In this activity, students will analyze a video as well as the imagery and central ideas in the poem "Layers." As a pre-reading activity, students will view a video of Lil Buck dancing to "The Swan," performed by Yo-Yo Ma and explore a layered performance. Lastly, students will read the poem twice and then discuss and identify the poet's use of imagery.

In this activity, students will explore "Lines Written in Early Spring" by William Wordsworth. A supporting photopgraph accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will work in pairs and then groups of four to evaluate both the views of nature expressed and how the poet uses structure, word choice, and other devices to convey his message.

In this activity, students will explore "Making History" by Marilyn Nelson. A supporting photograph of Rosa Parks accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will first analyze the photograph, then read and interpret the poem based on word choice, imagery, and structure. Group discussion will give way to group work, where students will grapple with central ideas and how one makes history.

In this activity, students will explore "Poetry" by Marianne Moore. Supporting photographs accompany this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will view both photos and then write four lines of verse. Afterward, they will read the poem silently and aloud and investigate how the poet uses structure, word choice, and other devices to convey meaning.

In this activity, students will explore "The Chance" by Arthur Sze. A supporting photograph accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will investigate how the poet uses structure, word choice, and imagery to convey meaning.

In this lesson plan, students will compare a photograph with a poem and analyze the language and meaning.

In this activity, students will explore "The Plain Sense of Things" by Wallace Stevens. A supporting photograph accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions that spur conversation regarding imagery, central ideas, and tone.

In this activity, students will explore "The Snowfall Is So Silent" by Miguel de Unamuno. A supporting John Singer Sargent painting accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will work in pairs and then groups of four to evaluate both the views of nature expressed and how both the artist and the poet use structure, word choice, and other devices to convey meaning.

In this activity, students will explore "This Morning I Pray for My Enemies" by Joy Harjo. A supporting Shibata Zeshin painting accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will work in groups of four to evaluate both the point of view expressed and how both the artist and the poet use word choice and imagery to convey meaning.

In this activity, students will explore "Unpacking a Globe" by Arthur Sze. A supporting photograph accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will first free-associate words and images with the photograph, then read and interpret the poem based on word choice, imagery, and structure. Group and whole class discussions will culminate in each student creating a poem.

In this activity, students will work explore WIlliam Carlos Williams's poem, "Willow Poem." Pre-reading, students will listen to Billie Holliday's rendition of "Willow Weep for Me" as a way of extending the tone and imagery of the poem. Then, students will work in groups to create tableaux reflecting both the song (first) and the poem (second). Students will focus on imagery and the means by which the poet conveys that image.

In this activity, students will explore "Winter is good-His Hoar Delights (1316)" by Emily Dickinson. A supporting photograph accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will work in small groups to evaluate both the views of nature expressed and how the poet uses structure, word choice, and other devices to convey her message.

In this activity, students will explore "Wonder and Joy" by Robinson Jeffers. A supporting photograph of Orion accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Class discussion will focus on evaluating both the views of nature expressed and how the poet uses structure, word choice, and the sonnet form to convey his message.

In this activity, students will explore "maggie and millie and molly and may" by e.e. cummings. A supporting photograph accompanies this lesson plan, along with guiding questions. Students will work in groups of four to evaluate both the views of nature expressed and how the poet uses structure, word choice, and other devices to convey his message.

This resource provides stems that align with all the RI and RL standards for grades 9 and 10.

This lesson focuses on the pairing of one NY Times article about the Holocaust with a powerful literary passage from the 2005 novel "The Book Thief.' The novel, set during WWII in Germany, is the story of a girl who shares her stolen books with neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. The pairing of the book and article leads students to address the question, "How should the story of the Holocaust be told to young people today?"

Students are presented with a paired critical reading activity uses excertps from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and a New York Times article "˜History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names"™ to exlplore the deep and painful history of racial injustice in the south. Included are close fiction/non-fiction analysis, varied media resources, and writing assignments.

In this resource from the New York Times, a paired critical reading activity uses excertps from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and a New York Times article ‘History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names’ to exlplore the deep and painful history of racial injustice in the south. Included are close fiction/non-fiction analysis, varied media resources, and writing assignments.

In this Unit assessment, students will write an essay identifying a central idea shared by both "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain," using textual evidence to support their claims.

In this video from Shakespeare Uncovered, students explore the use of soliloquy as a device to reveal character and advance plot. They consider how using soliloquy perhaps more truthfully exposes character than other devices like dialogue. In addition, students focus particularly on the famous soliloquy in Hamlet, "To be or not to be," and discuss how and why the topics of his speech are best explored through soliloquy.