Curated OER
Harriet Tubman Warns "Kill the Snake Before It Kills You"
Harriet Tubman developed a rich extended metaphor for slavery and the imperative for Lincoln to abolish it in this dictated letter from 1862. Young historians read the original document and interpret Tubman's allegory with a pair of...
Curated OER
Identifying Irony
What are the three types of irony? After reviewing dramatic, situational, and verbal irony with your readers, present them with this two-page document. They read six excerpts to determine which type of irony is used in each. After...
Reed Novel Studies
The Penderwicks: Novel Study
Have you ever tried to fix something but actually end up making it worse? This is exactly what happens to three girls in Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks. Scholars read about the efforts of the girls and complete worksheet...
College Board
2005 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Santa is not the only one in the chimney! Scholars compare two poems written about using children as chimney sweepers. They also create essays about literary devices in a passage and about a character's struggle with inward and outward...
Curated OER
Creepy Read Week
Here's a clever technology twist to writing in the round. Participants rotate through a series of computers adding to stories and editing by keystroke and mouse click. "Locked" forms prevent the loss of stories filled with suspense and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Thirteen Ways of Reading a Modernist Poem
High schoolers analyze modernist poetry and the role of speaker in example poems. Learners study modernist poems from the Romanticism and Victorian periods as well as Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." Using a...
Curated OER
Poetry, Take Me Away!
Students explore a variety of poetry and poetry concepts. They examine figurative language, mood, and literary devices. The students write and recite their own poetry.
Curated OER
Positively Poetry
Students complete a unit on poetry. In this poetry lesson, students complete 19 lessons that focus on reading and writing poetry as well as learning about literary elements and sound devices. Students read poetry orally, debate poetry in...
Curated OER
This Isn't Your Little Sister's Poetry: Analyzing and Understanding a Variety of Acclaimed Poets
Eleventh graders are introduced to various basic and advanced poetic devices. They read several poems and practice identifying poetic elements. They identify at least two different poems and substantiate why they belong in the canon.
Curated OER
Teaching Selected Poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems
Students explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.
Curated OER
Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense: There Once Was?
Students explore limericks. In this poetry writing instructional activity, students listen to and read a variety of poems written by Edward Lear. Students count syllables and identify meter by clapping as they read aloud. Students...
Curated OER
A Separate Peace: Chapter 13 Reading And Study Guide
In this comprehension check worksheet, learners define 3 vocabulary words, define 1 literary term, and respond to 6 short answer questions pertaining to chapter 13 of A Separate Peace by John Knowlesin order to help them better...
Curated OER
The Voices Within Theirs and Mine
Students create new words to convey their thoughts. They find, list and discuss the poetic devices used by the poet in creating his or her war poem and create their own war poems. They use sensory perception words and memory in...
Curated OER
Onomatopoeia
In this onomatopoeia instructional activity, students read the directions and examples for this literary device. Students brainstorm, then write some sentences. Finally they write a comic strip using onomatopoeia, and illustrate it.
Curated OER
Reading the Movies: Another Approach To Teaching Critical Thinking Skills And Writing
Students explore the elements of film to analyze character, action, and the themes in the movie, "Quiz Show." The activity encourages students to make personal connections and real life applications as they view the movie, critically.
Curated OER
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Themes Quiz
In this online interactive reading comprehension quiz worksheet, students respond to 5 multiple choice questions about themes from Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Students may check their answers on this timed quiz.
Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Theme of Youth
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 4 short answer questions about themes from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Theme of Hopes, Plans, and Dreams
In this reading comprehension worksheet, high schoolers respond to 4 short answer questions about themes from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Theme of Manipulation
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 4 short answer questions about themes from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 2
The second module in a series for high school seniors focuses on tracking the central idea of a text across genres and from multiple author and character perspectives. Twelfth graders read a speech by Benazir Bhutto entitled "Ideas Live...
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: January 2014
What better way to prepare learners for academic success than to administer practice tests? With the Comprehensive Examination in English, scholars read informational and literary texts and answer listening and reading comprehension...
Curated OER
Identifying Personification in Poetry
Improve your young poets' descriptive writing with this lesson on personification. A SMART board and PowerPoint presentation guide your class through the process of identifying human qualities attributed to various non-human objects. A...
Curated OER
Foreshadowing and Making Predictions
"What happens next?" Using real-life scenarios, movies, images, and other prompts, pupils practice making predictions based on inferences from clues. A SMART board activity takes them from making predictions to writing a prediction...
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: August 2015
Looking at literature through a critical lens helps readers connect the text to the larger world. An essay examining the theme "There is no ill in the world without a remedy" forms the main part of a sample comprehensive English...