ELA.8.R.3.1

In this lesson, students will review the basic rules for effective paraphrasing. Students will read a short speech that President Abraham Lincoln delivered to Union troops during the civil war. They will paraphrase several key sections to strengthen their paraphrasing skills and analyze the use of figurative language to deepen their knowledge of the United States' foundational principles. Students will also answer text-dependent questions to further analyze Lincoln’s remarks.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is the third in a series of three based on O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi." The previous lessons provide instruction in using context clues to determine word meanings and in analyzing the significance of literary devices as they support the theme of Love and Sacrifice. In this final lesson, students will apply their knowledge of context clues from lesson one and their analysis of theme from lesson two as they consider the use of irony in the texts: "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Shivering Beggar," a poem by Robert Graves.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze the symbols and imagery present in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Rain in Summer" to determine its meaning. Formative assessment checks are included as student handouts with text-based questions and charts. Students will also write a short essay as a summative assessment in which they will develop a claim about the poem's meaning, providing text-based examples as support.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan explores symmetry in the structure and themes of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," delving into the antagonist's representation of the "duality of nature." In examining knightly virtues, students will measure Gawain's strength as the poem's hero. The lesson explains background information that every medieval thinker listening to a performance of the poem would know, in an effort to put the student into the mind-set of the medieval audience, providing a deeper appreciation and understanding of the work.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read and analyze “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe and will analyze and discuss the poetic devices and figurative language used in the poem as it supports the topic of “The Death of a Beautiful Woman.” Students will write a short response to explain their analysis.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read the poem "Florida" by Elizabeth Bishop and code the text for positive and negative descriptions of Florida. Students will then explain in writing how connotation and figurative language contribute to the poet's description of Florida.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will use T.S. Eliot's poem, “Macavity," to analyze the power of word choice and figurative language devices in creating coherent and purposefully written descriptions. They will cite text evidence to show how specific lines of the poem impact and drive the description of the subject of the poem, who happens to be a cat. They will write their own narrative using figurative language to describe an animal.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will study the poem "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" by Vachel Lindsay. Students will identify the examples of imagery within the poem and determine how the use of imagery contributes to the poem's meaning. Students will also practice making connections between the poem and its background information (President Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War) as well as its historical context (World War I). During the lesson, students will also practice determining the meaning of unfamiliar words in the poem.

Type: Lesson Plan

Dive deeper into the magician character archetype and review the use and purpose of personification in this interactive tutorial.

This is part two in a two-part series. Open Part 1.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn all about symbolism using excerpts from the classic short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. We'll break down the events of the story and analyze how the use of symbolism contributes to the overall meaning of the text. In Part One, we'll cover some important background information and read the opening excerpts of the text. Make sure to complete both parts!

Click HERE to launch Part Two.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn the features of symbolism and how authors use it to add meaning and depth to a piece of literature. Then we’ll examine the specific use of symbolism in the short story “The Story of an Hour.” Using excerpts from the text, we’ll analyze how the use of symbolism contributes to meaning in the text.

This is part 1 in a two-part series. Click HERE to view Part 2.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In Part Two, continue to examine the use of symbolism in the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the use of symbolism adds greater significance to the dramatic transformation of Louise Mallard throughout the story.

Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to view Part One.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn all about symbolism in this two-part tutorial series using excerpts from the classic short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. In Part One, we examined the use of symbolism in the first part of the text. In Part Two, we'll finish the story and analyze how the use of symbolism contributes to the text's overall meaning. Make sure to complete both parts!

Click HERE to launch Part One.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the famous speech “All the World’s a Stage” from Shakespeare’s play As You Like It. In this interactive tutorial, you’ll analyze an extended metaphor within the speech and how it contributes to the speech’s meaning.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Examine how allusions contribute to meaning in excerpts from O. Henry's classic American short story “The Gift of the Magi." In this interactive tutorial, you'll determine how allusions in the text better develop the key story elements of setting, characters, and conflict and explain how the allusion to the Magi contributes to the story’s main message about what it means to give a gift.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how figurative language contributes to the meaning of an informational text. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine excerpts from President Obama's 50th Anniversary Speech of the March on Selma. You'll specifically analyze his use of imagery and metaphors and how they add to the meaning of his speech.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This teaching resource provides the tools to help students analyze the use of figurative language in an 1853 speech by Sojourner Truth. Students will specifically examine her skillful use of imagery throughout the speech. Students will analyze how Truth uses imagery at key points in her speech to express her message and achieve her purpose (below). Students will also gain a deeper understanding of this speech and why it was a significant act of civic participation.

Type: Text Resource

In this animated video from TEDed, you will learn about the power of metaphors in your reading and in your writing. The video explores questions like: "How do metaphors help us better understand the world?", as well as "What makes a good metaphor?"

Type: Tutorial