LAFS.910.W.2.6Archived Standard

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!

Type: Lesson Plan

There's more to plot than identifying the series of events in a story. After viewing a PowerPoint presentation on plot structure, students will read and analyze the plots of three different short stories (as a class, in small groups, and individually). Then, they will use an online interactive plot structure tool to diagram the plot lines. This lesson also includes a writing assessment with rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

How would the story have changed if Romeo had received the letter? This lesson encourages students to pick a turning point in a tragedy and show how the action of the play would have been significantly altered had a different decision been made or a different action taken. Students use a graphic organizer to analyze the plot of the play. They identify a turning point in the play, alter the decision that the characters make, and predict the characters' actions throughout the rest of the play. Students create a plot outline of their altered play and present their new stories to the class. Teachers can test students' content knowledge and understanding of conflicts within the play while also challenging their creativity and their understanding of plot. This lesson focuses on Shakespearean tragedy, but it can be used with any tragedy that students have read or as a book report alternative.

Type: Lesson Plan

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.

Type: Lesson Plan

This teaching idea addresses the pros and cons of discussion by analyzing the concept of utopia in a satire. Students collaborate in small groups to create a Discussion Web that addresses the question, "Are people equal?" Students engage in meaningful discussions analyzing all sides of their initial response, form a consensus, and present it to the class. Students then read "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and use supporting details to complete another Discussion Web that examines whether or not the people in the story are equal. Web-based graphic organizers, assessments, and extension activities are included.

Type: Teaching Idea

This mini-lesson explores verb choice in formal writing using a variety of online resources. Students draw conclusions about verb usage while working with their peers, using graphic organizers, checking for active and passive voice, and making necessary revisions. A lot of great web resources are provided in this teaching idea!

Type: Teaching Idea

How do places and experiences affect writers' lives and works? Is where a writer comes from relevant to reading their work? In this lesson, students consider the power of place in their own lives, research the life of a writer, and develop travel brochures and annotated maps representing the significance of geography in a writer's life.

Type: Teaching Idea

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

This lesson asks students to explore the motivation behind characters' actions in To Kill a Mockingbird. Students first engage in a free-write activity. They then do research and creative thinking to design a poster and plan a presentation representing a psychological profile for a selected character, while determining what specific factors (such as family, career, environment, and so forth) have the greatest influence on the characters' decision making throughout the novel. The groups present their findings to the class by assuming the persona of their character and explaining the psychological factors influencing their behavior in the novel.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence