Literature Archives - The Teachers' Library

Sympathy and Caged Bird by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Maya Angelou

admin — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 18:22:06 +0000

This poetry resource includes a handout that contains lined versions of the poems, guiding questions and graphic organizers regarding theme, imagery, symbolism, and tone; and writing assignments to compare, contrast, and interpret allusion and intertextuality.

PowerPoint contains essential vocabulary and literary terms, historical context, discussion questions, three writing assignments.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

[insert_php]
// INSTRUCTIONS: array(“url”,”title”,”type”,”size”),
// AND only the last array() line does NOT have a comma at the end
$downloads = array(
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Sympathy-and-Caged-Bird.pptx”,”Download Sympathy and Caged Bird by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Maya Angelou”,”pptx”,”5.7mb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Sympathy-and-Caged-Bird-Handout.pdf”,”Download Sympathy and Caged Bird Handouts”,”pdf”,”280kb”),
);
insertDownloads($downloads);
[/insert_php]

The post Sympathy and Caged Bird by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Maya Angelou appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Teaching Personification with ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’

admin — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 15:08:24 +0000

When teaching a text, I make sure that I have an anchor skill that I want my students to practice while reading. I find evaluating text structure to be one of the more difficult standards to teach, but I also find There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury to be not only an engaging story with lots of opportunity to review personification, but also a model text for students to analyze how the structure of a piece of writing can be as deliberate as the description.

During the reading, I encourage my students to identify examples of personification, and also to analyze how the individual uses of personification culminate to create an extended metaphor. How does the personification at the beginning of the story compare that at the end? What commentary is Bradbury trying to make about machines and humankind, and why is personification the most appropriate literary device to make this point?

I have a quick game of dictionary races at the beginning of the PowerPoint to pre-teach some of the vocabulary. 25 words is a bit much; however, I have a lot of ELL students who need quite of a bit of background built with regards to vocabulary, and since they’re racing, it doesn’t really take too long to go through them all.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

If you’re looking for a non-fiction text to pair with the reading, there is a short article from 2015 in The London Sun about the silhouettes left around the city after the atomic blast.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/155844/the-shadows-of-hiroshima-haunting-imprints-of-people-killed-by-the-blast/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzhlU8rXgHc

[insert_php]
// INSTRUCTIONS: array(“url”,”title”,”type”,”size”),
// AND only the last array() line does NOT have a comma at the end
$downloads = array(
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/there-will-come-soft-rains.pptx”,”Download Personification and There Will Come Soft Rains”,”pptx”,”5mb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/There-Will-Come-Soft-Rains-by-Bradbury.pdf”,”Download There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury PDF”,”pdf”,”13kb”),
);
insertDownloads($downloads);
[/insert_php]

The post Teaching Personification with ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Interpreting Imagery with Harlem by Langston Hughes

Lauren Crowley — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 16:20:21 +0000

My students of all ages have a difficult time incorporating textual evidence into their writing. Once we get past the punctuation hurdles, not to mention choosing evidence that actually works as such towards their claims, I have had real trouble getting them to make the step from paraphrasing to gritty analysis and interpretation.

For example, I get a lot of:

The author states, “The sun beat down like a heavy burden on her shoulders.” This shows that the sun was hot.

Or if we’re lucky:

The author states, “The sun beat down like a heavy burden on her shoulders.” This use of personification shows that the sun was hot.

I realized many of them didn’t even understand that difference between paraphrasing and interpretation. Determined to get my students to think a little deeper, I have them work in pairs to paraphrase the literal meaning of the imagery in Langston Hughes’s poem Harlem. I then model for them the what analysis and interpretation looks like in comparison. Because the learning objectives are specifically set around textual evidence, I only give a few points of historical context.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

We take the notes into a foldable that separates the poem’s pieces of imagery so the students can focus on them one at a time. They think-pair-share to paraphrase each piece of imagery and then compare it to the rest of the class’s efforts and then to the PowerPoint. With a more able group of students, they could try to interpret each piece of imagery before comparing it to the PowerPoint. With a less experienced group of literary analysts, we will take the notes directly into our foldables while discussing each one.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Students next use the P.E.E.L. format to answer the directed writing question, incorporating textual evidence and interpreting that textual evidence to go beyond literal restatements of quotes. It’s not an immediate fix, but the students keep their foldable in their binders for reference, and the depth of their analysis is making quicker improvements.

The post Interpreting Imagery with Harlem by Langston Hughes appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

The Sniper: Writing for Pacing

Lauren Crowley — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 07:08:55 +0000

The Sniper, by Liam O’Flaherty, is a great short story to teach the basic elements of a story, including setting, climax, resolution, and plot twist. I also find it an excellent story to introduce students to the idea of pacing. The writing objective for this story and lesson is to use mentor sentences to write compound or complex sentences for description, and to use shorter, declarative sentences for action sequence.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

We read the story together out loud either as a whole group, or in smaller groups. I encourage students to use punctuation to guide them on how to read the story for fluency. The reading handout and PowerPoint has essential vocabulary for comprehension, pre-reading discussion questions to build background and historical context, and post-reading comprehension questions.

