Louisiana Department of Education
How to Write a Memoir
Who are we and what shapes our identities? Seventh graders work to answer this question as they learn how to write a memoir. Full of non-print resources and supplemental texts that range from fiction to non-fiction, scholars write their...
Curated OER
Who Invented English Anyway?
In these English lesson plans, students use video, the Internet and non-fiction essays to research the history of the English language. They write a short research paper and design a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their findings.
PBS
Myth of the West: Kit Carson to the Rescue
There's nothing like the Wild Wild West! Scholars investigate the American Frontier through the eyes of Kit Carson. To complete the first installment of a three-part series, they use presentations, a short video, and primary and...
Curated OER
Nonfiction Genre Mini-Unit: Persuasive Writing
Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.
American Immigration Law Foundation
An Immigrant’s Experience
After interviewing an immigrant about their voyage to the United States and first impressions of the country, young learners create a fictional series of journal entries and design an iMovie depicting their interviewee's story.
Curated OER
Comprehension: Setting
Students discuss what setting represents. In this language arts lesson, students review the three elements of setting: where the story takes place, when does the story take place, and is it past, present, or future? Students create a...
Curated OER
Story Scrapbook
Students develop a comparison worksheet using one non fiction book and one fiction book they have read to be put into a class scrapbook. In their comparison students must have title, author, point of view, setting, characters, and other...
Curated OER
Web Quest on "How to Write a Mystery."
Pupils complete a Web Quest on How to Write a Mystery. They listen to or read a short mystery story and discuss its elements. They write an outline of a mystery story using all of the elements.
Curated OER
Translation Into Reality
Students read a variety of short stories that focus on teenage protagonists. In groups, they answer comprehension questions and discuss the characters and setting for each story. Individually, they choose one writing assignment to...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension - Informational Passages "Movie Ratings'
In this reading comprehension and vocabulary worksheet, students read a short non-fiction selection entitled, "Movie Ratings." They answer 10 multiple choice questions: 5 comprehension questions and 5 vocabulary questions.
Learning Station
More Than Anything in the World
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students will read a short passage noting point of view. Students will then complete the story adding problem solving to the story ending.
Curated OER
Essay on Themes
Students read the book THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London and discuss the different elements in the book. They then write an essay on a theme providing examples backing up their main point of their essay.
Curated OER
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
Students use video and the Internet to make predictions, draw conclusions, determine conflict and point of view while reading a short story. In this short story analysis instructional activity, students watch a related video and complete...
Curated OER
The Crucible
Twelfth graders use an Internet scavenger hunt, vocabulary, sample essay questions, and short answer questions suitable for study and review of the play, The Crucible.
Curated OER
Wrapped in Mystery
Sixth graders can identify five basic elements that most mysteries contain. They put the elements of mystery into a graphic organizer they can follow. They construct meaning after reading Poe's short story and identify or infer the...
Curated OER
Study Guide: The Open Window
In this study guide worksheet, students define vocabulary and literary terms found in the short story, "The Open Window". Students answer comprehension questions and examine third person point of view.
Curated OER
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 5 short answer and essay questions based on the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi: Mixing Words and Pictures
Create meaningful illustrations to accompany stories in a web-based art and literacy lesson focused on "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The class takes a virtual art safari with the Museum of Modern Art and then discusses how...
Curated OER
Edgar Allen Poe And The Art Of Composition
High schoolers evaluate several works by Edgar Allen Poe based on the criteria in his essay, "The Philosophy of Composotion" Their analysis is documented using a graphic organizer. Learners begin the pre-writing process for their own...
Curated OER
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Students, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of ideas...
Massachusetts Department of Education
Nostalgia
To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine how...
Virginia English Bulletin
Book Trailer Projects From Classroom to Community
Invite your pupils to express their understanding of a novel through a collaborative video project. Groups choose a novel from those you have studied in class, select four scenes, storyboard the scenes, film the scenes, edit the film,...
Curated OER
Poetry Project
Choosing a poet or a theme, eighth graders conduct research in the world of poetry. They conduct Internet research and select five poems that fit their poet or theme, and create a seven slide PowerPoint presentation on their selected...
Indiana University
World Literature: "One Evening in the Rainy Season" Shi Zhecun
Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...