This cluster includes the following access points.
Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.
| Name |
Description |
| Understanding Plot: Part 2: | In the second part of this 2-part tutorial series, you'll analyze the plot of Cinderella in order to review the parts of the plot diagram.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch "Understanding Plot: Part One." |
| Understanding Plot: Part 1: | In the first part of this two-part tutorial series, you'll learn about the parts of the plot diagram. In Part Two, you'll use this information to help you analyze the plot of the story of Cinderella.
Make sure to complete both parts of this series. Click HERE to view "Understanding Plot: Part 2." |
| Analyzing Events and Characters in the Beginning of Stargirl: | Learn how characters' actions and responses develop the main characters and advance the plot during key events in the beginning of the novel Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli with this interactive tutorial.
|
| A Crooked Election: Character & Story Development: | Read a story called “A Crooked Election" and learn to describe how the plot of a story unfolds in a series of episodes. In this interactive tutorial, you will also explore how the characters change and evolve throughout the plot of a story. |
| A Closer Look: Understanding Themes in Poetry: | Practice identifying themes in poetry and how they're conveyed to readers. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice identifying the examples of imagery and diction within several classic poems. These include "The Guest House" by Rumi, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, and "Take Home a Smile" by Edgar Guest. You'll examine how authors use both imagery and diction to help express their intended theme. |
| Stand Tall: Using Evidence to Support Your Answers: | Learn how to analyze what a literary text states directly and indirectly. In this tutorial, you will learn how to support conclusions based on what is directly and/or indirectly stated in a text. |
| Mission Possible: Finding the Theme: | Learn the difference between summarizing a story and describing its theme. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice summarizing the important details of a fiction text. Then, you'll practice describing the theme of the text in your own words. |
| Name |
Description |
| Narrative Writing: A Lesson Learned the Hard Way in “Thank You, M’am”: | In this lesson, students will read Langston Hughes’ short story “Thank You, M’am,” analyzing the impact of plot and character in developing the story’s theme. After reading the story, students will use details gathered from the text to write a narrative that predicts/portrays what would occur if the characters met again. |
| Narrative Writing: Climate Change and “The Sand Castle”: | In this lesson, students will view a video about climate change, read and analyze a short story depicting the effects of climate change, and write their own narratives sending a message to their readers about the impact of climate change. |
| Views on Freedom: Part 1 of 3: | This lesson is the first in a series of three focusing on the importance of freedom. In this lesson, students begin with a journal entry about freedom. Students then read the poem - "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar - analyzing the poem according to literary and poetic elements. Text questions, a poetry chart, sample answer keys, and a PowerPoint are included. |
| "The Scribe": A Close Reading Lesson: | This close reading lesson focuses on identifying theme in the short story, "The Scribe" by Kristin Hunter. The lesson incorporates information on the Great Depression and allows students to make a cross-curricular connection between history and language arts. Students will define unfamiliar words using context clues, analyze story elements, and identify stated and implied themes. |
| A Close Reading: An Excerpt from A Corner of the Universe: | In this lesson, students will read an excerpt from A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin. Students will explore how a character's point of view can influence how events are described and shape a text. Upon completion of the close reading activities, students will practice their narrative writing skills by creating an original dialogue between the main character and her mother. |
| Philosophical Chairs with Tom Sawyer: | In this lesson, students will close read a short section (chapter 23) of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, gathering and organizing evidence to collaboratively defend a position with textual support in a debate-style activity. They will use this experience to assist with the creation of an extended written response addressing the development of theme in Twain's novel, this time citing evidence in writing to support their assertions. |
| Action Is Character: Exploring Character Traits with Adjectives: | Students gain a deeper understanding of characters from a novel they have read by creating charts linking characters' actions with the characters' traits. Then they explore adjectives that describe character traits using a variety of resources. Next, students use their analysis of the characters and their knowledge of adjectives to create descriptive lists for three other characters from the point of view of one particular character. Finally, they play a game in which the class tries to identify which character is described by the students' adjective lists. This activity is effective using any story with rich characterization. |
| Action is Character/Exploring Character Traits with Adjectives: | This lesson allows students to explore characters and their traits through a series of exercises using text evidence. Both printed materials and online organizers are provided. The final culminating activity asks students to "become" a character and describe himself/herself as well as describing other characters. Students then guess which character is being described. |
| Book Presentations: | In this lesson, students will create a presentation with information about a personal book selection using available presentation software. A student checklist and template are provided. |
| Childhood Rememberances: Life and Art Intersect in Nikki GIovani's "Nikki-Rosa": | In her poem "Nikki-Rosa," Nikki Giovanni describes specific moments from her childhood. The images she recalls are more than biographical details; they are evidence to support her premise that growing up black doesn't always mean growing up in hardship. Adapted from Carol Jago's Nikki Giovanni in the Classroom, this lesson invites students to explore what Jago calls the place "where life and art intersect" by carefully reading and discussing Giovanni's poem. They explore their own childhood memories using an interactive tool and then write about these memories, using Giovanni's poem as a model. |
