The students will explore reading strategies using the think-aloud process as students investigate connections between the life and writings of Edgar Allan Poe. The unit, which begins with an in-depth exploration of “The Raven,” then moves students from a full-class reading of the poem to small-group readings of Poe’s short stories (“The Black Cat,” “Hop-Frog,” “Masque of the Red Death,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”). The unit concludes with individual projects that explore the readings in more detail.

This lesson will be completed once students have read the script of the play The Monsters are Due on Maple Street and watched the film adaptation on The Twilight Zone. Students will complete a learning menu that includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert. All students will complete the same starter and main course but will then have a choice for their dessert.

A teachers guide for My Sisters' Voices: Teenage Girls of Color Speak Out by Iris Jacob including questions for deeper comprehension, exercises for the class, and suggestions for further reading.

The poem describes the victorious homecoming of a ship. The Captain responsible for the safe return of his ship and crew has died before reaching port, and the narrator is grief stricken at the loss. While acknowledging the greatness of the victorious return of the ship to port, the poem also laments the loss of the leader responsible. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students read the novel "Freak the Mighty" and identify and explain the setting, character development, and plot elements in a graphic organizer.

The sonnet begins with the speaker stating that the earth’s poetry never dies. In summer, the grasshopper runs among the hedgerows singing his song and then rests in the shade. In the frosty silence of winter, the earth's poetry continues now the cricket, singing from the stove, shrills a song that's as warm and summery as the grasshopper's music. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, after reading a short story, students will use the note taking strategy of outlining to reinforce an understanding of setting, character, plot, and theme.

A narrator recounts the story of Paul Revere’s ride, which took place in Massachusetts on April 18, 1775. On that night, Revere tells his friend to hang a lantern in the belfry of the Old North Church if the British forces begin to march—one light if they are coming by land, two if they are coming by sea. We know the rest—the minutemen routed the redcoats. He also says that we will hear Revere’s cry of defiance throughout history. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Students will practice visualizing and understanding that visualization is an important comprehension strategy. Students will share their visualization of the story through original artwork.

In this lesson, students learn about foreshadowing and how it contributes to plot development in a text.

Lesson guides for :Concrete, Harlem Night Song" and "The City is So Big". In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students seek supporting proof of major conflicts and themes in the novel "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton

This lesson uses the postmodern picture book Black and White, by David Macaulay, to engage students in a deep analysis of writer's craft. Macaulay's book presents four separate story lines that playfully interact with one another throughout the text. Students explore ways in which authors use words and illustrations to create unexpected plots and connections within a text.

This lesson will be completed once students have read the script of the play A Raisin in the Sun and watched the film adaptation. Students will complete a learning menu that includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert. All students will complete the same appetizer and entree but will then have a choice for their dessert.   

In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

The story Raymond's Run is told through the eyes of Hazel Squeaky Parker, who is the fastest runner in her Harlem neighborhood. She spends the majority of her time practicing for upcoming races and taking care of her brother, Raymond, who is mentally challenged and to whom she is very devoted. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

For this lesson, students create their own booklets to provide information on the elements of a novel, including plot, setting, character, major and minor conflicts and theme.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 6th Grade Math.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 8th Grade ELA. 

The speaker reflects on the risks and responsibilities of making choices and deciding which road to take. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this poem through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.