Curated OER
Phineas Gage: “How Do You Get Through Hard Times?” Chalk Talk
Hold a discussion in writing about coping strategies to prepare your pupils for reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. After journaling, pupils come up in an organized fashion and write...
Curated OER
My Antonia: During Reading Strategy
Home in on the quote on this page to explore setting, the author's and character's voices, and plot in Willa Cather's My Antonia. Pupils draw a picture of what is described in the quote, discuss the content, and make connections to their...
Curated OER
Novel Character Study
Students complete a character study using a database to compile information from a novel. They design a five slide presentation highlighting the character's reaction to different situations in the book. They write an acrostic poem using...
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Chalk Talk/Expo Expose
A silent discussion? Indeed. Readers engage in a silent conversation about Victor Martinez's award-winning novel by recording questions, insights, and comments on the board.
Curated OER
The Metamorphosis: List-Group-Label Strategy
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is one of the most prominent and influential books to come out of the existential movement. Host a group discussion in which learners list different characteristics of existent art, group these tenets, and...
Curated OER
Maus I and II: Pictionary
Why is visual literacy so important in understanding Maus? Introduce your class to basic elements of graphic novels with a game of pictionary. A list of 13 words are included, but you could potentially add some World War II-related terms...
Brigham Young University
K-W-H-L for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
To prepare for a study of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second in the series of seven books about J.K. Rowling's amazing young wizard, readers complete a K-W-H-L chart.
Novelinks
The Grapes of Wrath: Vocabulary Activity
Readers locate unfamiliar words in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and teach these words and their meanings to class members.
Curated OER
Night: Socratic Questioning Activity
We construct meaning through discussion, so help your readers of Elie Wiesel's work Night with a socratic questioning activity. The strategy is outlined on the first page, and the second page offers some example questions you give to...
Curated OER
The Outsiders: Anticipation Guide
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is always a favorite for middle and high school readers because it addresses issues that hit home to them, decades after the book is set. Have learners fill out an anticipation guide that encourages them to...
Curated OER
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
In this story structure lesson, students read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.
Curated OER
Ordinary People: Guided Imagery
After reading chapter six of Ordinary People with your class, conduct this activity with your class. Turn the lights down, put on your softest voice, and have them try to imagine that they lost a close friend. Then, encourage them to...
Curated OER
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: "A Raisin in the Sun"
Students predict outcomes of a text. In this comprehension strategy lesson, students read a poem and compare it to the play A Raisin in the Sun. Students discuss their similarities and the power of dreams.
EngageNY
Mid-Unit 1 Assessment: Figurative Language and Word Choice in Bud, Not Buddy (Chapter 5)
Individuals utilize the strategies practiced in the previous lesson to complete a mid-unit assessment on figurative language and how Christopher Paul Curtis uses word choice to create meaning in Bud, Not Buddy.
Curated OER
My Antonia: Request Strategy
Can your learners stump you with questions? Find out with this question-centered activity! After reading a portion of My Antonia by Willa Cather, pupils question the teacher. Once the first round is complete, the class reads more and...
Curated OER
Call of the Wild: After-reading Response Strategy
Readers select a character from Call of the Wild, record their responses to a series of prompts in a spiral notebook, and use details from the novel to support their thinking. The spirals are then used as source material to support a...
Curated OER
Flipped: A Before Reading Strategy
Prior to reading Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen’s young adult novel about teen romance, class members engage in an anticipation guide activity. Individuals post their responses to a series of prompts, and after reading all the responses,...
Curated OER
Anticipation Guide Strategy for Gary Paulsen's Canyons (For Teachers)
"Things never change." "It's okay to steal from those who already have a lot." Before reading Canyons, readers respond to an anticipation guide that focuses on issues raised in Gary Paulsen's novel. Groups share their responses, and...
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Anticipation Guide
Introduce Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner with an anticipation guide that asks class members to consider their opinions on a series of statements related to themes presented in the novel.
Novelinks
The Dark Is Rising: Guided Imagery
To launch a reading of The Dark is Rising, the second novel in Susan Cooper's award winning contemporary fantasy novel sequence for young adults, class members engage in a guided imagery exercise that asks them to visualize the setting...
Curated OER
Cold Sassy Tree: Multicultural Strategy
Analyze the characters in Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree with this assignment. After reading the majority of the novel, class members choose a character and make a visual representation of the character, including any important...
Curated OER
Journey to Topaz: KWHL Strategy
Japanese Internment and World war II are the focus of a KWHL strategy used to scaffold for a reading of Journey to Topaz, Yoshiko Uchida's story of 11-year-old Yuki Sakane and her family. Complete directions for the activity and...
Curated OER
Paradise Lost: Anticipation Guide
To set the stage for reading Paradise Lost, class members compete an anticipation guide containing statements that connect to themes in Milton's epic poem.
Novelinks
The Good Earth: Multigenre Writing Strategy
In response to reading Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, individuals are asked to complete a multi-genre writing assignment, crafting eight different pieces including a research paper.