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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: How an 11 Year Old Boy Invented the Popsicle by Shelby Pope for Npr

For Students 7th - 9th
A learning module that begins with "How an 11-Year-Old Boy Invented the Popsicle" by Shelby Pope, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: It's for You to Know That You Forgive, Says Holocaust Survivor

For Students 7th - 8th
A learning module that begins with "It's for You to Know That You Forgive, Says Holocaust Survivor," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: How I Found True Love in an Arranged Marriage

For Students 7th - 8th
A learning module that begins with "How I Found True Love in an Arranged Marriage" by Surabhi Surendra accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: How Haiti Saved the United States

For Students 7th - 8th
A learning module that begins with "How Haiti Saved the United States" by David White accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: In Pakistan, a Self Styled Teacher Holds Class for 150 in a Cowshed

For Students 7th - 8th
A learning module that begins with "In Pakistan, A Self-styled Teacher Holds Class for 150 in a Cowshed" by Philip Reeves accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "If We Must Die" by Claude Mc Kay

For Students 7th - 8th
A learning module that begins with "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Herd Behavior" by Common Lit Staff

For Students 7th - 8th Standards
A learning module that begins with "Herd Behavior," accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and student accounts....
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: I Hear America Singing

For Students 7th - 8th
A learning module that begins with the poem "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe

For Students 9th - 10th
This is the full text of the poem "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe; it was published in 1849 and is the last complete poem published by Poe before his death. Guided reading, discussion questions, and quiz are available [Free account...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: 5 Surprising Facts About the Refugee Crisis by Jason Beaubien

For Students 7th - 8th
In recent years, the number of refugees seeking safety in other countries has become alarmingly high. In this NPR article, Jason Beaubien describes some of the most severe refugee crises around the world and how other countries are...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Adolf Hitler" by Jessica Mc Birney

For Students 7th - 8th
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was a German politician who was a leader of the Nazi Party and later became a dictator in Germany. Hitler's leadership in Germany resulted in World War II and the deaths of countless soldiers and citizens,...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin" by Margot Adler

For Students 7th - 8th
Rosa Parks is well-known for her refusal to give up her seat to a white person on a bus in Alabama. A famous bus boycott followed because of her act of protest. However, Parks was not the first person to refuse to give up her seat. In...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Apollo and Hyacinthus by Thomas Bulfinch

For Students 7th - 8th
Thomas Bulfinch (1796-1867) was an American writer best known for his book Bulfinch's Mythology, a compilation of his earlier works. In this short story, Bulfinch retells the classic myth about Apollo, the god of music, and his affection...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Akron at Night by Teri Ellen Cross Davis

For Students 7th - 8th
Teri Ellen Cross Davis is a poet who draws upon small, personal moments to explore large themes. Common subjects in her poetry include the experiences of women and people of color in America. This poem is from her 2016 collection Haint....
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: "Fastest Woman in the World" by Pat Parker

For Students 5th - 6th
A learning module that begins with the poem "Fastest Woman in the World" by Pat Parker, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Heartbeat of Mother Earth

For Students 5th - 6th
A learning module that begins with the poem "Heartbeat of Mother Earth" by CR Willing McManis, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Soaring "On the Wings of Wind"

For Students 5th - 6th
A learning module that begins with the poem "Soaring "On the Wings of Wind"" by Lois Miner Huey, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: The Anklet

For Students 5th - 6th
A learning module that begins with the "The Anklet" by Neil Philip, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Seeing Through Dorothea's Eyes

For Students 5th - 6th
A learning module that begins with the "Seeing Through Dorothea's Eyes" by Sudipta Bardhan, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: The Poppy Lady

For Students 5th - 6th
A learning module that begins with the "The Poppy Lady" by Barbara Elizabeth Walsh, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Can We Cultivate Our Own Happiness

For Students 7th - 8th
Martin Seligman coined the term "positive psychology" to describe his exploration of how people can improve their own happiness. In this report from 2002, ABC News explains Seligman's research and findings in the field of positive...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: A Woman Who Went to Alaska by Mary Kellogg Sullivan

For Students 7th - 8th
In Mary Kellogg Sullivan's book A Woman Who Went to Alaska, Sullivan describes her adventures in Alaska during her search for riches. Between 1896 and 1899, an estimated 100,000 people migrated to the Klondike region of the Yukon in...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Conflicting News Reports on the Fate of the Sinking Titanic

For Students 7th - 8th
The RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg. More than 1,500 passengers died as a result of the ship sinking. After the ship...
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Autumntime by Anthony Lentini

For Students 7th - 8th
The story "Autumntime" by Anthony Lentiniis set in a future where technology meets almost all human needs. It also provides a guided reading mode, assessment, discussion questions, and teacher's guide. [Free account registration required...