LAFS.1112.RL.1.2Archived Standard

Through an analysis of E. E. Cummings' poem "anyone lived in a pretty how town,” an using the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus," as supplemental resources, students will analyze the theme of the importance of the cycle of life and nature as it pertains to human existence. The three texts come from dramatically different genres, time periods, and settings capturing the essence of a universal theme.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students read, analyze, and discuss medieval English ballads and then list characteristics of the genre. They then emphasize the narrative characteristics of ballads by choosing a ballad to act out. Using the Venn diagram tool, students next compare medieval ballads with modern ones. After familiarizing themselves with ballad themes and forms, students write their own original ballads, which they perform in small groups. Finally, students engage in self-reflection on their group performances and on the literary characteristics of their ballads.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is part two of a three lesson unit that will explore and analyze how different authors convey American Puritanism. In lessons two of this unit, students will analyze key literary elements and Miller’s use of rhetoric to create mood in the play, "The Crucible."

Type: Lesson Plan

This is Part three of a three-part series on the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Students will analyze F. Scott Fitzgerald's inspirations for both his characters and stories. In this lesson, students will analyze a 1928 portrait of Louise Brooks by Eugene Robert Richee as a stimulus for creating an original character living during the glitter and glamour of the 1920s. Finally, using compiled textual evidence recorded throughout the three lessons, students will create a narrative in the style of Fitzgerald for Louise Brooks.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is Part two of this three-part series on the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Through reading and analyzing excerpts from F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "The Offshore Pirate" (1920) in Flappers and Philosophers, students will examine the characterization of Artida and Carlyle and compare the two characters.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is Part one of a three-part series that focuses on passages from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Through reading, text marking, and participating in collaborative discussions, students will analyze the universal themes: “Success can be corrupted by greed,” and “Irresponsibility can lead to destruction.”

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the fourth and final lesson in a small unit on the life and works of Phillis Wheatley. Although details are given only for this final lesson, some information is given on the preceding three lessons.

Type: Lesson Plan

Compare and contrast how William Wordsworth established multiple themes within two of his poems: "Lines Written in Early Spring" and "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud."

This interactive tutorial is part 3 of 3. Click below to open the other tutorials in this series.

• Part 1: Identifying Multiple Topics in a Poem
• Part 2: Determining Multiple Themes of a Poem

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Continue to analyze William Wordsworth's poem "Lines Written in Early Spring" to determine multiple themes and craft thematic statements. 

This interactive tutorial is part 2 of 3. Click below to open the other tutorials in this series.

• Part 1: Identifying Multiple Topics in a Poem
• Part 3: Comparing Themes Across Two Poems -- Including Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Study William Wordsworth's poem "Lines Written in Early Spring" to identify multiple topics and, in the next tutorial, to determine themes and craft thematic statements. 

This interactive tutorial is part 1 of 3. Click below to open the other tutorials in this series.

• Part 2: Determining Multiple Themes of a Poem
• Part 3: Comparing Themes Across Two Poems -- Including Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the poems "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley and "Life" by Charlotte Brontë in this interactive tutorial. Using these works of literature, you'll practice determining multiple themes in a poem and writing a summary of a poem. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Having studied two key topics in excerpts from the classic novel Pride and Prejudice in previous parts of this tutorial series, in Part Four you will use these topics and textual details from the novel to determine two themes of the novel. You will also analyze how these themes interact and build on one another.

Make sure to complete the previous parts of this series before beginning Part Four.

• Part 1
  
• Part 2
• Part 3
  

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Continue to explore two key topics in the classic novel Pride and Prejudice and analyze characters’ actions as they relate to these topics in Part Three of this four-part series. By the end of this series, you will use these topics and textual details to determine two themes of the novel. You will also analyze how these themes interact and build on one another.

Make sure to complete all four parts of the series!

• Part 1
  
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore two key topics (first impressions and self-awareness) in the classic novel Pride and Prejudice and analyze characters’ actions as they relate to these topics. This tutorial is Part Two in a four-part series. By the end of this tutorial series, you will use these topics and textual details to determine two themes of the novel. You will also analyze how these themes interact and build on one another.

Make sure to complete all four parts of the series.

• Part 1
  
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore two key topics in excerpts from Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice and analyze characters’ actions as they relate to these topics in Part One of this four-part interactive tutorial series. By the end of this series, you will use these topics and textual details to determine two themes of the novel and analyze how these themes interact and build on one another.

Click below to complete all four parts of the series.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how to determine themes and write thematic statements in this interactive tutorial. In this tutorial, you'll examine three famous poems: “If-” by Rudyard Kipling, “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. Using these works of literature, you will practice determining multiple themes in a poem and crafting thematic statements.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This teaching idea guides students in generating questions for a student led seminar based on their reading of August Wilson's play, "The Piano Lesson". Students will then use their questions to conduct a Socratic Seminar about the play.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this unit, students will examine the challenges of transitioning into adulthood faced by Taylor, who is an 18-year-old girl with autism. Taylor must go to Waskesiu Lake for the summer because her mother has a new job. Wild Orchid explores how Taylor learns to apply the coping strategies she has been taught when she finds herself in a new environment. She learns that she can be independent and think for herself. Through this lesson plan, students will work to determine two or more themes of a text, analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding the elements of a story, and write arguments to support claims with valid reasoning and sufficient evidence in response to questions.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence