Celebrate Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss' birthday with this compare and contrast graphic organizer in which three stories are examined for their setting, characters, problems, events, and solution. 

Continue working through Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, by looking into language choices and discussing text-dependent questions. Pupils converse in small groups and as a class about plot, setting, and figurative language. Using...

Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...

Paul Fisher, the main character in Tangerine, comes to see that it's the choices in life that lead to the consequences that make all the difference. A unit study of Bloor's young adult novel leads readers down this same path. 

Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" engages adolescents with its theme about the dangers of complete societal equality. Learners complete a graphic organizer to track literary elements in the story, as well as an inference...

To better understand how the author Kevin Henkes uses the theme of friendship throughout his books, learners engage in several compare and contrast activities. The class reads several Henkes titles and discusses the similarities in...

Second graders read the story PUSS IN BOOTS identifying main characters, setting, and significant events. They then read the story JAMIL AND THE CLEVER CAT and compare it with the story PUSS IN BOOTS compiling a list of characters,...

You could spend a full day discussing The Phantom of the Opera and not scratch the surface, but a set of lessons about the literary elements and themes of the musical production is a great start. Young thespians build upon the...

What is a dynamic character? Using an interesting resource, scholars set out to answer the question. They create graphic organizers to collect details about character development as they read the novel Inside Out & Back Again. They...

Many and many a year ago Edgar Allan Poe crafted the chilling tale of "Annabel Lee." The poem is the perfect vehicle to introduce Poe's concept of unity of effect, the idea that every element in a poem or story should help to develop a...

Do the actions of a character in a story change based on the setting the writer provides? Learners explore the concept of character action in relation to story setting by investigating the setting and events in the story Science...

Students explore the book A Midsummer Night's Dream. In this literature lesson, students identify main characters and vocabulary words from the text. Students participate in a book discussion group.

Seventh graders are able to use active listening skills, take notes and identify literary elements of a short story. They use/create graphic organizer, compare/contrast literary elements from various stories and compare and contrast traits.

What do images tell us about history? Dress, setting, and actions all convey cultural norms, and in essence, give reference to historical time and place. Learners compare and contrast Kunisada's Actor with Flute in Snow to Hokuei's...

Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...

Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...

Students read a classic tale from the Beatrix Potter collection, and recognize the main characters and settings of the story. They discover the extraordinary life of Beatrix Potter and then create their own illustration of a favorite...

Character analysis can help readers feel more connected to a literary text. Scholars explore the topic by writing an acrostic poem about the main character from Katherine Paterson's novel, Lyddie. Then, pupils watch a short video to help...

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher helps bring difficult, but important, topics such as suicide and bullying into the classroom. An educator's guide for the novel provides activities and discussion questions to help teens explore the...

Children in foster care face a lot of uncertainty in their lives. A guide for the novel One for the Murphys introduces a main character, Carley, who is thrust into the foster care system. Chapter-by-chapter questions cover key...

The death of a parent can turn a child's world upside down. A curriculum guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy explores defining moments in the main character's life, including the loss of her mother. Chapter-by-chapter discussion...

Students study stories. In this writing lesson, students discuss the three aspects of a story, read stories focusing on the characters, write a story as a class about a character made up by the class, and write a story with an exciting...

Why are rules so important? Just ask the main characters in the children's book Officer Buckle and Gloria. After a class read aloud, compare and contrast the safety tips mentioned in the story with your classroom rules, noting any...

Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use...