How figurative language affects the tone and meaning in Chapter Three of Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy is the focus of a series of exercises that ask readers to locate, record, and analyze Curtis' word choices.

Walking in nature is the theme of a unit designed to support English language development lessons. Scholars look, write, speak, and move to explore topics such as camping, woodland animals, instruments,...

If you've ever wished you could respond to an author's message, an instructional activity that connects three poems with the same concept will appeal to you. Based on the first few lessons' focus on Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate...

The only way that a heinous act of genocide can succeed is if citizens of surrounding groups and countries turn their backs on those suffering. A thorough language arts module addresses shared central ideas with three separate units,...

Here is a unit consisting of activities designed to challenge your scholars. The extended learning opportunities include planning a celebration, making a presentation to the class, poster making, writing poetry, a problem-solving...

The manipulation of time is one of the most essential elements in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As your language arts class participates in a jigsaw discussion activity, they work together to analyze the play's plot structure and...

Put together an English language arts unit on the six traits of writing with this helpful collection of resources. From fun songs to differentiated writing exercises reinforcing each of the traits, great ideas are provided for...

Support English language development with a family-themed unit consisting of a series of lessons designed to get your scholars moving, looking, speaking, writing, and listening. Conversation topics...

In order to make evidence-based claims, one must be able to draw explicit information from text. From here, learners take that information, analyze the text to develop a deeper understanding, and connect with the information in order to...

What goes around, comes around. Using the resource, pupils read Act 4.3 of Macbeth, in which Macduff and Malcolm plan to attack Macbeth. Scholars then hold a discussion and complete writing activities to analyze Shakespeare's structural...

To make the point that there are many forms of language, each with its own purpose, class members select 10 lines from Doescher's play, translate these lines first into contemporary English and then into "SMS/Tweet." 

American women have been working toward equal rights since the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence. Focused on the words and actions of Sojourner Truth, Shirley Chisholm, and Venus Williams, a language arts lesson takes eighth...

Dear Sir or Madam: What's the difference between formal and informal language? Scholars focus on using formal English and transitions in their position papers. After revising their rough drafts, they engage in the peer editing process...

Poets write love letters, but how often do the objects of their love write back? Compare Christopher Marlowe's "A Passionate Shepard to His Love" to Sir Walter Raleigh's response, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," with an engaging...

It is, and it is not. Scholars examine how these words impact Eleanor Roosevelt's speech, in which she tries to persuade the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Readers note rhetoric and figurative language. They then...

Can three works of literature work together to establish and develop a common central idea? Put your thoughts into writing with a final assessment focused on a unit-long analysis of Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepard to His...

Withered, wild, and bearded are three adjectives that describe the Witches from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Scholars view paintings and discuss how different artists depict the witches. Pupils also complete a Quick Write to analyze Henry...

How have society's expectations influenced female writers? Pupils explore the topic by reading chapter three of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. Scholars complete a Quick Write to analyze how Judith Shakespeare's experiences...

The study of Romeo and Juliet continues as pairs use the provided summary tool worksheet to record evidence of how Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to heighten the tension in Juliet's soliloquy in Act 3, scene 2, lines 1–31.

As the first in a two-part, end-of-unit assessment that encourages readers to synthesize the unit's main ideas, class members review their notes for each of the three texts they read and develop three open-ended discussion questions...

Where does a writer find inspiration? "Go into yourself," says Rainer Maria Rilke in "Letter One" from Letters to a Young Poet. Readers of Rilke's letter to Franz Xaver Kappus examine the words and figurative language Rilke uses to...

Scholars continue reading Act 3.1 from Shakespeare's Hamlet, discovering Ophelia's monologue about Hamlet. They complete a Quick Write to analyze Ophelia's perspective of Hamlet and participate in an optional jigsaw activity to explore...

What do readers discover about a character within the first few sections of a text? Pupils begin reading Shakespeare's Macbeth and analyze the language in the first few scenes of the play. They also demonstrate understanding with a Quick...

How does Shakespeare develop the central idea of agency versus fate in Macbeth? Using the resource, pupils work in small groups to discuss the plot of Act 3.1. Next, they complete a brief writing assignment to analyze how the main idea...