Say hello to a platform dedicated to industrious, yet overtasked teachers like you. Say goodbye to countless hours spent developing relevant and engaging ELA lessons. Whether you are teaching the fundamentals of grammar, creative writing skills, classic literature, or contemporary fiction, you will find thousands of activities and assessments to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance without sacrificing academic rigor.
Say hello to a platform dedicated to industrious, yet overtasked teachers like you. Say goodbye to countless hours spent developing relevant and engaging ELA lessons. Whether you are teaching the fundamentals of grammar, creative writing skills, classic literature, or contemporary fiction, you will find thousands of activities and assessments to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance without sacrificing academic rigor.
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Featuring a brief passage about the Winston’s dreams from Book 1, chapter 3, this activity may be assigned as independent homework or as a collaborative classroom exercise. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading worksheet, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s stylistic choices and narrative techniques
Discern the function of a given passage
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including symbolism, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, and juxtaposition
Activate background knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays in order to convey why Winston says his name as he wakes from his dream
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Featuring a brief passage about the events preceding Hate Week from Book 2, chapter 5, this activity may be assigned as independent homework or as a collaborative classroom exercise. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading worksheet, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s stylistic choices and narrative techniques
Analyze the significance of weather conditions in terms of the Party’s goals for Hate Week
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices with emphasis on simile
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Featuring a brief passage about O’Brien’s explanation of the Brotherhood’s inner-workings from Book 2, chapter 8, this activity may be assigned as independent homework or as a collaborative classroom exercise. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading worksheet, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Compare aspects of the Party’s inner-workings to aspects of the Brotherhood’s inner-workings
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s stylistic choices and narrative techniques
Articulate what this passage reflects about George Orwell’s attitude toward rebellion against dictatorships
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including situational irony
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Featuring a brief passage about Parsons’s pitiful loyalty to the Party from Book 3, chapter 1, this activity may be assigned as independent homework or as a collaborative classroom exercise. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading worksheet, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s stylistic choices and narrative techniques
Determine the function of an excerpt
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including oxymoron and situational irony
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Featuring a brief passage about Winston’s intellectual acceptance of Party ideology from Book 3, chapter 4, this activity may be assigned as independent homework or as a collaborative classroom exercise. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading worksheet, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s stylistic choices and narrative techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including simile
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Engage high school students with a dark fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm: “The Juniper Tree.” With this close reading worksheet, students will go beyond basic reading comprehension and practice their critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills. An answer key is included, as well as a copy of the narrative, which makes a fitting addition to a short story unit for grades 9 through 12, especially during the Halloween season. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the authors’ word choices and narrative techniques
Determine the function of a given passage
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of various literary devices including allusion, black humor, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, onomatopoeia, personification, and more
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss literature
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 1, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Determine the primary function of the scene
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including dramatic irony
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss dramatic works
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 1, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including hyperbole
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss dramatic works
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 3, scene 3, of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Demonstrate knowledge of parts of speech
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Consider tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Conduct brief research on the mythological harpy and analyze what the creature has in common with Ariel
Apply knowledge of literary devices including personification
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss dramatic works
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 3, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Describe tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Contrast two characters (Miranda and Ferdinand)
Apply knowledge of literary devices including personification, situational irony, and dramatic irony
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss dramatic works
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this quiz covering Act 5 of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The quiz may double as a guided reading worksheet to facilitate active engagement with the play. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Miranda and Ferdinand’s actions
