Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...

Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select...

How is a poem similar to and different from a news article? Pupils use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the two genres. Also, as part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars participate in small-group discussions based on poetry...

One can never be too prepared. Pupils prepare for their upcoming mid-unit assessment by writing their group norms for small group discussions. Additionally, scholars read and listen to a poem, comparing the two experiences using a Venn...

Let's compare and contrast! Scholars use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the experience of reading a poem and listening to its audio version. Next, they complete graphic organizers, comparing two different genres: a poem and a...

Many people are familiar with the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, but long before it was an animated movie, Lewis Carroll's story was a beloved book. An eBook gives readers access to an early edition of the story. The text...

What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...

Who would have thought to explore the concept of race through children's literature?  After reading Bell Hooks' picture book, Skin Again, and chapter sixteen of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee, class members...

Incorporate technology into a literature lesson plan with an innovative language arts lesson plan. Middle schoolers read an electronic version of original stories or fairy tales, and after determining the point of view, rewrite the...

Young learners discover kamishibai, a popular Japanese storytelling art, and explore how these Japanese folktales illustrate the country's cultural themes and values through discussion and storyboarding. 

Learn how to infer the implicit theme in a work of fiction, distinguish theme from topic, and make complex inferences using textual evidence.

This lesson plan is based on Willie Nelson lyrics, and the PBS feature on him. It focuses on brainstorming and choral reading skills. In addition to the lesson plan, there is information on how to do guided reading and choral reading.

Young scholars will practice the reading comprehension skill of visualizing. Teachers will model the skill with All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan. Then students will listen to Robert Service's poem "The Shooting of Dan...

Do you know what type of literature "literary Gothicism" represents? Find out what types of literature throughout the ages have been touched by the Gothic influence when you visit this site.

Explore the difference between tone and mood in this animated video [2:28] from WNET through definitions and examples from poetry and prose. Discussion questions below help students to further apply their understanding before analyzing a...

Lesson plan useful to teachers of any of of Shakespeare's plays in which students retell a scene using only visuals.

As part of a revision and writing section of BBC Bitesize focusing on specific forms of writing, this site discusses describing people as a type of descriptive writing.