Students then use mentor sentences to construct their own sentences of varied lengths. Then they move on to a flash fiction activity where they need to be mindful of the intention behind each sentence, and choose the length accordingly. The flash fiction activity can be as short or as workshopped as time allows, as either a quick paragraph exit ticket, or a longer extension activity.

[insert_php]
// INSTRUCTIONS: array(“url”,”title”,”type”,”size”),
// AND only the last array() line does NOT have a comma at the end
$downloads = array(
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Sniper.pptx”,”Download The Sniper”,”pptx”,”4mb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Sniper.pdf”,”Download short story and reading companion”,”pdf”,”363kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Sniper.docx”,”Download short story and reading companion”,”docx”,”18kb”)
);
insertDownloads($downloads);
[/insert_php]

The post The Sniper: Writing for Pacing appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Of Mice and Men Unit Reading Packet and Activities

Lauren Crowley — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 13:43:26 +0000

Of Mice and Men is one novel that I have had consistent success teaching to students of many different backgrounds. I’ve taught this book to ELLs, struggling readers, gifted readers, reluctant readers; it’s one of my favorites. Students are able to grasp the symbolism, over-arching allegory, and get really invested in the story.

The most challenging aspect is that when this novel is commonly taught, most students have not completed U.S. history and have a pretty vague understanding of The Great Depression. As a pre-reading activity, I put students into groups and have them read an informational article about the era and either present an oral summary, or make a poster for a gallery walk.

The summative assessment of the unit is an essay requiring students compare the social stratification so apparent in the novel to our current society. I ask students to provide specific examples from current events to support their claims. This year, we discussed BLM, the Women’s March, marketing of products to extend youth and beauty, assisted suicide and other issues that parallel to the novel.

Included in the packet:

Pre-reading texts to build background and historical context of the time period
Vocabulary charts for pre-teaching key words
Chapter reading questions that include comprehension questions, interpretation questions, and a written response requiring textual evidence
Character graphic organizer
Dialect decoder for reference
Summative assessment prompt and rubric
Cover page in case you want to bind it all into a packet

Here’s an example of Chapter 1 reading questions:

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

[insert_php]
// INSTRUCTIONS: array(“url”,”title”,”type”,”size”),
// AND only the last array() line does NOT have a comma at the end
$downloads = array(
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/omam-pdf.zip”,”Download all documents as PDF”,”zip”,”2mb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/omam-msword.zip”,”Download all documents as MSWord”,”zip”,”6mb”)
);
insertDownloads($downloads);
[/insert_php]

I’ve also had pretty good success with the movie adaptation, even though it’s from 1992. With some classes, I’ve had students enjoy the movie Cool Hand Luke; however, I’ve never had students write an essay analyzing and comparing the two stories. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try, and when I do, I’ll share the results!

The post Of Mice and Men Unit Reading Packet and Activities appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Shakespeare Vocabulary Bingo

Lauren Crowley — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 08:04:08 +0000

At the start of a Shakespeare unit, I like to start with some easy games to assuage the fears of some intimidated students. To familiarize them with common, high-frequency Shakespeare vocab, we play a little Lingo-Bingo!

To play, students receive a (1) blank Bingo board and a (2) list of word to cut and glue randomly onto the board (randomly needs to be reiterated to some students or they will put them in order, and a few will end up with identical boards).

There is a (3) list of modern words for the teacher to cut up and put into a sac to be pulled out at random, as well as a (4) chart of translations for reference.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

[insert_php]
// INSTRUCTIONS: array(“url”,”title”,”type”,”size”),
// AND only the last array() line does NOT have a comma at the end
$downloads = array(
array(“”,”AS WORD”,””,””),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/shakespeare-lingo-bingo.pdf”,”(1) Download the blank Lingo-Bingo board”,”pdf”,”187kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cuttable-lingo-2.pdf”,”(2) Download Shakespeare vocab to glue onto Bingo board”,”pdf”,”245kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/bingo-clues-1.pdf”,”(3) Download cuttable Bingo clues”,”pdf”,”165kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/lingo-translator-1.pdf”,”(4) Download translation chart”,”pdf”,”327kb”),
array(“”,”OR PDF”,””,””),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/shakespeare-lingo-bingo.docx”,”(1) Download the blank Lingo-Bingo board”,”docx”,”51kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cuttable-lingo-2.docx”,”(2) Download Shakespeare vocab to glue onto Bingo board”,”docx”,”14kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/bingo-clues-1.docx”,”(3) Download cuttable Bingo clues”,”docx”,”12kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/lingo-translator-1.docx”,”(4) Download translation chart”,”docx”,”15kb”)
);
insertDownloads($downloads);
[/insert_php]

