Some of the most the most essential works of literature in the world are examples of epic poetry, such as The Odyssey and Paradise Lost. This lesson introduces students to the epic poem form and to its roots in oral tradition.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the genre of American tall tales. Students are exposed to several traditional tall tales, then prompted to write an original tall tale set in contemporary America. The tall tale must address a current event or issue and must feature a "larger-than-life" main character. The students use exaggeration and hyperbole to portray the way in which the main character resolves the issue or problem. Students then dramatize their tall tales for the class.

A teacher's guide to Aldous Huxley's, A Brave New World. Included are chapter-by-chapter discussion questions, writing prompts, and activities.

A teacher's guide to Agatha Christie's, And Then There Were None. Included are chapter-by-chapter discussion questions, writing prompts, and activities.

A teacher's guide to Harper Lee's, Go Set A Watchman. Included are chapter-by-chapter discussion questions, writing prompts, and activities.

A comprehensive teacher's guide to Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. Included are chapter-by-chapter discussion questions, writing prompts, and activities.

A teaching guide for Harper Lee's classic To Kill A Mockingbird. Includes discussion questions, vocabulary, writing and discussion prompts and activities.

This lesson provides a clear example of an author who created four specific voices. By reading and discussing the characters in Anthony Browne's picture book, Voices in the Park, students will gain a clear understanding of how to use voice in their own writing. Students begin by giving a readers? theater performance of the book and then discuss and analyze the voices heard. They then discuss the characters? personalities and find supporting evidence from the text and illustrations. Finally, students apply their knowledge by writing about a situation in a specific voice, making their character?s voice clear to the reader.

In this lesson, students share personal versions of fairy tales from their memories with each other and listen, analyze, and paraphrase the tales' differences and similarities.

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 lesson, students study issues related to independence and notions of manliness in Ernest Hemingway’s “Three Shots” as they conduct in-depth literary character analysis, consider the significance of environment to growing up and investigate Hemingway’s Nobel Prize-winning, unique prose style. In addition, they will have the opportunity to write and revise a short story based on their own childhood experiences and together create a short story collection.

This To Kill a Mockingbird Teacher’s Guide supports standards-based instruction for middle and high school grades and is divided into three main sections. The first, "Guided Reading Questions," will help students with reading comprehension and appreciation. The second section, "Writing and Discussion Prompts," consists of analytical writing and discussion prompts. The third section, "Research Topics," requires students to conduct and synthesize significant outside research on topics related to the novel.

In this lesson, students learn how to use the book jacket to predict what the book is about. This aids in the decision to read or not to read the book, and decreases the amount of time they spend trying to find a book for pleasure or research.

This teacher's guide for Totally Joe by James Howe contains discussion questions, activities, and research assignments.

In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through these stories with text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson exemplar, students will participate in critical discussion of two stories that illuminate important, yet divergent, experiences of war and conflict.

In this lesson, students will explore text structures of nonfiction texts, identify transitions and text structures to draw conclusions and make inferences about the author's purpose, and identify relevant parts of a text to reflect the author's purpose.

The Researching to Deepen Understanding units lay out an inquiry process through which students learn how to deepen their understanding of topics. Students pose and refine inquiry questions, exploring areas they wish to investigate. They find and assess sources and organize researched material in ways that will support their analysis and integration of information. As their inquiry progresses, they evaluate and extend their research, synthesize their information, and eventually express their evolving evidence-based perspective.

In Lesson 1, students focus on the first stave of the novel as they identify the meanings of words and phrases that may be unfamiliar to them. This activity facilitates close examination of and immersion in the text and leads to an understanding of Scrooge before his ghostly experiences. In Lesson 2, students examine Scrooge’s experiences with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future and discover how Dickens used both direct and indirect characterization to create a protagonist who is more than just a stereotype. In Lesson 3, students focus on stave 5 as they identify and articulate themes that permeate the story.