In this lesson, students incorporate analyses of characters from The Crucible with examinations of original seventeenth-century portraits of Puritans to create a visual portrait of the character. The project culminates in a "Portrait Gallery Walk" where students present and defend their artwork.
An Exploration of The Crucible through Seventeenth-Century Portraits
Grades
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Analyzing the Stylistic Choices of Political Cartoonists
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students explore and analyze the techniques that political (or editorial) cartoonists use and draw conclusions about why the cartoonists choose those techniques to communicate their messages.
Grades
|
Opening the Door for Reading: Sharing Favorite Texts to Build Community
3 - 6
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson, students build classroom community by exploring environmental print and a teacher-created display that focuses on a favorite book. They then create and share their own presentations.
Grades
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The History Behind Song Lyrics
6 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Unit
Students research the items listed in the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel, noting their historical relevance, and then document their findings using an online chart.
Grades
|
Improving Fluency through Group Literary Performance
K - 2
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Students participate in shared reading, choral reading, and readers theater, using books by Bill Martin, Jr. Repeated readings and literary performances help students with their reading accuracy, expression, and rate.
Grades
|
Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The Birth of Venus
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, students identify, analyze, and explain how elements in Botticelli's painting Birth of Venus and examples from the play illustrate the philosophy of Renaissance Humanism.
Grades
|
Locating Purpose in Allusion through Art and Poetry
9 - 12
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
Through this lesson, students will learn how to use the literary term "allusion" in discussing how and why authors and artists draw on and transform subject material.
Grades
|
Blending the Past with Today's Technology: Using Prezi to Prepare for Historical Fiction
6 - 10
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
To prepare for literature circles featuring historical novels, students research the decades of the 1930s to the 1990s and share their information using Prezi, a web application for creating multimedia presentations.
Grades
|
Book Report Alternative: Glog That Book!
5 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this alternative book report, students identify the elements of fiction in books they have read by creating glogs, interactive multimedia posters, and then share their glogs.
Grades
|
Audience & Purpose: Evaluating Disney's Changes to the Hercules Myth
5 - 8
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
What drives changes to classic myths and fables? In this lesson students evaluate the changes Disney made to the myth of "Hercules" in order to achieve their audience and purpose.
Grades
|
Boars and Baseball: Making Connections
4 - 7
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.
Grades
|
Seasonal Haiku: Writing Poems to Celebrate Any Season
3 - 5
Lesson Plan
| Standard Lesson
After listening to haiku poetry, students use seasonal descriptive words to write their own haiku, following the traditional format. They then publish their poems by mounting them on illustrated backgrounds.
Grades
|
Read Across America Day: Celebrate a Nation of Diverse Readers
K - 12
Calendar Activity
| Literacy-Related Event
Bring the celebration of reading and literacy into your classroom, library, school, and home all year long.
Grades
|
Reading for Learning: Using Discipline-Based Texts to Build Content Knowledge
5 - 10
Professional Library
| Book
Heather Lattimer provides practical, classroom-tested approaches to helping students access and critically respond to content-based texts.
Grades
|
Musical Books for Teens
6 - 12
In this episode, you'll hear about fiction and nonfiction books that explore the importance of music in the lives of young people.
Grades
|
Supporting Student Comprehension in Content Area Reading
Grades
6 - 12
Strategy Guide
In this strategy guide, you'll learn a few simple, yet powerful, techniques to encourage students to use peer talk and writing to enhance their understanding of content area texts.
Grades
|
Preparing Students for Success with Reading in the Content Areas
Grades
6 - 12
Strategy Guide
In this strategy guide, you'll learn how to determine the level and type of support you need to provide students based on careful preparation as a content area expert.
Grades
|
Reading in the Content Areas
Grades
K - 12
Strategy Guide Series
In this Strategy Guide Series, you'll get information and ideas about teaching reading in the different content areas.
Grades
|
Zora Neale Hurston in the Classroom: "With a Harp and a Sword in My Hands"
8 - 12
Professional Library
| Book
The book offers a practical approach to Hurston using a range of student-centered activities for teaching Hurston's nonfiction, short stories, and the print and film versions of Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Grades
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Langston Hughes in the Classroom: "Do Nothin' till You Hear from Me"
8 - 12
Professional Library
| Book
Carmaletta M. Williams provides high school teachers with background on Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance as well as help in teaching Hughes's poetry, short stories, novels, and autobiography.