| Name |
Description |
| Analyzing Political Cartoons | The decisions students make about social and political issues are often influenced by what they hear, see, and read in the news. For this reason, it is important for them to learn about the techniques used to convey political messages and attitudes. In this lesson, high school students learn to evaluate political cartoons for their meaning, message, and persuasiveness. Students will learn about the techniques cartoonists frequently use, and, for the summative project, will analyze one political cartoon, and design a presentation on how the cartoon signifies the time period, the techniques used, and the overall message that the cartoonist was trying to convey. |
| Wear Sunscreen: A Satirical Take on the Time-Honored Graduation Speech | This close reading lesson focuses on Mary Schmich's comical commencement speech essay, "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young." Students will take an in-depth analysis to discover her powerful satirical style, as well as the power of social nuances. Students will focus on academic vocabulary and answer high-level text-dependent questions as a guide for their comprehension of the essay, evaluating if her choice of words and wisdom remain valid, relative, and sufficient for the youth of today. |
| Answer a Research Question with Close Reading and Research | In this lesson, students will conduct research to answer the research question: How are current trends in education affecting higher education and/or the workforce? |
| Buried in Ash: New Revelations of an Ancient Culture | In this lesson, students read a non-fiction text as they learn of the artifacts unearthed from the remains of a Salvadoran village preserved in volcanic ash much like Pompeii. Students will discover how researchers piece together evidence to determine the significance the artifacts reveal in illustrating the daily lives of this ancient people. As students come to understand the researchers use the artifacts to infer religious, cultural and economic aspects of the Ceren village, they will answer text-dependent questions and compose a multi-paragraph writing response (sample answer keys included) asking students to describe the power of this natural disaster to destroy this ancient culture yet preserve its details for future generations to learn from. |
| Cells: Taking out the Trash | In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that addresses cellular waste. The article students will read explains the different ways a cell gets rid of waste, including how proteasomes and lysosomes break down cell waste. The article covers another method of letting the waste "pile up." This informational text is designed to support reading in the content area. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. |
| Analyzing Theme: The Gift of the Magi--Lesson 2 of 3 | This is lesson two in a three-part series on “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry. In this lesson, students will analyze the development of the theme of love and sacrifice in O. Henry's classic short story, "The Gift of the Magi." Students will write an extended paragraph analyzing how point of view, setting, or plot contributes to the theme. |
| Swagger: Shakespeare versus Jay Z | This lesson provides students the opportunity to explore how the word ‘swagger’ has transformed over centuries through the writings of poets such as Shakespeare and rappers such as Jay Z. Students will read an article from NPR titled “What do Jay Z and Shakespeare Have in Common? Swagger” and thereafter will be asked to analyze vocabulary from the article, respond to text-dependent questions, and complete a summary of the term swagger analyzing its previous and present day definitions. |
| You've Just Won "The Lottery"! | In this lesson, students will analyze Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery." Students will then read the short story, work to determine the meaning of selected vocabulary words from the text, and answer guided reading questions. In the summative assessment, students will become newspaper reporters and write an article to describe the events of the lottery, as if they were present on the day the lottery took place. |
| An Argumentative Essay in Support of the Abridged Hero's Journey | The hero's journey is an archetypal plot structure found in novels and epic poems, yet it can also be found in other text formats. After students have read the novella Anthem and the poem "Invictus," they will craft an argument supporting their claim of whether or not the hero's journey is evidenced in shorter texts. They will find and organize evidence, draft their arguments, and perform a peer review as they complete the writing process. This lesson is lesson two in a two-part series. |
| An Abridged Hero: The Archetypal Hero's Journey in Novella and Poem | The hero's journey is an archetypal plot structure found in modern novels and can also be found in popular poetry. After students have read the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand, they will examine the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley for elements of the Hero's Journey. Students will work collaboratively to decide whether or not all aspects of the hero's journey are demonstrated efficiently in this variety of texts. |
| Looking Over the Mountaintop: Tone and Perspective | This lesson is the third lesson in a three-part series on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. In this lesson, students will analyze King's speech, which has been broken up into eight sections, for his perspective and tone. At the end of the lesson, students will respond to a prompt and write an essay based on what they have analyzed throughout the lesson. A graphic organizer, suggested answer key, and writing rubric have been provided. |
| Looking Over the Mountaintop: Figures of Speech and Rhetorical Devices | This lesson is the 2nd part in a 3-part series on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop." This lesson focuses on some of the figures of speech and rhetorical devices used by Dr. King in his speech. The speech has been divided into eight sections. As students read through each section they will analyze some of the figures of speech and rhetorical devices King used, record their answers on a graphic organizer, and analyze how use of the figure of speech or rhetorical device impacted the meaning of that section of the speech. Students will write an extended paragraph for the lesson. |
