National Endowment for the Humanities
Vengeful Verbs in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
It's time for pupils to read, examine, and contemplate literature to explore the difference between vivid and generic verbs. Pupils distinguish between the two types of verbs as they read the ghost scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet. They...
Curated OER
The Family: Louisiana Family Folklore
Every family has a different story to share. Your learning community examines the checklist that applies to the lesson, share some of the teacher's family photos, and look for clues in their own family photos in order to complete a...
Curated OER
Recycled Book Boxes
Your class can create colorful book boxes with recycled boxes. Versatile and fun, this project can be adapted to various lessons: book reports, history projecs, science collections, and more!
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lu Shih — The Couplets of T’ang
Writing poetry in ancient China was the modern equivalent of sending a greeting card. Scholars learn about the ancient Chinese poetic form called the lu shih. They read about the context of poetry during the T'ang Dynasty and complete a...
Curated OER
Walk in My Shoes: A Shoe's Perspective
Help learners write a creative story from the viewpoint of a shoe. The teacher brings a variety of different types of shoes to the classroom and each person chooses one. They then write a story from the point of view of the shoe,...
Scholastic
Holes Match 'Em Up Challenge
Upper graders read the book Holes as a class or by themselves. In groups, they identify symbols and discuss how they are connected among the many plots in the story. They create a timeline in which they sequence the main events to end...
Curated OER
The Effects of Slavery
The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom and oppression. They use...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
“Tell Me a Story”: Moving from Reading to Writing
Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...
Curated OER
Developing an Outline
A lot of writers don't like creating an outline before writing the first draft of their paper. Introduce them to what an effective and organized outline looks like with this presentation. Designed for higher education, you could easily...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3
Teach your class the basics of narrative writing! The resource first describes the Common Core standard for narrative writing in-depth, and then moves into how to apply the standard. Show your class the example essay and quiz them...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Core Analysis Frame: Poetry
Dig deep into any piece of poetry with a set of analysis questions. Ponder the content, form, and language of poetry and provide some question for critique. The first two pages include general questions, and the remainder of the document...
Poetry4kids
How to Write Funny Poetry — Chapter 4: Making It Funny
You've got your topic—now how do you make your poem funny? Explore ways to make a poem humorous, including puns, exaggeration, silly words, and surprising endings, with a helpful poetry lesson.
Curated OER
Symmetrical Snowflakes
First graders, exploring lines of symmetry, follow directions to create a symmetrical snowflake from their own homemade icing. As a class, they discuss lines of symmetry and determine if specific shapes are symmetrical. After the lesson,...
Curated OER
Learning Landscapes
Fifth graders analyze a landscape depicting Yosemite during the time of the Wild West. They compare their perceptions of the West from film and television to this representation. They observe the use of scale and color to depict size and...
Curated OER
Puzzle Mystery
Students solve the mystery of which painting they are reproducing by sketching. They determine the mood and imagery in artwork.
Curated OER
Cross-Stitching a Frog Bookmark
Pupils identify symmetry and create their own frog design. Students apply hand-eye coordination in placing their designs of cross-stitch netting. Pupils identify with new textures. Students present and analyze their design once finished...
Curated OER
BioPoem Multicultural Activity For A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Students write a biopoem. In this literature and poetry writing instructional activity, students write a biopoem about the characters in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry following a specific given format. Examples and format are...
Curated OER
Poetry language in "Mother to Son"
Sixth graders respond to poetry. For this poetry lesson, 6th graders read the "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes and they are split into 3 groups for below, at and above grade level. Each group has a different activity to show...
Curated OER
Puzzle Mystery
Students sketch and give a title to a painting which they are given a small detail of. In this painting lesson plan, students share their titles and try to determine the theme and subject of the full painting based on these clues. At the...
Curated OER
Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" in Graphical Representation
Learners analyze graphical forms of Eudora Welty and interpret the shorts stories in the representations. In this graphical representations lesson, students analyze the short story genre in comic strips. Learners then create their own...
Curated OER
Parallel-o-Home
Students investigate the usage of parallel and perpendicular shapes in the real world. In this geometry lesson, students investigate shapes for properties that are related to the real world. They relate all the properties of shape tot he...
Curated OER
O Time, thou must untangle this": Tangling up the Love in Twelfth Night
Tenth graders are broken into groups to review a section of The Twelfth Night. They are then given a handout of the same material in which they are to break up material which conveys a single idea. They are to preform this idea to the...
Curated OER
Tempest in the Lunchroom
Students act out opening shipwreck scene of The Tempest, or watch and direct others doing it.
Curated OER
Soap Operas
Students examine American culture through research on various soap opera websites. They access a soap opera website, participate in a chat group, evaluate the contents of the website, and write a summary of a character and plot.