In this lesson, students will begin reviewing narrative based monologues and concrete poems and choosing which of those two genres they will choose to express their theme.

John Henry competes against a steam drill in driving steel and proudly claims that he would sooner die than let a steam drill beat him. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments;

Students will read sentences and analyze them for correct pronoun usage. This resource supports English language development for English language learners.

In this story, the main character, Margaret is affected by the loss of her father and then the loss of her best friend who moves away. As she adapts to that change she discovers new talents and new friends. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments;

Students will build speaking and listening skills through discussion, develop fluency and literary understanding, and will build skills in written expression.This resource supports English language development for English Language Learners. This is a full lesson plan focusing on the poem "I'm Nobody." The plan includes activities in all language domains with multiple opportunities for student interaction.

WWII has started and Jimbo Kurasaki and his mother and brother have been confined to an internment camp because they are Japanese. He is not happy, but he copes by deciding that war “makes people crazy.” In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

This poem, written in a voice of a child, addresses the fears a child faces when starting at a new school and/or being placed in a new classroom. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

Four to five person teams will research and present an in-depth TV news special about the Holocaust for the Passover Sedar holiday. Students will conduct research and assume a specific task of their news team to present a main story in a newscast/Podcast.

In the short story, "Lob’s Girl," a girl, Sandy, and her dog, Lob, create an emotional bond that provides the will to survive. The story follows a chronological sequence from the time Sandy and Lob first met, how they strengthen their bond through life events, to the culminating accident where Sandy is seriously injured and Lob helps revive her in the most mysterious manner. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

The Lost City of the Aztecs is about the demise of the Aztec Empire and how Montezuma, the last Aztec emperor, reacted to the arrival of the Spaniards at Tenochtitlan in 1519. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students will use the individual experience of Mary McLeod Bethune to analyze choice, its affects on social equality, and impact on their own life experiences.

In this lesson students examine how imagery is used to represent ideas, themes, periods of history, and make cultural connections to poem, "Still I Rise." Students will reflect through written expression how resiliency is in their lives, school, and community.

In My Papa Mark Twain, Suzy Clemens, at thirteen years old, wrote a biography of her famous father, author Mark Twain. Through describing her favorite of Twain's books, The Prince and the Pauper, Suzy Clemens expresses the complete awe and beaming pride she has for her father as a published author, and critically comments on Twain's readership of the day. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

In this chapter from Russell Freedman’s photobiography, the author details Abraham Lincoln and one of the most difficult times in American history. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments. Includes printable copies of text.

A young Bedouin girl has earned the nickname Nadia the Willful because of her quick temper. Her brother, Hamed, is the only one who can tame her temper. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

Julia Alvarez recalls her family's early years as Dominican immigrants in America, and describes her reactions to the mispronunciation of her family members’ names. Eager to fit into school, Alvarez allows herself to be called American names and nicknames” although proud of her heritage and native language, young Alvarez struggles to fit in. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

What should a good narrative contain? For this lesson, a mystery, a type of narrative realistic fiction, will be composed. Since strong adjectives and adverbs will support a mystery, they will be incorporated into the writing.

In this lesson, students review and practice the basic parts of speech by creating and entering their own stories on a website or by sharing their stories with a friend.

Use literacy skills to make connections among those in your classroom with this lesson that focuses on building classroom community by sharing favorite texts with one another. In this lesson, the class explores environmental print then focuses specifically on a teacher-created display on a favorite book. After exploring the teacher’s display, students write about their own favorite book, genre, or author. Students then select one of several options for making a display of their favorite book to share with the class. After creating their own presentations, students share them with the class and complete peer- or self-assessments.