In this lesson, students search for evidence that communicates four given themes in Bud, Not Buddy and analyze how the evidence they have chosen communicates the theme. Text evidence may support more than one thematic statement.

This lesson asks students to draft their two body paragraphs using the following for guidance: the model essay; Are We Medieval?: Forming Evidence-Based Claims graphic organizer; and the instruction provided in Lessons 10 and 11.

In this lesson, students examine modern voices of adversity expressed through different genres in preparation for sharing their own voice by writing a monologue.

In this lesson, students continue to build on the skills of citing evidence to analyze what is being expressed and using it to make inferences from concrete poems in Blue Lipstick and Technically, It’s Not My Fault.

In this lesson, students assume the identity of various individuals from feudal society to analyze which class they would have belonged to and which adversities or difficulties they may have faced. Students use background knowledge built in Unit 1, as well as the introductory video, to help prepare them for this experience.

In this lesson, students will close read, Part 1: “Hugo, the Lord’s Nephew”

In this lesson, students will close read, Part 1: “Taggot, the Blacksmith’s Daughter”

This lesson is the first of two parts in which students work in triads to do a close read of one of the four monologues selected for a Jigsaw presentation.

In this mid-unit assessment, students read the monologue “Pask, the Runaway” in Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! They are asked to determine the themes of adversity, identify and interpret figurative language, and consider how the author’s word choice affects tone and theme development. They will use graphic organizers identical to the ones they have been using to track theme and figurative language in previous lessons. Students are then asked a series of short constructed-response questions about word choice.

This unit develops students’ abilities to read closely for textual details and compare authors’ perspectives through an examination of a series of texts about wolves.

Do folktales, myths, and fables all have nonhuman characters? Do they all express a lesson or moral for readers to take away? Students use a semantic feature analysis to find out in this lesson. A semantic feature analysis, a comprehension strategy that helps students identify characteristics associated with related words or concepts, is used to compare folktales, myths, and fables. Students begin with an introduction to the strategy and a teacher-directed lesson in how to use the strategy to analyze a folktale. In subsequent sessions, students continue to practice the strategy in small groups by analyzing myths and fables. After students have read and analyzed the texts, they reflect on how semantic feature analyses helped improve their understanding of their reading.

In this excerpt, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson overcomes the initial hurdles of survival in the Canadian wilderness. As he wards off fears from his earlier encounter with a bear, Brian faces off with a porcupine in the dark of night. Realizing that self-pity would get him nowhere, Brian figures out how to use his hatchet and natural materials to start a fire. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

This lesson examines the characteristics of Greek heroes and leads students to recognize references to Greek mythological heroes found in literature and culture today. Students will present analyses of heroes by defending their favorites in a slideshow presentation nominatting them for selection to a Heroes' Hall of Fame.

The hero's journey is an ancient story pattern that can be found in texts from thousands of years ago or in newly released Hollywood blockbusters. This interactive tool will provide students with background on the hero's journey and give them a chance to explore several of the journey's key elements. Students can use the tool to record examples from a hero's journey they have read or viewed or to plan out a hero's journey of their own.

This resource includes nonfiction two texts, a link to a video, and 13 text-dependent questions (including one optional constructed-response prompt for students). Also includes explanatory information for teachers regarding alignment to the CCSS.

This webpage contains theme-based discussion prompts for each vignette in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, as well as a selection of follow-up activities.

In this lesson, students will search for evidence that communicates four themes in Bud, Not Buddy and analyze how the evidence they chose communicates the theme.

Powerpoint and worksheets with answer keys to help students identify and/or reveal theme in seleceted passages.

In this lesson, students become motivated reades as they read, comprehend, and interpret a short story. Students will present plot diagrams in slideshows and additional information about the author in a brochure.

This lesson uses narrative structures to introduce students to one form of expository writing—news briefs and articles. By condensing a short story into a newspaper article and expanding an article into a short story, students will explore the ways that exposition differs from narration.