Advice given to help Prospero “become tender”
Prospero’s reason for letting his enemies go
A major personal decision made by Prospero
Ariel’s fate
Alonso’s dynamic character
Prospero’s reason for not accusing his enemies of treason
The fate of the shipwrecked crew
Caliban’s promise
Prospero’s storytelling
Ariel’s last act of helping Prospero
Conditions under which Caliban will be freed
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the science fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (chapters 19, 20, and 21). A crossword puzzle, word search activity, vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the science fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (chapters 22, 23, and 24). A crossword puzzle, word search activity, vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (book 1, chapters 6 through 10). A crossword puzzle, word search activity, vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abruptly, acuteness, anguish, blundering, continuous, denounce, desolate, exultant, gloaming, haggard, incongruity, indefatigable, lurid, peril, pitiless, repugnance, serenity, smoldering, tumult, and ultimatum.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Frontload assigned readings with these vocabulary games and activities to facilitate comprehension of Mary Shelley’s science fiction novel Frankenstein, also known as The Modern Prometheus. Alternatively, stash these materials in an emergency sub folder to keep students meaningfully engaged in the book during unexpected teacher absences. Included are eight vocabulary application activities, eight crossword puzzles, eight word search games, answer keys, and the public domain novel. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
A total of 160 challenging words are addressed:
abhorrent, abstruse, acquiesce, adduce, adjuration, adversary, amiable, apathy, apothecary, approbation, arbiter, ardent, arduous, assuage, augury, balmy, barbarous, benefactor, benumbed, beseech, bewildered, brood, chasten, chimera, chivalrous, combustible, conciliate, congeal, conjecture, console, consternation, convalescence, covet, dart, degenerate, delirium, despondent, detrimental, diffuse, dilatory, dirge, disconsolate, dissipate, docile, dogmatic, emaciated, enraptured, entreat, ephemeral, eradicate, erroneous, exculpate, execration, extricate, feeble, fervently, fester, fetter, fidelity, fortitude, fruitless, gesticulation, haggard, hapless, havoc, ignominy, immerse, immutable, impediment, impervious, impetuous, implore, imprudently, incantation, incessantly, indefatigable, indolence, indulge, inexorable, infallible, ingratitude, innumerable, inquisitive, insuperable, insurmountable, interment, invective, irksome, irresolute, irretrievable, keen, lamentation, lassitude, loathsome, malice, minuteness, mortification, obdurate, obliterate, odious, ominous, omnipotent, opaque, pallid, palpable, paroxysm, pensive, persecute, pertinacity, pertinent, pittance, placid, poignant, precipice, precipitous, predilection, procure, profundity, prognosticate, propagate, radiant, rankle, ravenous, reconcile, redress, rejoice, remissness, remonstrate, replete, reproach, retribution, sagacity, salubrious, satiated, scoff, shrill, singular, solitude, stealth, stigma, strife, stupendous, subsist, superfluous, sustenance, timorous, transitory, tremulous, undulation, unhallowed, unsullied, variegated, venerable, verdure, vivacity, waft, wan, withered, woeful, zeal
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Evaluate reading comprehension and embrace the Halloween spirit with this plot-based quiz covering the short story “Graves and Goblins” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The assessment may double as a guided reading handout to facilitate active engagement with supernatural fiction. An answer key and copy of the public domain narrative are included. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
The identity of the narrator
The limitations of the human brain, according to the narrator
The relationship between the spiritual realm and the physical world
The narrator’s philosophy on death
The habits of the narrator during his youth
The backgrounds of several spirits
The effects of mourning on the fates of the dead, according to the narrator
The young maiden’s circumstances
The effect of the young maiden on the narrator
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (book 2, chapters 1 through 5). A crossword puzzle, word search activity, vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: ashen, circumspection, consolation, despondent, dexterous, diminution, domicile, fortnight, gesticulation, implore, ineffectual, instantaneous, keen, lethargic, monotony, multitude, persistence, remonstrance, squeamish, and transitory
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (book 2, chapters 6 through 10). A crossword puzzle, word search activity, vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: brooding, circuitously, clamber, dethronement, dominion, exuberance, fecundity, gluttony, impede, inkling, lackadaisical, languid, melancholy, noisome, persecution, propagation, solitude, totter, unkempt, and vestige.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (book 1, chapters 11 through 17). A crossword puzzle, word search activity, vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: assiduously, dart, diffuse, dismal, dissuade, dubiously, exhort, expostulate, formidable, hoarse, imminent, interminably, palpable, pluckily, ransack, reproach, shabby, smite, tediously, and weariness.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this plot-based quiz covering the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe. The quiz may otherwise double as a guided reading handout to facilitate more active engagement with fiction. An answer key and copy of the public domain narrative are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following aspects of plot:
The narrator’s appreciation of analytical power
Where the narrator had visited
General character details about Dupin
The narrator and Dupin’s shared appreciation for literature
The narrator’s general perception of Dupin
A quick development in the friendship between Dupin and the narrator
The narrator’s fondness for moodiness and isolation
A peculiar quality Dupin seems to have
The details of a newspaper article
The identities of two homicide victims
General character details about Le Bon
Dupin’s conclusions regarding the homicide