Curated OER
Touching Spirit Bear: Chapters 24 & 25
In this Touching Spirit Bear comprehension check worksheet, students respond to 29 short answer questions covering chapters 24 and 25 of Touching Spirit Bear in order to help them better understand the chapters and the novel.
Curated OER
Touching Spirit Bear: Chapters 27 & 28
In this Touching Spirit Bear comprehension check worksheet, young scholars respond to 20 short answer questions covering chapters 27 and 28 of Touching Spirit Bear in order to help them better understand the chapters and the novel.
Curated OER
Touching Spirit Bear Chapter 5
In this Touching Spirit Bear comprehension check worksheet, learners respond to 10 short answer questions covering chapter 5 of Touching Spirit Bear in order to help them better understand the chapter and the novel.
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing-The Hobbit
Young readers write a descriptive paper on the fantasy characters in The Hobbit. They take notes as they read the novel in order to provide descriptions of the character traits of hobbits, dwarfs, trolls, wizards, and goblins. They pay...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes
Compare and contrast the themes of two works by J.R.R. Tolkien. High schoolers read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, Then they write an essay that compares the themes found in each novel.
Curated OER
People are People
Explore human diversity in this human rights instructional activity. Middle schoolers compare novels, speeches, videos, and short stories that promote diversity and basic human rights. They complete daily coursework as they read the...
Curated OER
Reading Blog Log
Bring technology to your novel unit with this lesson, which prompts readers to analyze a book they are reading in a Socratic discussion with their classmates. They create a live blog online in which they can give their opinions and...
Curated OER
Create a PowerPoint:Based on The Giver
Are you reading Lois Lowry's The Giver in your language arts class? Have your young readers create a PowerPoint presentation about their life, and how they connect to the lives of the characters from the novel. They present information...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing - The Hobbit
Hobbits, dwarfs, wizards, trolls, and goblins. Readers track these fantastic creatures through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit noting passages of character description and habitats. Using specific passages from the novel, class members craft...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing - The Hobbit
Hobbits, dwarfs, wizards, trolls, and goblins. Readers track these fantastic creatures through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit noting passages of character description and scenery changes. Using specific passages from the novel, class...
Curated OER
The Pearl and the Concept of Wealth
What is the true meaning of wealth? Guide your class through this question in a SMART board activity (provided), which addresses a concept development model. The lesson could be used before you begin The Pearl by John Steinbeck, or it...
Curated OER
Introduction to Victorian London and A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley
Immerse your class in Dickens's London and classic story of A Christmas Carol. Here, a SMARTboard presentation and WebQuest build background of the setting for the novel (or the play A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley.) Learning about...
Curated OER
The Power of Mental Images: Visualizing Literature
With a chapter book in hand, readers practice visualizing the events and characters of the story. The lesson gives suggestions of novels that are rich in detail to help facilitate the process. Drawings from what they read act as the...
Curated OER
The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth Spearce
A series of review questions from The Sign of the Beaver allow your students to address and reflect on their reading. Questions are grouped from chapters 1-10, 11-20, and 21-25. You will find that most questions access the knowledge and...
Curated OER
The Dragonslayers, Chapters 9 & 10: Comprehension Quiz
Bruce Coville's fantasy novel The Dragonslayers (chapters 9 & 10) is the subject of 14 multiple-choice questions that deal with conflict, detail recall, sequencing, drawing conclusions, and identifying cause and effect.
Curated OER
Analyzing Word Use Through Guided Wordle
Even though this lesson is just a basic way to review verb usage, it takes a novel approach. First, pupils identify verbs that they use too often in their writing, and then they create a Wordle. Wordle is a website that provides graphic...
Curated OER
Environmental Studies: The Environment Rocks!
Rock exploration, so exciting! After reading the book Everybody Needs a Rock, the class makes sandwiches to better understand that the Earth is made in layers. They then use a description of the 3 types of rock to conduct an observation...
Curated OER
Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn Introductory Lessons
“What is the role or function of controversial art? And, should children, our children, be required—forced—to study certain works they may find painful or humiliating or offensive?” Robert Zalisk’s question, found in his article, “Uproar...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Courage “In the Time of the Butterflies”: A Common Core Exemplar
The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...
ReadWriteThink
Decoding the Dystopian Characteristics of Macintosh’s “1984” Commercial
Known as one of the most iconic advertisements of the 20th century, Macintosh's "1984" commercial has become more of a social statement. Present the ad to a new audience of viewers with a lesson focused on identifying dystopian...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Utopia/Dystopia: The American Dream
America was founded by dreamers, and the American dream still resonates in our country today. Track the American dream from its Puritan beginnings to its optimistic descendants with a instructional activity that focuses on speeches by...
Curated OER
Literature Awards: Michael L. Printz Award 2004
Students research information about the Michael L. Printz Awards which are given to outstanding young adult novels.
Curated OER
Rabindranath Tagore's The Home and the World
Students read Tagore's novel and discuss questions of personal development, its influence from culture and tradition, and the conflicting allegiances of family, marriage, friendship and politics. Students research swadeshi and...
Curated OER
Revolutionary War
Students discover that one to explore about the past is to read historical novels. They see that in every war there are many viewpoints to consider. Students are introduced to the young adult historical novel My Brother Sam Is Dead. ...