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Tales of the Supernatural
Students explore the origins and development of a literary genre. They investigate how shared imaginative concerns link the members of a literary period and compare works of literature from different eras.
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Animal Tales Around the World
Learners explore characteristics of Indian Tales/ Parables. In this literature lesson, students compare contemporary society to western culture through analysis. Learners create their own tales using this genre.
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Text Elements—Vampires
Students explore the tone and style of passages from horror genre literature. In this literary elements lesson, students read The Vampire by John Stagg and the War of the World script by H.G. Wells, Students write about the way the...
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Lady Sings the Blues
Learners explore women and music in the 20th century. In this music lesson, students study the relationship between literature and music through The Color Purple and music by Ethel Waters, MA Rainey, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella...
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Nureyev: The Unconquerable Will
Students consider the development of dance across cultures. For this dance genre lesson, students study the history of Russia and the Mongol Tatars. Students research how classical ballet made its way to Russia and create collaborative...
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Getting Inside The Outsiders Through Music
Learners listen to popular music of the 50's and 60's to make literature connections to The Outsiders. In this popular culture lesson, students evaluate and analyze various songs and connect them with the themes in the literature related...
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Lesson 3: Character Values
A value is something a person or character thinks is right or good; it's also a characteristic of a fairy tale. Learners discuss how fairy tale characters often have or exemplify a specific value. They compare the values found in The...
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The Genre of Captivity Literature
Students make reference to previously presented material,
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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.
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Adventures in Wonderland: A Genre Study
Students explore the concepts of fantasy writing through this nine lessons unit. The unit presents semantic mapping, discussions, comparisons of various works of fantasy, and the opportunity to create their own fantasies.
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Asian Cinderella Tales
Explore the world of fairy tales using this instructional activity focusing on higher- order thinking skills. Learners compare and contrast an Asian Cinderella story to other versions. It is a great way to review the characteristics of...
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Review with Creative Writing
Connect a wide range of literature concepts where writers demonstrate mastery through creative writing.
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A Year of Reading
Utilize literature books for youth as a means to engage new readers and celebrate reading accomplishments.
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New Picture Books to Complement Your Curriculum
These picture books are for primary learners and older students alike.
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Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
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Hey - It's a Rainy Forest Out There!
Elementary schoolers take part in a very good lesson which has them watch video, conduct experiments, complete hands-on activities, and work in cooperative groups. The educationally-rich activities are clearly-explained, and the group...
Shakespeare Uncovered
All the Globe’s a Stage: Shakespeare’s Theatre
“All the world’s a stage,” exclaims Jaques in As You Like It, but it is the structure of the Globe stage and how that structure influenced Shakespeare’s plays that is the focus of an on-line research project. Class members visit a series...
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Recognizing Similes: Fast as a Whip
Students review basic knowledge of similes and engage with similes on a more abstract level. In this similes activity, students define similes and identify examples. Students read and analyze the similes used in poetry by Derricotte,...
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Shared Reading Book Trailer Creation
Scholars summarize sections of a book and compile them to create a book trailer. They are assigned sections of a book to read and summarize before recording as short video segments. The segments are put together in order to create a book...
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Character Bust: Ceramics Lesson
Whether it is a protagonist, antagonist, hero or heroine, characters are a must in any story. Learners analyze a character from a narrative they are reading, then use that character as inspiration. They create a ceramic bust depicting...
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Fate vs. Mind: A Macedonian Folk Tale
Students read examples of folk tales and describe the characteristics of fables and folk tales. They also examine the concept of fate and if it plays a part in people's lives.
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"What is an American?"
Eleventh graders ponder about what it means to be an "American." They discuss the impact of an author's word choice and sentence structure on text. They identify some major themes and development of the Letters... Compose paragraphs and...
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Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers
Learn about the events that helped shape the United States of America. Elementary schoolers explore the Civil War with six different activities. Each activity has a different focus: literature connections, primary sources, vocabulary,...
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Author Study
Learners examine and identify the characteristics of the different genres of literature. After being read and reading various stories, they identify how different books by the same author carry the same story elements. They discuss how...