Harlem Renaissance was also known as the New Negro Movement? This presentation is fully of interesting facts and pictures to help your class understand the literary movement and how these changes also affected music...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Resources for Teaching Women Writers

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders explore, discuss and experience a wide variety of texts from around the world written by women. They analyze the different genres covered and view a lot of unique point of views from different female perspectives. Topics...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Railroad Bill, A Conjure Man"

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students create questions to ask the poet, Ishmael Reed about his poetry. After the poet speaks, students are broken into groups and are to analyze a poem and report back to the class on their findings.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Legends and Lore

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars begin the lesson by responding in their journals regarding questions about their favorite fairy tales. They listen to a folk tale and answer questions based on the folk tale genre and then brainstorm aphorisms that convey...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modernism

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students 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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Handout
PBS

Pbs: The American Novel: Literary Timeline: Authors: Zora Neale Hurston

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief biography of American author Zora Neale Hurston.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Southern Renaissance: Zora Neale Hurston

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Zora Neale Hurston is featured in this biography highlighting her literary contributions which focused on African Americans as whole people, celebrating their heritage, in an era when black authors tended to write about their...
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Website
Other

Women in History: Zora Neale Hurston

For Students 9th - 10th
Superb site that outlines essential information about Zora Neale Hurston. Links are provided for additional information.
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Unit Plan
African American Literature Book Club

African American Literature Book Club: Zora Neale Hurston

For Students 9th - 10th
This site focuses on Zora Neale Hurston including a bibliography, the video [2:30] "Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun" and links to 11 of her books including her most famous work There Eyes Were Watching God.
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Lesson Plan
Varsity Tutors

Varsity Tutors: Web English Teacher: Zora Neale Hurston

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This site provides information and activities focused around Zora Neale Hurston's life and work. Check out this site featuring links to several sites focused on Hurston's work.
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Article
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: 300 Women Who Changed History: Zora Neale Hurston

For Students 9th - 10th
Encyclopaedia Britannica provides a biography of Zora Neale Hurston, a famous novelist and first African American graduate of Barnard College.
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Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Hurston, Zora Neale

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a very brief encyclopedia entry about Zora Neale Hurston, the talented and prolific writer of the Harlem Renaissance and later.
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Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Zora Neale Hurston

For Students 9th - 10th
Wikipedia offers a biography on African American author Zora Neale Hurston discusses why her work was prominently ignored compared with her comtemporary Richard Wright.
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Website
Other

Zora Neale Hurston: Women in History

For Students 9th - 10th
The African American novelist Zora Neale Hurston is described with facts, accomplishments, and links to web sites for further research.