Classroom Resources > Resource Type

Celebrate the publication of Webster's Dictionary using a variation of the board game Balderdash. Divide students into groups of five or six, and provide each group with a dictionary and some blank paper cut into strips:

• One student scans the dictionary to find a word that he or she believes no one has ever heard before, reads it aloud, and spells it. The other students write down either a real or made-up definition of the word.
  
  
• The student with the dictionary writes the real definition and then collects the other definitions. The leader reads all of the definitions and the students in the group then individually choose which of the definitions they believe is real.
  
  
• Two points are awarded for selecting the correct definition and one point to each student whose definition is selected. Points are totalled and the next person in the circle selects a new word.

In Black Beauty, Anna Sewell tackled one of the contemporary issues of her time, the cruel treatment of horses, many of them abused by their owners. Her work made readers aware of the need for laws to protect animals from harsh and abusive treatment.

After exploring the cruelty to animals in Sewell's novel, extend the discussion to current events. Divide students into pairs or small groups and ask them to conduct some research into the use of animals in testing drugs, cosmetics, and other products. Be sure to have online as well as traditional print resources available. Student groups should compile and present the information for and against using animals to test various substances.

Before beginning a reading of this novel, brainstorm with the class the possible meaning of the title. What does the word scarlet connote? What is the letter? Can letter have more than one meaning? Are there synonyms for scarlet that could convey the same significance and meaning? Be sure to record the responses of the class and return to them once the reading has begun, to explore how students' definitions have changed.

An alternative activity might be to show students the opening minutes of the movie adaptations of the novel first, and then ask them to read the opening chapter of the novel. Students could then write a short comparison of the book and the movie. An adaptation of the lesson Cover to Cover: Comparing Books to Movies (see Lesson Plans below) can also provide a foundation for this activity.

To celebrate Silko's birthday, your students can revive elements of the oral tradition.

Have students write a brief anecdote about something funny that happened to them recently. Have students limit their writing to no more than a paragraph. Then ask students to read what they have written several times to themselves. Next, in pairs, have students tell each other their stories without looking at what they wrote. Each pair should then join with another pair and tell each other their stories, again without looking at what they wrote. Stop the class at this point and ask students to look back at what they have written to see if their stories have changed in the telling. Why do these changes happen? Finally, have students move into a larger group and retell someone else's story as well as they can. Before wrapping up, students should discuss some of the elements of oral storytelling: what makes a good story? What changes in the retelling and why?

Have students interview older family members to learn about family stories that may have been passed down through generations. Students may wish to share these stories in class or write them down and illustrate them.

Before beginning a work by Garcí­a Márquez, introduce your students to some of the hallmarks of the literary style known as magical realism by exploring what it is not, through comparisons with familiar genres that also use unrealistic elements: fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales.

• Ask students to form groups to participate in a collaborative creative writing activity. Each group will narrate the same event, but they will do so in different genres: fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tale.
• Read the events/prompt aloud: "A man is killed. His mother finds the body and begins preparations for his burial."
• Encourage students to be creative in their responses, but to follow the conventions of their genre. Then ask students to share their responses. Discuss the genre elements their creative depictions display and talk about what these genres have in common and what they do not.
• Read from One Hundred Years of Solitude the scene in which José Arcadio is shot and his body discovered by Úrsula (Chapter 7, beginning at "One September afternoon" through "with a shell of concrete"). Have students compare the depiction from the novel to the ones they created. How is magical realism similar and different from the genres with which they are already familiar?

While Barbie's collection of accessories has changed over the years, her figure has remained relatively unchanged-despite questions about its effect on the self-esteem of the children who play with the doll. Take this opportunity to explore body image and advertising:

• Have students bring in pictures from the magazines that they typically read. Students should bring pictures of both male and female subjects.
• Post these pictures around the room and have students walk around with a two-columned chart with headings Male and Female which they will use to record words and phrases that describe what they see in the pictures. Students should then share their lists with the class.
• Ask students to write about how gender is represented in the advertisements they see. Is this typical of how men or women appear in movies, on TV, etc.? Which celebrities most exemplify these characteristics?
• After sharing responses in a think-pair-share arrangement, have students explain whether these gender representations are accurate in real life. Ask students to consider the effect that these representations can have on people's self-esteem.
• Conclude by discussing why advertisers portray males and females in this way. What is the goal and purpose of advertising?

Many years ago, people did not have the scientific information that we have available today to explain the change of seasons, the need for a Leap Day every four years, and the cycle of moon phases. Early civilizations relied on other means of explanation such as myths and folk tales.

Divide the class into groups and provide each group with an explanatory myth (e.g., the children's book Max and Ruby's First Greek Myth by Rosemary Wells or the works of Gerald McDermott or Tomie dePaola). Have students write summaries of the stories to share with the class. Then have the students in each group compose an original myth that explains either the same phenomenon from the book they summarized or another one of their choosing. Stories can be illustrated and collected into a book to share with other classes in the school.

In her acceptance speech for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2003, Halle Berry acknowledged the work of other African American actors and actresses, including Sidney Poitier. Discuss with students the importance of Poitier's role in bringing equality to African American actors, especially in the 1950s,1960s, and 1970s.

Through the years, many barriers have been broken-barriers of age, race, and gender, to name a few. Ask students to write in their journals about any barriers that might impede them in the future (e.g., language, class, disability), and about how they can break through those barriers now. Should students desire it, these journal pieces could be made public in the form of letters to the school or local newspaper or some other format.

Steinbeck's works reflect the issues and ills of the time period in which he lived. The Grapes of Wrath, for example, deals with a group of migrant farm workers who moved from field to field. Often, these workers lived in squalid conditions and were paid poor wages. They were forced to purchase their supplies from a company store and then work to pay off their debt, many times without ever seeing a penny of their wages. Present students with information about the Dust Bowl and the flight of many farm workers west to California.

Ask students, "If Steinbeck were to write today about the ills of society, what topics or subjects might he find to address?" Brainstorm with the class a list of possible topics. Have groups of students each research a topic of their choosing and prepare an annotated bibliography of fiction and nonfiction texts that address the topic. The bibliographies can later be used as a school library resource.

Many students have difficulty identifying or appreciating allusive or satirical humor. Using the following lines from Bombeck's newspaper column, ask students to identify not what they think is funny, but what someone else might find funny.

• Shopping is a woman thing. It's a contact sport like football. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ecstasy of the purchase.
  
  
• There are two kinds of women who will spring big bucks for a make-up mirror that magnifies their faces. The first are young models who need to cover every eyelash, shadow their cheekbones, define their lips, and sculpt their faces. The second group are women who, without their glasses, cannot find their faces.
  
  
• I just clipped two articles from a current magazine. One is a diet guaranteed to drop five pounds off my body in a weekend. The other is a recipe for a 6-minute pecan pie.
  
  
• Most children's first words are "Mama" or "Daddy." My kid's first words were, "Do I have to use my own money?"

High school students can rewrite the passages to make them funny for a different audience.