| Looking Over the Mountaintop: Central Ideas | This is the first lesson in a three-part series on Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop." In this lesson, the speech has been divided into eight sections with text-dependent questions that are specific to each section. Throughout the course of the lesson students will determine a central idea for each section and examine King's ideas and claims and how they are developed and supported. At the end of the lesson, students will determine an overarching central idea of the speech and write an extended paragraph to explain the central idea and how it is developed and supported with specific evidence throughout the text. |
| The Surveillance Society – Is Privacy just an Illusion? | "The line between private and public space is as porous as tissue paper." This is lesson two of three in a unit to introduce students to the central idea of privacy. In this lesson, students will continue to explore issues of privacy through their previous research on Edward Snowden. Students will use a graphic organizer to evaluate how an author develops the central idea. Students will be asked to consider to whether or not privacy has become an illusion due to our technological advances. |
| Writing an Argument | In this lesson, students will conduct close readings of a teacher-selected news article that introduces a claim and two sides. As they read, they will implement vocabulary strategies, analyze the article’s claims and their validity. After they read, they will participate in a whole class discussion before choosing a side and writing a three-paragraph argument in the form of a letter. |
| "What good are the words?" An excerpt from The Book Thief | This lesson focuses on an excerpt from Markus Zusak's novel The Book Thief. Students will read an excerpt to discover Zusak's powerful writing style, as well as the power of words through the eyes of Liesel, the novel's protagonist. Students will demonstrate their analysis through answering a short response question. |
| Literary Elements in The Most Dangerous Game | This lesson focuses on similes, metaphors, personification, irony, imagery and allusion in Richard Connell's short story, "The Most Dangerous Game." Students first create a "Silly Sheet" study aid for these literary devices, and then they engage in a "scavenger hunt" where they find examples of these devices in the story. Students then work in small groups to interpret the meanings of these devices within the context of the story. Finally, students will individually write an essay analyzing the effect that these devices have on the story as a whole. The "scavenger hunt" handout and answer key, two PowerPoints, and the directions for the essay with a planning sheet and rubric are included. |
| Monster or Not? Three Excerpts from Frankenstein | In this lesson, students will read three extended text excerpts from Frankenstein in which the Creature is the narrator and view several clips from film adaptations of the Creature. The students will annotate during the reading of the text and determine the meaning of selected vocabulary words from the text. Students will engage in discussion on how the Creature changes and what causes those changes. As a summative assessment for the lesson, students will write an extended argumentative response with a claim about whether the Creature is monster-like or not.
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| Culture, Character, Color, and Doom: Close Reading Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" | In this close reading lesson, students will read William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" one chunk at a time to examine elements of plot, culture, setting, and point of view that contribute to the mystery and suspense that lead to its dark, even terrifying, ending. |
| Hubris: A Recurring Theme in Greek Mythology | Students will analyze protagonist, antagonist, conflict, resolution, and hubris in three classic myths: "Odysseus and Polyphemus," "Athena and Arachne," and "Echo and Narcissus." They will write an essay explaining the message of each myth using examples from the myths and discuss the impact of the recurring theme of hubris on the ancient Greek audience. |
| Privacy: A Matter of National Security? | In this lesson, students will embark upon a journey of espionage and inquire how the rights of one can become a barrier for the greater good of a nation. This is the first lesson in a three-part unit evaluating the concept of privacy, surveillance, and technology. After learning briefly about former NSA agent Edward Snowden, students will research to find more information on Snowden’s actions and surrounding events. activity will require students to use textual support, reasoning and relevancy of the text, and analyze an author's claims. Students will synthesize the arguments, information, and claims within the text to participate in a class debate on whether Snowden is should be celebrated or considered a traitor. |
| A Biography Study: Using Role-Play to Explore the Lives of Authors | Dramatizing life stories provides students with an engaging way to become more critical readers and researchers. In this lesson, students select American authors to research, create timelines, and write bio-poems. Then, they collaborate with other students in small groups to design and perform a 'panel of authors' presentation in which they role-play as their authors. The final project requires each student to synthesize information about his or her author in an essay. There are tons of additional links and resources included in this lesson plan! |
| Sold: Interview of a Trafficked Child - Final Lesson 3 | Lesson 3, "Interview of a Trafficked Child," gives students the opportunity to support their position on human trafficking by incorporating research and statistics into an article format. |
