Story Maps are used for teaching students to work with story structure for better comprehension. This technique uses visual representations to help students organize important elements of a story. Students learn to summarize the main ideas, characters, setting, and plot of an assigned reading.

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.

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 will write a three paragraph letter to a judge either in defense of or prosecution of Roger from the short story "Thank You Ma'am." Students will engage with the text as they cite evidence in support of their arguments. Students will get to present their letters to a mock jury and try to win their case for or against Roger.

Almost every culture has a traditional tale about a character who is granted three wishes. Two are usually used unwisely, and then the third wish is needed to undo one or both of the first two wishes. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Megan’s Great-grandmother Breckenridge has lived in three centuries. She was born in 1899 and now it is 2001. On the first day of 2001, Megan is annoyed that she and her mother are going to visit Great-grandmother Breckenridge in an Elder Care Facility. By the end of her visit, Megan’s feelings and opinions about Great-grandmother Breckenridge have changed from distaste and avoidance to eagerness to know her better. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, 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 horror story begins when three lighthouse keepers realize that a derelict ship heading for their tiny island is filled with thousands of giant rats. The ship runs aground and sinks; the famished rats scramble onto the island, and, in time, they break into the lighthouse. The besieged men struggle to stay alive. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

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 resource includes one story and a short expository text, eleven text-dependent questions (including one optional constructed-response prompt for students), and explanatory information for teachers regarding alignment to the CCSS.

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.

Fourteen year-old Greg Ridley gets into an argument with his father over his bad grades and his father forbids him to play basketball. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

This is a story of an American-born Chinese daughter, her immigrant mother and their very different beliefs and hopes. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Help students discover the Civil Rights Movement with We Who Believe in Freedom: The Life and Times of Ella Baker by Dr. Lea E. Williams. This complementary teacher's guide to the book delves into the transformative era through the lens of Ella Baker's remarkable journey, igniting discussions on activism, equality, and justice. Designed to engage Middle & High School students, the plan incorporates dynamic standards-aligned activities fostering critical thinking and historical understanding.

This interactive lesson provides students with an opportunity to evaluate how the use of language and wordplay emphasie the theme presented in Shel Silverstein's humorous poem, "Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout, Wouldn't Take the Garbage Out." Students will close read the poem and explain how the use of alliteration, hyperbole, and strong imagery assist in revealing the tone, characters, and theme.

In this lesson, students create flowers to represent themselves and present them to the class.

In this lesson, students practice identifying the main idea in a reading passage by using a technique to eliminate unnecessary or irrelevant words.