National Endowment for the Humanities
Dramatic Perspective in Moby Dick
A activity on Herman Melville's Moby Dick asks readers to compare the first person point of view of Ishmael in Chapter 1 to Captain Ahab's dramatic monologue in Chapter 37. Readers cite evidence from the chapters to support their...
K20 LEARN
Antigone's Themes Today: The Greek Drama Antigone
Is Antigone relevant to today's readers? After reading Sophocles' tragedy, scholars must decide if the themes are universal and timeless. Class members engage in a series of activities designed to have them closely consider the...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
A World of Animals: Challenge Activities (Theme 10)
Animals are the theme of this series of challenge activities. Extend scholars' learning opportunities by writing personal narratives and book reports, creating picture and alphabet books, and drawing scenes from stories read aloud.
Santillana USA
Celebra Kwanzaa
¡Celebramos Kwanzaa! Celebrate Kwanzaa through the fictional story Celebra Kwanzaa con Botitas y sus gatitos to delightfully explain the seven principles of Kwanzaa. Dual language learners participate in reading and vocabulary activities...
Newseum
Making a Change: Letter From Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written in response to "A Call for Unity," written by eight white ministers from Birmingham and published in the local newspaper. After reading both letters and following a list...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley's poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is the focus of a lesson that asks readers to consider how the poem is a critique of slavery. Groups comprise a list of words and phrases they notice as well as questions...
Curated OER
Metaphors
Students identify metaphors. In this figurative language lesson, students learn about metaphors and listen to various examples. Students read a story and identify the metaphors present. Students complete a worksheet where they...
Curated OER
Little Red Hen
First graders practice sequencing events using dramatization. In this sequencing lesson plan, 1st graders read the story Little Red Hen and create puppets to perform the story. Students must work together to retell the story sequentially.
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Curated OER
Matthew Henson
Discuss the work of Matthew Henson, an African American who traveled to the North Pole with Robert Peary. After reading the story "Matthew Henson" by Maryann N. Weidt, learners answer questions by drawing inferences and conclusions,...
Library of Congress
A Selection of Stories from The Æsop for Children
Read and incorporate a variety of Aesop's Fables into a fable genre study with an eBook produced by the Library of Congress. The interactive eBook contains 146 fables written by Aesop and includes colorful interactive illustrations by...
Curated OER
Who's Got Game? The Lion or the Mouse?
Discuss bullying, folk tales, and more using this resource. Learners read the story The Lion and the Mouse by Toni and Slade Morrison, engage in cause and effect activities, make predictions, and discuss bullying. This is a motivating...
Curated OER
Roberto Clemente
Have your class explore the life of Roberto Clemente using this lesson. After reading the story Roberto Clemente by Jonah Winter, learners answer cause and effect questions, classify ideas, make comparisons, and write a news article.
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast the French Cinderella with Other Cultural Versions
Students first compare and contrast the traditional French Cinderella with Cinderella stories from around the world as well as the opera synopsis. Students write their own Cinderella stories, personalizing them with aspects from their...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Culture
Fifth graders compare and contrast the cultures of American culture with that of the other cultures of North America. Using traditional and Internet research, 5th graders gather data on one element of culture for comparison. Data...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Creation Stories
Students compare and contrast creation stories. In this Bible studies lesson, students work in groups to read and summarize creation myths and share with their peers. The class goes on to create a chart to compare and contrast these...
Curated OER
Literary Response and Analysis
Examine a variety of literary responses to Abraham Lincoln's death and the impact of perception. Your class can work in writing groups to analyze either poetry, eulogy, or a newspaper article. They retell the events of Abraham Lincoln's...
Curated OER
Expanding the Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Introduce the class to the Civil Rights Movement by taking a critical look at the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. They will pay close attention to the role women played in organizing the boycott and bringing national attention to the...
Curated OER
Compare Characters in Bud, Not Buddy
After your class finishes reading Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, they use the Venn diagram here to compare two characters from the novel, in this case Bud and his grandfather Herman E. Calloway. Examples of qualities on which...
Curated OER
Cinderella in Africa
Explore African folk tales! After reading the African folk tale "Mufaro's Beautiful daughters" and the American version of "Cinderella," youngsters list differences and similarities between the two. Draw a T-chart on the board, and hold...
Harper Collins
If You Give...Series Teaching Guide
If you give teachers a few good ideas, they can really bring a story to life. Included in this resource are dozens of activities to use as your class reads books in the If You Give... series. From holding puppet shows and creating comic...
Curated OER
Milkweed and Monarch Butterfly Mania
In this online/interactive worksheet comparing and contrasting Monarch and Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies worksheet, students read an online comparison and contrast guide, use the graphic organizer, and record the similarities and...
Curated OER
Identifying Text Structure #!
In this identifying graphic organizers and their texts worksheet, students observe chronological, compare & contrast, sequence, cause & effect, and problem & solution graphic organizers, read short passages, and match them....
Curated OER
How Poets Evoke Social and Historical Representations
Students explore how poems represent the social, historical, and cultural times that they were written in. In this poetry lesson plan, students compare and contrast poems with music of the time and explore implications of writing poems...