| Close Reading Exemplar: 1984 | Students often have difficulty envisioning and making sense of a story that is set in a markedly different time or circumstance than their own. This two-day activity introduces students to the dystopian society of 1984 by George Orwell. By analyzing Orwell's carefully chosen words, details, repetitions, and characterizations in these first few pages, students can construct a strong understanding of some of the key features of this society that will give them a solid framework for comprehending the rest of the novel. Doing this kind of close reading work also reinforces to students that authors do not randomly select the details they include in a text; they choose words carefully to create a mood or construct a particular image of a character or place in a reader's mind. The overriding question that students should be able to answer at the end of this exercise is: What can we understand about Winston Smith and the society he lives in based on the descriptive details George Orwell includes in the first few pages of 1984? |
| Research Paper Adapted into a Speech | In this lesson, students will take a previously written research paper and adapt it into a speech. A PowerPoint is included to help students with the adaption of their speech as they focus on purpose/task and audience. Information is also provided on how to organize their speech and how to deliver their speech (gestures, eye contact, posture, voice inflection, etc.). In preparation for writing and presenting their own speech, students will use a graphic organizer to analyze three different speeches in regards to content and delivery. A speech outline/flowchart is provided to help students brainstorm and organize their own speech. A speech rubric is provided for the summative assessment, along with a visual aid rubric. |
| Annotation and Close Reading Passage Analysis: excerpt from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Part 3 of 3 | The goal of this lesson (lesson 3 in 3-part unit) is for students to be able to analyze and interpret the ways in which an author's style (use of literary devices) develops the author's purpose, tone, and theme found in complex and challenging texts. Close-reading skills culminate in a literary analysis essay in which students analyze how an author creates meaning through deliberate choices of language devices. |
| Exploring Immigration and America: Part 3 | This lesson is the 3rd lesson of a unit on Immigration and America. In this lesson, students will analyze the and make thematic connections to the previous works studied. The culminating activity is students' oral presentation of a digital presentation in which they compare the works in terms of theme. They will need to support their ideas with textual evidence. |
| Teaching Student Annotation: Constructing Meaning Through Connections | Students learn about the usefulness of annotation in making diverse connections with a text that lead to deep analysis. They then make, revise, and publish annotations for a short piece of text. |
| A Collaboration of Sites and Sounds Using Wiki to Catalog Protest Songs | Protest songs serve as a means to combat social ills and cover a wide array of topics, including racism, sexism, poverty, imperialism, environmental degradation, war, and homophobia. This lesson makes a connection to popular culture by asking students to work in pairs to research and analyze contemporary and historic protest songs. After learning about wikis, each pair posts their analysis of the protest songs to a class wiki, adding graphics, photos, and hyperlinks as desired. The class then works together to organize the entries. Finally, students listen to all of the protest songs and add information and comments to each other's pages.
This lesson works well with a unit focusing on a piece of literature in which a character(s) actively fights for social, political, or economic justice. For example, this lesson can build on a discussion of the issues that Atticus Finch contends with in To Kill a Mockingbird. |
| Creating Suspense Lesson 2: Analyzing Literary Devices in "The Lottery" | In this lesson (part 2 of 2 in a unit), students will read and analyze literary devices in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." Students will practice text-coding the story to note uses of setting, imagery, diction, and foreshadowing. Students will complete a handout where they will analyze how Jackson creates suspense through the use of setting, imagery, diction, and foreshadowing. For the summative assessment, students will write an essay comparing and contrasting Edgar Allan Poe's use of suspense with Jackson's, making a claim as to which author more successfully creates a suspenseful mood. |
| “Greek Mythology Version 2.0: To Be or Not to Be an Epic Hero?” | In this second lesson out of a three-lesson unit, students will continue analyzing the characteristics of an Epic Hero as they read books 1-10 of The Odyssey. Students will analyze characteristics by looking at the ways in which characters are developed through the decisions they make and/or fail to make. |
| Creating Suspense Lesson 1: Analyzing Literary Devices in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" | In this lesson, students will examine the figurative language and literary devices used in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death." They will read the first part of the story with support and modeling from the teacher, the next part with a partner or in small groups, and the final section on their own. Students will also use various strategies to determine the meaning of selected vocabulary within the context of the story and identify which of those words and phrases create the suspenseful mood in the story. In the summative assessment, students will share their analysis and provide textual examples of how Poe creates suspense in his story. |
| Greek Mythology: The Odyssey, Odysseus and What Makes an Epic Hero Part 3 | In this lesson, students will explore books 13-23 of The Odyssey through text coding and analysis of both character development and theme. For the summative assessment, students will write a short response analyzing characterization and universal themes of Courage and Perseverance in the text and drawing conclusions, supported by textual evidence, about the nature of the Epic Hero. |
