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.

Students will evaluate the information from chapters 1-3 of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, particularly how the Logan children are treated by the white students and the bus driver. They will then decide if they agree or disagree with the decision made by the Logan children to seek revenge. Students will defend and provide support for their opinion.

Mary Whitebird is about to turn eleven and take part in the Sioux coming of age tradition of Ta-Na-E-Ka. Literally translated as, flowering of adulthood, Ta-Na-E-Ka is a test of survival where participants are sent into the wilderness to survive for five days. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Tasha, a thirteen year old girl has to babysit her little 7 year old brother, Junior, because her mom is getting a job over the summer. Tasha really didn't want to and would do anything but babysit Junior. Her mom gave Tasha a long list of rules. Junior basically only had one: he was to listen to his sister. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments. Includes printable copies of text.

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 teachers guide for five Jack Henry books by Jack Gantos (Jack Adrift, Jack on the Tracks, Heads or Tails, Jack's New Power, Jack's Black Book), including an activity to complete throughout reading, discussion questions for each book as well as questions to draw connections between themes, and ways to connect themes and key subjects in the books to other areas of education.

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.

In this lesson, students dig deeper into paragraphs 6-8 of Steve Jobs' Commencement Address in order to answer text dependent questions.

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.

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.

This teacher's guide to Tracks by Diane Lee Wilson includes a summary of the text, discussion questions, activities, and research assignments.

In this 3 day lesson that includes 4 activities, students will learn how to analyze textual detail as a key to discovering meaning, focusing on reading, analyzing, and comparing texts. Students will also develop a comparative question in groups and individually write a paragraph answering their question.

To become a member of the ship’s crew, Charlotte Doyle must pass a test of climbing to the top of the mast. She faces physical and mental challenges to prove her worth to herself and the crew. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students will engage in close reading to learn how people lived in the late 19th century. Students will also visualize a main character in a text, and then create an in-depth dialogue between two people, using details from the text.

In this lesson, students will determine the theme of the myth of Cronus and connect details from the text to allusions and themes in the central text.

Nadia’s parents were recently divorced and Nadia is spending the summer with her father in Florida, where Grandpa Izzy lives. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Lewis Carroll’s poem tells the tale of a walrus and a carpenter who invite a group of oysters to join them for a walk on a sunny beach in the middle of the night. The walk turns out to be a cruel trick as every one of the oysters gets eaten. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In “Water”, Helen Keller describes her first experiences with her new teacher. Keller finally grasps the idea that a word Anne Sullivan is spelling, water, corresponds to the water flowing over Keller’s hand. This insight leads Keller to make connections and open doors of knowledge and opportunity previously closed to her. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.