Curated OER
Identifying and Describing Story Elements
First graders examine how to identify the different elements of a story and how they fit in a definite sequence. The use of comprehension skills is essential to retell the story as desired within the instructional activity.
Curated OER
Global Peace Lesson Plan
Fifth graders recognize the characteristics of poetry. In this poetry instructional activity, 5th graders listen to poetry by Dionne Brand and discuss the meaning of the poems. Students construct their own poems and present them as an...
Curated OER
Tales to Live By
Students explore the concept of theme. In this fairy tales lesson, students read several tales and complete hands-on activities, art projects, and dramatic play that lead to an awareness of the themes of the tales.
Curated OER
The Odyssey
Students write a dramatic scene based on The Odyssey and perform it for the class. In this living literature lesson, students work in small groups to discuss the way the characters look, act, and sound. They then choose scenery and...
Brigham Young University
Introducing the Text and Learning the Process of Script Analysis
Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Stylistic Devices
Students are able to define given literary terms, such as metaphor, simile, imagery, personification, symbolism, etc. They are able to identify the use of literary elements in a given text. Students are able to interpret weather...
Curated OER
Jazz Talk
Middle schoolers analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic,...
Curated OER
Poetic Analysis
Students write a poetic analysis on a poem by Carl Sandburg. They take their previous knowledge of poetic devices and apply them to a piece of writing that displays their knowledge on a specific poem. They explain what they know about a...
Curated OER
Cyrano de Bergerac Nose His Terms
Students use the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" to identify and analyze drama vocabulary, literary terms and elements of fiction. They write an original version of scenes from the play and develop a character analysis for the lead.
Curated OER
A Midsummer Night's Dream Acts 1-2
Blank verse, stichomythia, soliloquy, allusion, oxymoron, malaprop? Readers of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will need to know these terms to successfully complete a study guide designed for the first two acts of Shakespeare’s comedy. The...
Curated OER
The Pied Piper Of Hamelin
Students participate in a lesson that covers the genre of narrative poetry. They examine the elements of a narrative poem while focusing upon the characterization. Students compare and contrast the characters while analyzing their...
Curated OER
Legends of the Fifth
Fifth graders discover the difference between myths, legends, and folk tales. They summarize legends. They work together to dramatize legends and then create their own legend using the writing process. Handouts and worksheets are included.
Curated OER
Marian Anderson: From Page to Stage
Students become immersed in a compelling anecdote of the civil rights movement through the experience of constructing dramatic scripts. An added goal is to equip students, through this "hands-on" experience, to critique dramatic...
Curated OER
Comparing Characters Across Two Short Stories
Ninth graders listen to a read aloud of two short stories focusing on literary devices. The write about the settings and realism of the stories, and decide each main character handles the conflict he faces with nature.
Curated OER
Literature Study Contracts
Students complete activities with a leveled chapter book. In this literature lesson, students read a novel and complete several graphic organizers and activities as they read. They focus on characters, settings, vocabulary, and plot.
Curated OER
New York State Testing Program English Language Arts Book 1--Grade 7 (2006)
In this New York State Testing Program English Language Arts worksheet, students read several passages and two poems and answer reading comprehension questions. Students then write an essay response to one of the passages.
Curated OER
Fairytale Cake
Students recreate characters from the story, "The Fairytale Cake." In this fairy tale characterization lesson, students first listen to fairy tales read aloud. They then use play dough and plastic bowls as pretend "cakes and icing", and...
Curated OER
English Literature: An Overview
Relate literary works and authors to the major themes of English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period through the 20th century. Working in groups, high schoolers will evaluate period philosophy, religion, and politics that influenced...
Curated OER
Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
Students read a Japanese Noh play and discuss its structure and traditional characters. They choose a short myth and write a Noh play based on it.
Curated OER
Literature of the Ancient World
The literature of the ancient world can provide a motivating way for students to explore history.
Curated OER
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....
Curated OER
The Sound of Calm
Students examine the relationships that exist between ocean currents, wind and climate. Using those relationships, they discuss how they affect the oceans. They create their own music to represent the sounds of the ocean and share them...
Other
Fu Jen Univ.: Poetic Elements: Denotation and Connotation: Figures of Speech
This site gives short definitions of the terms denotation and connotation. Also gives definitions for many figures of speech. Finally, includes discussion and study questions for a few poems at the bottom of the page. L.11-12.5b Nuance
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: 103 Things to Do Before/during/after Reading
The highly-respected Reading Rockets program offers both teachers and students a toolkit of ways to connect more actively with the materials they read. Some of these techniques are specifically for fiction-reading, others are designed...