In this lesson, students use graphic organizers and note taking to gain understanding and clarify meaning in the novel "Holes" and write daily inferences and generalizations about what they have read in that day's assignment.

This lesson provides hands-on differentiated instruction by guiding students to search for the literal definitions of figurative language using the Internet. It also guides students in understanding figurative meanings through the use of context clues and making inferences.

Science fiction has the potential to spark lively discussions while inviting students to extrapolate from their own working knowledge of scientific principles. They first define the science fiction genre and then read and discuss science fiction texts. Next, they conduct research to find science facts that support or dispute the science included in the plot of the science fiction book they read. Students then revisit their definition of the genre and revise based on their reading. Finally, students complete a project that examines the science fiction genre in relation to real-world science concepts and topics.

A mentally challenged man is presented with an opportunity to have an operation that will triple his intelligence. The story chronicles the journey that he takes as his intelligence progresses and regresses. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Johnny, the narrator, and McDunn, the lighthouse keeper (Johnny's boss), are working in a lighthouse on a November evening. McDunn shares his experience of witnessing strange sea mysteries, including the sighting of a monster that appears at this time each year. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson students do a close reading of “Learning to Read,” a poem by Francis Watkins Harper about an elderly former slave which conveys the value of literacy to blacks during and after slavery. The activities also prompt students to examine the nature of literacy in the 21st century and the value they put upon it.

In this lesson, students read library books daily for ten to fifteen minutes and then log in information on a Free Reading chart, giving a brief summary of what they just read and then writing a brief reactionary response to the reading.

This lesson will provide eighth grade students with an inquiry-based research project based on C.S. Lewis' classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Students will determine the author's purpose in writing this story. This will be accomplished by researching material using the Alabama Virtual Library and Gale Resources.

In this lesson, students return to the novel, analyzing plot development in the days leading up to the fall of Saigon.

This lesson introduces the Odell Education resource Reading Closely: Guiding Questions handout. Students will refer to this document regularly as a way of understanding and connecting their learning targets. The opening introduces students to the concept of a dynamic character and includes a general example of how people are complicated and change over time.

This lesson introduces a new opening routine that students will follow throughout Unit 2. This routine allows 10 to 15 minutes for students to work with the portion of the novel they read for homework. Students share their structured notes homework and are encouraged to add to their notes based on this discussion.

This lesson signals the transition from students’ very short research project to the writing of their poems. Students analyze two poems from the novel using the same note-catcher they used in Unit 1 to analyze word choice in order to make them aware of the use of language in an effective poem.

Summary writing of To Kill a Mockingbird is introduced in this lesson, but it not assessed until the Mid-Unit 2 Assessment.

In this lesson, students practice writing a summary of a literary work. These summaries are useful formative assessment data. Review student writing, provide meaningful feedback, and inform instruction on summary writing in future lessons.

In the opening of this lesson, students focus on Chapter 6, even though they read both Chapters 6 and 7 for homework. This is intentional, since Chapter 6 is more integral to the work of the module, and since during Work Time, students will compare Chapter 6 with the poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden. Poem text structure analysis is introduced in this lesson.

In this lesson, students write the draft of their essay about Atticus’s decision to defend Tom Robinson.

In this lesson, students are put into groups for Readers Theater, and one of the key quotes from Lesson 8 is allocated to each group. Students then work in their groups to give each group member a different scene from the anchor chart for which he or she will write a Readers Theater script.

In this lesson, students will read a portion of Chapter 16 that they did not read for homework. The scene involves Atticus’s conversation with Jem and Scout about the angry mob outside the jail the night before. Students will discuss a key quote from the reading and relate it to the Golden Rule.

This assessment provides an opportunity for students to independently complete a text to film comparison.

In this lesson, students will analyze a key line from Atticus’s closing speech by studying the literal and figurative meanings of what Atticus says to the jury. Students will also analyze the line to understand the irony of what Atticus says. By doing this, students will synthesize and refer to the racial prejudice and tension that this trial represents.