Use this packet as a companion to your study of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. The resource breaks the novel up into several chunks, and for each chunk provides activities, background information, vocabulary, graphic organizers, and response...

Students complete activities with a leveled chapter book. In this literature lesson, students read a novel and complete several graphic organizers and activities as they read. They focus on characters, settings, vocabulary, and plot. 

Have your class explore active reading strategies! In this guided reading lesson, learners make personal connections to characters having a bad day as a prior knowledge activation discussion. After reading Gettin' Through Thursday, class...

Young scholars participate in literary circles to analyze characters, critique writing, discuss events, and  story elements.  In this literary circles lesson plan, students take responsibility for their learning as a member of...

Students complete a unit of lessons on families. They read and analyze various stories, label a map, assemble sentences, write letters to grandparents, analyze character traits, and write and illustrate a sheet for a class book.

Rather than waiting for the world to change, encourage your class members to become agents of change with a project that asks groups to select an issue found in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America....

Prepare your readers for Briar Rose with an Anticipation Guide that asks them to agree or disagree with a series of statements that reflect issues raised by Jane Yolen’s narrative about a young girl’s research into her grandmother’s...

Tenth graders identify the different ideas, emotions that different colors represent the significance of color in real life. They examine the significance of the lack of color in The Giver and the movie Pleasantville. They develop...

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 15 short answer and essay questions about Dream of the Red Chamber. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

It is important that future responsible scientists and citizens are able to read and analyze scientific literature. Here you will find four ideas for bringing current science event articles into your classroom. Suggestions range from...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

Life in the Florida swamps after the Civil War comes alive in the 1946 film adaptation of Majorie Kinnan Rawlings’s The Yearling. The film of this powerful coming-of-age story, filled with love and loss, can be used with or without a...

Sixth graders investigate the concept of Greek Mythology and conduct research using a variety of resources. They read literature pieces and then write responses to the readings. Students also view a video in order to create the context...

Students participate in a lesson that investigates post-modernism in American literature. They conduct the lesson with the help of reading "America" by Ginsberg to create context. Then students define the genre and the culture that has...

Seventh graders work together to focus upon the skills needed for career development. They work together to find the kind of responsibilities that are needed in the contexts of home, work, and school. They create a poster based upon the...

Learners conduct a character study using the literature of Sherlock Holmes. They use a database with different cases that need to be solved. Students use the computer software to work through a list of suspects and match them with the...

Students analyze a classic children's story by discussing it with their peers.  For this reading comprehension lesson, students read The Little Red Hen, and discuss ways the hen takes care of his responsibilities.  Students...

Students explore different types of student literature; they then write their own fiction pieces, in either fantasy/adventure or memoir/realism style.

Students read "The Great Kapok" and choose to agree or disagree with the main character's decision. They gather and organize details from multiple sources to defend their standpoints. They begin prewriting steps of process writing.

students examine the historical, political, religious and culture aspects of the Renaissance. Using this information, they read "Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht. They use the internet to research a specific event of the time period and come...

Literature containing life cycle information is available from many sources. Several examples of this type of literature are listed below with a synopsis and sample questions for each. These examples have been taken from a variety of...

Students engage in a study of incorporating literature into the Social Studies classroom. They review a variety of literature sources and then create a bulletin board with the information. Then students practice using the Reader's...

Students listen to stories about different philanthropic acts. They work together in groups to create a list of the needs of their community. They chose a service project which could be completed by their class.

Students choose a short story from the class literature book. They find information about the author. They read the short story from the literature textbook. They create a PowerPoint to retell the short story.