The post Shakespeare Vocabulary Bingo appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

To Build A Fire by Jack London

Lauren Crowley — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 08:58:45 +0000

Below is a PowerPoint I use when teaching the popular story, To Build A Fire, by Jack London. I use this story to teach characterization and character development, and how they are established by the author’s use of a particular point of view or perspective. Students are asked to consider how the dog, equally as important a character as the man, is used to reveal aspects about the man’s character.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

* A fun extension activity I have done with students, especially students who live in hot climates, is to ask them to write their name or tie their shoes with their fingers taped together, to illustrate the debilitating effects of frostbite.

The post To Build A Fire by Jack London appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Gothic Horror Complete Unit

Lauren Crowley — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 13:42:34 +0000

Here is a Gothic Horror unit I use with middle schoolers, although the language in these antiquated texts is complex enough that it could be done with high school students as well. This unit can take between 4 and 6 weeks, depending how much is done for homework. Throughout the unit, we read excerpts form The Castle of Ontranto, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Red Room, Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

We begin by analyzing the historical context of the genre, as well as identifying common Gothic Horror motifs. We focus heavily on identifying and interpreting uses of imagery, and using mentor sentences to write descriptively. To hit on some grammar objectives, we also use the mentor sentences to expand simple sentences into compound and complex sentences, with a focus on punctuating simple, compound, and complex sentence accurately.

As a summative assessment, students workshop their own creative writing piece inspired by Gothic Horror to showcase what they have learned about the motifs and conventions of the genre.

[insert_php]
// INSTRUCTIONS: array(“url”,”title”,”type”,”size”),
// AND only the last array() line does NOT have a comma at the end
$downloads = array(
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/gothic-horror-unit-plan-1.xlsx”,”Download the Gothic Horror unit plan”,”xlsx”,”12kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Gothic-Horror.pptx”,”Download PowerPoint introduction to Gothic Horror genre”,”pptx”,”3mb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/5-petal-foldable.docx”,”Download Word doc of 5 petal foldable for imagery resource definitions”,”docx”,”21kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Excerpt-from-The-Castle-of-Otranto.pdf”,”Download PDF excerpt of The Castle of Otranto“,”pdf”,”188kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The-Tell-Tale-Heart-1.pdf”,”Download PDF excerpt of The Tell-Tale Heart“,”pdf”,”112kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The-Red-Room.pdf”,”Download PDF excerpt of The Red Room“,”pdf”,”241kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/frankenstein.pdf”,”Download PDF excerpt of Frankenstein“,”pdf”,”265kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Excerpt-from-Dracula.pdf”,”Download PDF excerpt of Dracula“,”pdf”,”193kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Two-Excerpts-from-The-Legend-of-Sleepy-Hollow.pdf”,”Download PDF excerpt of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow“,”pdf”,”295kb”)
);
insertDownloads($downloads);
[/insert_php]

*Note: Many of these 18th and 19th century texts have copious sophisticated vocabulary, so if you plan to have students reading these texts independently, try this handout for reading for vocabulary.

The post Gothic Horror Complete Unit appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

Lauren Crowley — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 14:27:19 +0000

Below is a PowerPoint and vocabulary organizer I use when teaching Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter, usually as part of a larger short story unit. It’s a great model text for showcasing plot twist, irony, and characterization.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

The post Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Hills Like White Elephants: Teaching Subtext

Lauren Crowley — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 16:35:06 +0000

Hills Like White Elephants is almost a perfect a story to show, as well as teach, students about sub-text and language vs. communication. Below is a lined version of the story and a PowerPoint that breaks down the text, context and subtext of the story.

Extension* If I’m using this as a model text in a creative writing unit, I ask students to try to write a short dialogue with a partner that asks the reader to make inferences to determine a specific subtext, and then the rest of the class, or other members of a group, have to guess.

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

The post Hills Like White Elephants: Teaching Subtext appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Literature Archives - The Teachers' Library

Sympathy and Caged Bird by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Maya Angelou

Teaching Personification with ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’

Interpreting Imagery with Harlem by Langston Hughes

The Sniper: Writing for Pacing

Of Mice and Men Unit Reading Packet and Activities

Pre-reading texts to build background and historical context of the time period

Vocabulary charts for pre-teaching key words

Chapter reading questions that include comprehension questions, interpretation questions, and a written response requiring textual evidence

Character graphic organizer

Dialect decoder for reference

Summative assessment prompt and rubric

Cover page in case you want to bind it all into a packet

Shakespeare Vocabulary Bingo

To Build A Fire by Jack London

Gothic Horror Complete Unit

Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

Hills Like White Elephants: Teaching Subtext