This lesson eases students' fear of interpreting complex poetry by teaching them a strategy with which they determine patterns of imagery, diction, and figurative language in order to unlock meaning.

Students explore the theme of love of war through texts on camaraderie among soldiers. They then compose a visual collage depicting their beliefs about the relationship between love and war.

This lesson pairs Ernest Hemingway's short story "Cat in the Rain' with Raymond Carver's "Little Things" to guide students to an understanding of the characteristics of minimalist fiction.

As a class, students evaluate a nonfiction or realistic fiction text for its cultural relevance to themselves personally and as a group.

Students analyze images of Oscar Wilde used to publicize his 1882 American lecture tour. They then compare a caricature to another researched image, sharing this analysis in a podcast.

Students complete a family survey and plan a website to share the responses, increasing their understanding and appreciation of their own families and cultures, and their classmates as well.

Could some common online activities actually improve reading comprehension? Understanding RSS feeds requires inferential thinking, as students use the summary to draw conclusions about the full content.

Students learn how to get their voice out on the web when they research issues important to them and compose a persuasive podcast to post online.

This lesson will be turning heads and pages as students learn how to choose appropriate books for independent reading exercises and later evaluate their choices.

Today's students love chatting online with friends. This lesson combines that love with literature. Students form literature circles and have meaningful online discussions about a literary work.

In this lesson, students use blogs to hold discussions about the effect of the factors of culture, history, and environment on Latino poetry.

Doctors, astrophysicists, and daycare providers are only some of the careers that will be explored in this lesson in which students research careers and publish occupational summaries about them.

Curl up with a good book again—or not. In this lesson, students brainstorm why they reread some books, while passing up others, and write their reflections in an essay.

Students will really warm up to this lesson about global warming as they study multimedia materials and use a variety of comprehension strategies.

Are your students easily fooled? You'll find out in this lesson in which students carefully and critically examine hoax websites to determine their validity.

C is for Culture in this lesson in which students research a culture different from their own and compile an alphabet book that showcases cultural symbols for each letter of the alphabet.

Students will walk a mile in the shoes of Solomon Singer as they learn how to use flashbacks, flash-aheads, and internal dialogue to develop realistic characters.

Students will have a blast as they use descriptive language to write about an "explosive" and dramatic moment in their lives.

Students really get into character in this lesson as they act out the parts of a script and analyze character motivations and dialogue.