Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is difficult to read and difficult to teach. The novel is so highly regarded that it is one of most often listed as an option for the AP Literature and Composition exam. The materials in this packet from PBS...

A definitive resource for your figurative language unit includes several worksheets and activities to reinforce writing skills. It addresses poetic elements such as simile and metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and idioms, and...

Engage your class in a series of activities, each related to the use or analysis of symbols used to convey patriotic or national concepts. They identify different national symbols and explain their meanings, discussing the importance of...

Governments rely on propaganda to build support for wars. Class members examine six propaganda posters, two each from the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II, and analyze how the way women were portrayed in the posters...

Class members compare the final 30 minutes of Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope with Act V of Doescher's play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope and consider how the choice of media influences viewers' impression...

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass serves as the anchor text for a lesson on symbolism. Readers use the provided worksheets to examine the symbols in the novel as well as in the world around them.

Close up your study of Touching Spirit Bear with any of these assessment options. Each of the four project options is described in detail. Also included is a page that learners can use to portion out their time to make sure they fulfill...

Introduce your upper-elementary learners to printmaking. Class members view prints, select and research symbols in a piece, and create their own sets of prints using styrofoam trays. Pupils can wash off the paint on their trays to make...

Support a class reading of the novel Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Taylor with this series of discussion questions. Covering a variety of topics from character and setting to historical accuracy and symbolism, these questions...

Use political cartoons to help your class understand the European Debt Crisis and visual symbolism. This analysis handout includes two cartoons depicting the crisis and prompts learners to consider possible symbols and allusions to best...

The iconic image of the Tank Man is imitated in this political cartoon analysis, in which learners examine a cartoon depicting a similar standoff. The original image is pictured, and learners compare it to a more modern cartoon of the...

The octopus is a commonly used symbol in political cartoons. Help your scholars examine why it has been used in this way throughout history. Three cartoons depict different uses of the octopus. Background information helps gives context...

Get a fun discussion going with this current events worksheet, which has scholars analyzing 2 political cartoons about an incident in 2009, when Congressman Joseph Wilson accused President Barack Obama of lying during a speech....

Are these the end times? Combine current events with religious prophecy in this activity, where scholars analyze a 2007 political cartoon in the context of current issues. Background information explains the Four Horsemen of the...

Use this political cartoon handout to help pupils understand the role the Blue Dog Coalition plays with regard to Health Care Reform. Football is used metaphorically to represent a player (Blue Dogs) tackling someone on his team (Obama)....

Arm your writers with an arsenal of literary terms. With definitions of everything from plot structure and figurative language to point-of-view and types of irony, learners will gain an understanding of elements in stories and be able to...

Here are 5 multiple-choice questions based on the symbols in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the Through the Looking-Glass. Secondary pupils may take this timed quiz and submit their answers online to be scored.

Analyzing atmosphere and symbolism by focusing on a well-known poem, The Raven, is the strategy presented to writers in this presentation. Sorrow, darkness, and many other image words are used to help students question and analyze poetry...

Students investigate the important symbols to Native cultures by writing a poem.  In this animal totem lesson, students discuss animal spirits and their relation to the Native American lifestyle. Students write a cinquain poem about...

Students view and discuss visual symbols around them every day, analyze symbols on United States one dollar bill, explore variety of meanings of same symbols depending on context and culture, and create their own money with symbols that...

Fourth graders explore Japanese customs and history. They create their own works that reflect these traditions. They identify and use primary and secondary sources to learn and communicate about the past.

First graders study the American flag as a symbol of freedom. They explore the number of stripes and stars and discuss the symbolism. After observing the American flag, 1st graders use construction paper to create their own accurate flag.

High schoolers identify clues that tell them about where, when, who and what they are seeing in art images. They work, step by step, through the layers of meaning, delving more deeply into these layers with each work as they progress...

Fun Trivia quizzes can be made by anyone, so you will want to closely evaluate this one on symbolism in Golding's Lord of the Flies before assigning it to your class. It includes 10 multiple choice questions and provides the score...