| "Breaking the Code" to Central Idea: | This lesson challenges students to use strategies of "chunking" and "text coding" to identify the central or main idea of passages, both informational and literary. The end result is a written summary that explains the processes they used. |
| Narrative Retelling: The Enchanted Raisin: | This three-block lesson includes an interactive collaborative vocabulary activity, a guided read of the short story "The Enchanted Raisin," and culminates in a narrative storyboard planning activity and creation of a picture book with the goal of retelling the story to a younger audience. |
| A Room with a View: Which Characters Reached their Peak Potential in The View from Saturday?: | In this lesson, students will compare two characters from the novel, The View from Saturday, analyzing how many of their physical and emotional needs were met by the time the story ends. This determination will be reached by using Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" as a guide. Students will also explore the influence of gender on how many human needs are reached in someone's lifetime. As a summative assessment, students will compare two characters from the novel, identifying the needs each character fulfilled and interpreting their findings in the form of a written analysis. Students will use their analysis and comparison as the basis for an informal class debate. |
| Conflict and Characters Drive the Plot: | The objective of this lesson is to review and reinforce the elements of a short story. The importance of the conflict is emphasized to show how it fuels the action of the story to keep it moving toward the resolution. The setting and characters are also important elements that affect the plot. The students will use a variety of illustrations, sentence descriptions, and quotes from the story to portray the action chronologically in a plot diagram. The students will also write a paragraph explaining how the conflict drives the plot toward the resolution using support from the text. |
| The Secret Life Continues: An Extension of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty": | After students read James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," they will write a narrative of a daydream to add to the text using narrative techniques and incorporating multimedia elements. |
| Reciprocal Teaching Strategies in Poetry: "The Copper Kettle Sweetheart": | In this lesson, students will use the four core reading strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarizing to develop comprehension skills through the use of poetry. |
| A Poignant Passage about the Middle Passage: | In this lesson, students will explore what makes a passage poignant by analyzing an important chapter from the historical fiction novel, The Slave Dancer, by Paula Fox. In cooperative groups, they will use their prior knowledge of figurative language, conflict, theme, and characterization to identify a passage that has high emotional impact, relating to the journey along the Middle Passage during the slave trade. As culminating assessments, students will present their group's textual analysis to the class. |
| Storm Window Treatments: | Students will be asked to analyze a given set of data to determine the best storm window treatments for a local company to use when building a new homes. Students will be asked to write a letter to the company explaining how they ranked the storm window treatments. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Close Reading Exemplar: "The Great Fire": | The goal of this three day exemplar is to give students the opportunity to use the reading and writing habits they've been practicing on a regular basis to explore the historic Great Fire of Chicago. By reading and rereading the passage closely combined with classroom discussion about it, students will explore the historical truths related to poverty, city construction, and city services that led to the disaster. In this reading, students learn about historical disasters, but they may not fully comprehend causes or how human actions, nature, or even luck contributed to them, rendering history a flat subject to be memorized rather than explored. When combined with writing about the passage and teacher feedback, students will better understand the dangers inherent in cities and the government role in mitigating that danger. |
| Counting down from 11: Character's Perspective in "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros: | In this lesson, students will read the short story "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros to collect text evidence about the character’s perspective on her birthday and age. After collecting text evidence, students will develop their own claim about the character’s perspective in the story through discussion and writing. |
| The Rise of the Mongoose: Analyzing Character Confrontations in "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": | In this lesson, students will study the short story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. Students will analyze the confrontations that drive the story's plot, noting what happens and who is involved, how Rikki's character is developed through each confrontation, and how each confrontation helps develop the plot. A copy of the story is included with the lesson, as well as a text discussion guide for teachers, comprehension questions, a vocabulary key, a graphic organizer and key, and an optional rubric for the summative assessment. |
| Twisted Predictions: | Using the short story "The Elsewhere Boutique" by Neal Shusterman, students will stop at various points during the story, compose a prediction and cite their evidence from the text. After discussion with peers, students will hang on tight through this twisted story to find out if their predictions were correct! |
| Views on Freedom: Part 2 of 3: | In this second part of a three-part unit, students will read and analyze the folktale "The People Could Fly" for its use of figurative language and literary elements using a chart similar to the poetry chart from Lesson #1 (resource ID 43909). Short answer questions have also been included. In the closure activity students will compare and contrast the folktale with a poem they read in the first lesson in the unit as to how each text approaches the topic of freedom. |
| Name |
Description |
| Using "The Bully" by Paul Langan to Teach Tolerance: | This unit plan uses the book "The Bully" by Paul Langan, which is from the Bluford series, to teach tolerance. There are a plethora of resources and activities including graphic organizers, reflective journals, and reader's theater. Students work together to gain an understanding of the effects of bullying and an awareness of this important issue. |
| A Study of "America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories": | This is a sixth grade unit using the collection of short stories in "America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories" by Anne Mazer. Students will examine point of view, multiple perspectives, character development, and setting in these varied texts. This unit includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses. |
| Investigating a Mystery in "Chasing Vermeer": | This sixth grade unit is based on the mystery novel Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. Students will analyze clues and motives, study plot, and make predictions while learning about the artist Johannes Vermeer. It includes a complete packet with creative activities, graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses. |
| A Study of Science and Fantasy Fiction in A Wrinkle in Time: | This is a sixth grade unit on the sci-fi novel A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. Students will examine the characteristics of scientific and futuristic fiction including vocabulary, setting, and plot development. This unit includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses. |
| Exploring Verse Novels with "Keeping the Night Watch" and "Chess Rumble" : | This is a sixth grade unit on the verse novels Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith and Chess Rumble by G. Neri. This unit explores narrative and lyric poetry, figurative language, author's purpose, voice, and symbolism. It includes games, graphic organizers, and a complete student packet, and includes a pacing guide and assessment with sample student answers. |
| Figurative Language and Author's Purpose in "Home of the Brave" by Katherine Applegate: | This is a sixth grade unit on the verse novel Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. This unit explores narrative and lyric poetry, figurative language, author's purpose, voice, and symbolism. It is rich with games, graphic organizers, and a complete student packet and includes a pacing guide and assessment with sample student answers. |
| Drawing Conclusions and Solving Mysteries in “Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy”: | This is a sixth grade unit on the mystery novel Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy by Wendelin Van Draanen. Students will analyze characters, study the plot, make predictions, and draw conclusions to solve a mystery in this forensic-themed unit. This unit includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses. |
| Analyzing Characters and Making Predictions in "Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief": | This is a sixth grade unit on the mystery novel Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen. Students will analyze characters, study the plot, and make predictions in this forensic-themed unit. This unit includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses. |
| "The House on Mango Street": A Short Story Unit Examining Point of View, Perspective, and Plot: | This is a sixth grade unit using the short stories in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros to identify point of view, interpret a character's perspective, and utilize plot elements to retell a story. This unit includes several graphic organizers, an assessment, and an answer key with sample responses. |
| Analyzing the Mystery Novel "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin: | This is a sixth grade unit on the mystery novel "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin. Students will analyze the character's motives, identify clues to solve the mystery, make predictions about the conclusion, and identify 'red herrings'. This unit on detective fiction includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key. |
Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this topic.
| Title |
Description |
| Understanding Plot: Part 2: | In the second part of this 2-part tutorial series, you'll analyze the plot of Cinderella in order to review the parts of the plot diagram.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch "Understanding Plot: Part One." |
| Understanding Plot: Part 1: | In the first part of this two-part tutorial series, you'll learn about the parts of the plot diagram. In Part Two, you'll use this information to help you analyze the plot of the story of Cinderella.
Make sure to complete both parts of this series. Click HERE to view "Understanding Plot: Part 2." |
| Analyzing Events and Characters in the Beginning of Stargirl: | Learn how characters' actions and responses develop the main characters and advance the plot during key events in the beginning of the novel Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli with this interactive tutorial.
|
| A Crooked Election: Character & Story Development: | Read a story called “A Crooked Election" and learn to describe how the plot of a story unfolds in a series of episodes. In this interactive tutorial, you will also explore how the characters change and evolve throughout the plot of a story. |
| A Closer Look: Understanding Themes in Poetry: | Practice identifying themes in poetry and how they're conveyed to readers. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice identifying the examples of imagery and diction within several classic poems. These include "The Guest House" by Rumi, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, and "Take Home a Smile" by Edgar Guest. You'll examine how authors use both imagery and diction to help express their intended theme. |
| Stand Tall: Using Evidence to Support Your Answers: | Learn how to analyze what a literary text states directly and indirectly. In this tutorial, you will learn how to support conclusions based on what is directly and/or indirectly stated in a text. |
| Mission Possible: Finding the Theme: | Learn the difference between summarizing a story and describing its theme. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice summarizing the important details of a fiction text. Then, you'll practice describing the theme of the text in your own words. |