| Unit: Poems About Death Lesson 1 of 3-- "To an Athlete Dying Young" by A.E. Housman | Students will read and analyze the poem, "To an Athlete Dying Young" for the figurative language of metaphor and imagery and how each works together to create both a somber mood and support the universal theme of death. |
| Author's Style: “My Watch: An Instructive Little Tale” by Mark Twain | In this lesson, students will read "My Watch: An Instructive Little Tale," by Mark Twain. Students will analyze how Twain’s use of figurative language creates style. Students will present their analysis in an oral presentation. |
| Unit: Poems about Death Lesson 2 of 3 "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas | Students will review the format of a villanelle and analyze how it contributes to the defiant tone of the poem. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will write a short response to answer the question: “How does Dylan Thomas’s use of metaphor and imagery create a defiant tone and support the universal theme of death?” |
| Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: Part 3 | This is the third and final lesson in a unit analyzing rhetorical appeals. In this lesson, students will identify and analyze rhetorical appeals in a speech from President Obama and plan an outline for an essay to explain President Obama’s choices to establish meaning and achieve his purpose in the speech. |
| Exploring Immigration and America: Part 2 | This lesson is the second of a unit comprised of 3 lessons. In this second lesson, students will use small group discussion to analyze informational text, a speech given by Judge Learned Hand entitled "The Spirit of Liberty," in terms of central idea and author’s choices in achieving purpose. |
| I Declare War: Part II | I Declare War Part 2 is an extension of Part 1; therefore, the lessons must be done in sequential order. In Part 2, students will use the TPC(F)ASTT analysis chart to analyze "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen and outline a comparative analysis of Owen's views on war versus Lincoln's views and examine the strategies they use to bring their viewpoints across. The poetry analysis of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" can be used to introduce students to literary analysis at the beginning of the year before they attempt more complex poems. |
| I Declare War: Part III | In this lesson (the third in a three-lesson unit), students will analyze an excerpt from Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. Working collaboratively and independently, students will explore the diction, images, details, language and syntax of the text. The summative assessment requires students to write an essay analyzing how the author uses language and literary techniques to convey the experience of the soldiers in the Vietnam War. Supporting handouts and materials are provided. |
| Creating Brave New Voices amongst Students: Part III | This is the culminating lesson in a three-part series designed to support students as they embrace poetry analysis. The purpose of this lesson is for students to reflect on the poems they analyzed in lessons one and two. Students will then create a digital presentation to share with the class that explains their analysis of the use of symbols, imagery, mood, and theme in poetry. |
| Slaves Come to America | This lesson introduces students to the history of how Africans were transported from their native countries (including the conditions they had to endure) to the United States and then forced to work as slaves on southern plantations. It examines the daily life of a slave in North Carolina and includes other informational texts about slavery and the slave trade, as well as a PowerPoint presentation, and links to two short videos. The summative assessment requires students to write an explanatory essay showcasing what they have learned and using evidence from the print texts and videos for support. |
| Shall I Compare Thee to a Previously Written Sonnet? | In this lesson, students will summarize and analyze Petrarch's love sonnets (including "Sonnet 18", "Sonnet 159" and "Sonnet 104") and then do the same with Shakespeare's love sonnets (including "Sonnet 18", "Sonnet 130" and "Sonnet 106"), comparing Shakespeare's themes and approach to Petrarch's themes and approach. The summative assessment is an essay in which students will summarize and analyze Shakespeare's "Sonnet 27" and describe how that poem reflects and diverges from Petrarch's themes and style. |
| The Past and the Future | The lesson introduces students to irony and how instances of irony in a piece of literature, "A Sound of Thunder" (1070L) by Ray Bradbury, advances the plot. Students are exposed to examples of irony from other works of literature to assist them with this particular form of figurative language. The summative assessment entails a written analysis of how the author incorporates instances of irony to further develop the plot. |
| Analyzing Vonnegut's View of the Future and his Commentary on the Present in “Harrison Bergeron” | Students will read Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s short story "Harrison Bergeron" and analyze his use of the elements of characterization and symbolism to support the ironic tone developed in the text in this lesson. |
| Researching Genocide in History After Reading Wiesel's Night | This lesson will be used as a follow up to reading Night by Elie Wiesel. In this lesson, students will research different genocides in history and create a digital presentation to display their research. |
| It’s Ironic…or is it? | The purpose of this lesson is to introduce to students the various types of irony. When examining an excerpt from "The Cask of Amontillado", students will be expected to identify and analyze how and why an author would choose to incorporate irony into their writing. |
| Analyzing a Modern Take (in Film) on Vonnegut’s View of the Future in “Harrison Bergeron” | In this lesson (part 2 in a 2-part unit), students will review crucial details present/omitted in a film treatment (2081) of Vonneguts's "Harrison Bergeron," using a Venn diagram to record their observations. Students will use their diagram to compose a one to two page objective summary of their findings, drawing parallels between the original work and the film in regard to literary elements, author's purpose, audience, etc. and their effects on the overall meaning of the works. |
| Sold: Meeting the Victims of Trafficking - Lesson 1 | In this lesson, students will read and write about the social, economic, and political effects of human trafficking. Students will be expected to annotate various texts, work collaboratively in groups, and demonstrate their understanding of the texts read by citing evidence to support a written summary. |
| TAG your writing: Much Ado About Nothing | In this lesson, students will be provided with an opportunity to learn about an easy to follow process for writing effective short response questions, using support from the text. While this lesson teaches the process using an excerpt from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, it could also be adapted to fit with any short excerpt from a literary or information text. |
| Protagonists and Antagonists | In this lesson, students will analyze the character development of protagonists and antagonists from literature read over the course of the school year. Students will complete a note-taking activity as well as a graphic organizer to use as they answer an analysis question about the characterization of protagonists and antagonists across various genres of literature. |
| Behind the Cover: Investigating the Backstory of Frankenstein and other Classics | In this lesson, students will briefly examine the history and myths that led to the creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by reading and discussing the article, "Frankenstein, Meet Your Forefathers" (link provided within the lesson). Students will then choose a text to research the backstory for how that written work came to be. A list of detailed research questions is provided, as well as optional book titles for students to research. Students will present their findings through creating a poster that illustrates the interesting points from their research. A number of engaging extension ideas, interdisiciplinary connections, and questions for further discussion are provided. |
| Analyzing the Rhetoric of JFK’s Inaugural Address | Students will identify rhetorical terms and methods, examine the rhetorical devices of JFK's inaugural address, and analyze and evaluate the effects of the rhetorical devices on the delivered speech. |
| An Introduction with Death: A Close Reading of the Prologue from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak | In this lesson, students will read an excerpt from the prologue of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. They will focus on how the word choices impact the mood of the excerpt. The summative assessment is a two-paragraph writing assignment which will require students to discuss how Zusak's use of figurative language creates mood in the prologue. |
| Character Analysis of “Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen” | In this lesson, students will read the O. Henry short story "Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen." Through scaffold learning tasks, the students will analyze the two main characters and their interactions throughout the story. Students will practice using various strategies to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in context. Students will also analyze the author's word choice, including his use of figurative language, and its impact on the tone of the story. These activities will build toward students' participation in a Socratic Seminar as the summative assessment for the lesson. The text of the story, reading comprehension questions, a teacher guide to assist with discussion, a vocabulary handout, and Socratic Seminar questions are all included within the lesson. |
| Elie’s Life through Many Mediums | In this lesson, students will compare and analyze information about Elie Wiesel and determine how rhetorical devices support his central idea(s) as evidenced across the various mediums. |
| Emily Dickinson: Poet Extraordinaire of Language, Time, and Space Part 3 | This is the culminating lesson in a three-part series exploring and analyzing Emily Dickinson's style. In part one, students conducted historical and literary research on the Romantic Period, in part two, students used historical and literary research as they read and analyzed a variety of Dickinson’s letters written during the Romantic Period. In this lesson, students will investigate primary and secondary documents on movements that influenced Dickinson and will create a literary reference kit to share with the class - a collection of materials that are representative of the period. |
| Hunger and Fear: Comparing Literature and Non-Fiction | The purpose of this lesson is to help students learn how to compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction texts that explore similar topics. In this lesson, students will compare and contrast aspects of the popular novel The Hunger Games with an informative text on food shortages in Africa and an informative text on fear and the "flight or fight" response. |
| What You Say: Language Context Matters | In this lesson students will read and analyze three texts: Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue," Richard Rodriguez's "Se Habla Espanol," and Zora Neale Hurston's "How it Feels to be Colored Me" looking at how the language in each expresses a specific tone and author’s style. Students will choose one of the three texts and write an analysis of how the author uses language to create tone and style. |
| Who is A.A.A.’s Hero? | In this lesson, students will read multiple texts, conduct online research, brainstorm ideas, and analyze and synthesize information. Students will also practice the arts of note-taking, writing concise and informative summaries, and collaborating with peers to learn more about South Africa's Anti-Apartheid (A.A.A.) movement and the hero who saved them. |
