Cluster 2: Craft and StructureArchived

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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 two poems - "Words Like Freedom" (originally titled "Refugee in America") by Langston Hughes and "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar - analyzing each poem according to literary and poetic elements. Text questions, a poetry chart, sample answer keys, and a PowerPoint are included.  

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct three close readings of an excerpt from A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin. This lesson will engage students in a thought-provoking text that will challenge students to explore how a character's point of view can influence how events are described and shape a text. In conjunction with point of view, students will have opportunities to use context clues to define selected vocabulary words within the 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. A rubric specific to the writing task is included along with guided reading questions and sample responses.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a high interest lesson that includes segments of music, television shows and movies of interest to students. Students will review the meanings of similes and metaphors and see multiple examples from different types of media during the video portion of the lesson. During the lesson, students will practice identifying and interpreting the meaning of similes and metaphors in selected songs. As a summative assessment, students will be asked to complete a graphic organizer where they will find examples from song lyrics of their own choosing that include each form of the figurative language discussed. Students will then be asked to illustrate one of each from their song(s) as well.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students create their own definitions of a child and a tween and use their definitions to guide their reading of the short story "Eleven" by Sandra Cisernos. After collecting text evidence, students will develop their own argument about the point of view of the narrator in the story through discussion and writing. In the closing activity, students will also write a found poem.

Type: Lesson Plan

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. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this second part of a three-part unit, students first read a nonfiction article by Nelson Mandela about freedom and fill out a rhetorical triangle and an outline to help them understand and process the key points and supporting details. Students will also read and analyze the folk tale "The People Could Fly" for its use of figurative language and literary elements using a chart similar to the poetry chart from Lesson #1. Text-dependent questions for both texts have also been included. In the closure activity students will compare and contrast these texts with a poem they read in the first lesson in the unit as to how each text approaches the topic of freedom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Explore how an author develops the point of view of a narrating character through the incredible story of Melody, a girl who cannot speak. In this interactive tutorial, you'll read excerpts from the award-winning novel Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the poem “The Twelfth Song of Thunder” from the Navajo Mountain Chant. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine how a refrain in the poem better develops a theme of the poem. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost and learn how the poem’s structure develops theme, setting, and plot as you complete this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost and learn about denotation and connotation. In this interactive tutorial, you will examine the impact of word choice on the meaning of a poem. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Practice identifying the use of similes and metaphors in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Village Blacksmith." In this interactive tutorial, you'll analyze Longfellow's tone and how it's conveyed through the use of similes and metaphors.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This is a complete unit covering The Lightning Thief. It includes a chapter by chapter study with a strong emphasis on vocabulary and detail.

Type: Teaching Idea

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

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.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence