Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts: Grade 6: Out of the Dust
Focused on the Dust Bowl and how families fought for a meaningful existence and survival, this unit will offer students different perspectives on how people respond to adversity, the lessons that can be learned from hardship and failure,...
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Characterization
This is a glossary entry for the term "Characterization" including a definition and the characteristics to be developed: Character's appearance, actions, thoughts, voice, and reaction from others.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts: Grade 4: The Whipping Boy
This unit explores the history of the Middle Ages through the fictional tale of two unlikely friends, Price Brat and his whipping boy. The Middle Ages was defined by a strict class system in government and economy. The novel explores the...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Using Online Technology to Explore Characterization and Style
Students use social networking sites to trace the development of characters by assuming the persona of a character on the class Ning and sending a set number of tweets, or status updates.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Characterization Through Action
A seven-slide presentation discussing how a character's traits are developed and revealed through action in a literary text.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Nature/national Geographic: Flora's Background and Motivation
Learn about what motivated Flora, a woman from the city, to move to the African bush in this short video from Nature/National Geographic. This is one in a series of three videos about Flora's life. [7:00]
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Using Picture Books to Teach Setting Development
Contains plans for two or three lessons that teach about setting using picture books as models. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used in the lessons as well as assessment and...
Caro Clarke
Historical Fiction: Who Rules?
This is the fifteenth article in a series designed to help the new novel author. This article focuses on the genre of historical fiction and the role of the author. Is the author a researcher or a story-teller?
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Breaking Barriers: Critical Discussion of Social Issues
Through a series of picture book read-alouds and journal entries, students engage in critical discussion of complex issues of race, class, and gender.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: Social Studies: Grade 3: Cajun Folktales
Through the study of trickster tales from various cultures, including the classic Cajun character Lapin the Rabbit, 3rd graders learn how storytelling can be entertaining as well as educational. Students build an understanding of...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A New Park [Pdf]
"A New Park" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about how a school in need of a playground got a city park instead. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Curriculum Hub: Ela Guidebooks: A Lesson Before Dying: What Makes Us Human?
Ninth graders read chapters 18-27 of A Lesson Before Dying and examine how the interactions among the characters and the lessons learned by these characters develops a theme. Students also view the video, "Why Your Worst Deeds Don't...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Curriculum Hub: Ela Guidebooks: A Lesson Before Dying: Isolation
Students will examine how the theme of isolation is developed in chapters 8-17 of A Lesson Before Dying, as well as the song "I Am a Rock," "No Man is an Island," and an excerpt from Invisible Man. Students will also examine the internal...
PBS
Pbs: American Masters: Lesson 2: Truman Capote: Other Voices, Other Rooms
This lesson plan is based on the PBS episode of American Masters about Truman Capote. Students will read and analyze how Truman Capote develops characters as they record their findings on worksheets included with this lesson. Then...
Yale University
Yale University: Elements of the Short Story
This unit from the Yale University on elements of the short story is designed to develop student comprehension skills, particularly making inferences and generalizing. It also involves students in reading a number of short stories to...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Interpreting Shakespeare's a Midsummer Night's Dream
After a study of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, students working in small groups conduct research and create a slideshow presentation that emphasizes key aspects of the play and/or new ideas generated by the play.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts: Grade 3: Because of Winn Dixie
Third graders learn about the value of companionship, the joy of finding friends in unexpected places, and the significance of building a community of different perspectives. They explore how authors develop the reader's understanding of...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts: Grade 4: The Lightning Thief
Fourth graders learn about traditional stories, focusing on common patterns in literature, specifically the quest. Students come to understand how literature helps us make sense of the world, and how literature from the past influences...
Can Teach
Can Teach: You Are What You Say Personality Profiles
In this lesson plan students will develop personality profiles by analyzing the quotes of a character, historical figure, present day figure, etc. Lesson plan indicated for 3rd grade and above.
McGraw Hill
Glencoe Literature Library: "Shiloh" Study Guide [Pdf]
Explore Phyllis Reynold Naylor's "Shiloh" with the help of this study guide, which provides pre-reading material (author biography, vocabulary, introductory article), reading activities, brainstorming ideas, and thought-provoking writing...
McGraw Hill
Glencoe Literature Library: "Heart of Darkness" and "The Secret Sharer" [Pdf]
Explore Joseph Conrad's novella, "Heart of Darkness," and his short story, "The Secret Sharer," with the help of this study guide. It provides pre-reading material (author biography, vocabulary, introductory article), reading activities,...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: James F. Cooper
This literary biography from the University of Groningen analyzes the contribution of James Fenimore Cooper to American literature and his role in the development of the American novel. Discusses Cooper's character, Natty Bumppo.
Penguin Publishing
Penguin Random House: "The Time Machine" Teacher Guide [Pdf]
Teacher guide for "The Time Machine" includes chapter-by-chapter plot summaries, pre-reading journal ideas, vocabulary studies, study questions, discussion topics, figurative language, character studies, themes, and reading strategies.
British Council
British Council: Learn English Kids: Voyage of the Animal Orchestra
Use this story of the shipwrecked animals in the orchestra to focus on plot, characters, and sequence of a story. Included are assessment activities and flash cards.