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 craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 5, scene 3, of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern 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 with emphasis on foreshadowing, situational irony, and symbolism
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 Shakespearean drama
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 5, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Discern 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
Apply knowledge of literary devices including foreshadowing and situational 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 Shakespearean drama
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 4, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
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
This bundle of 20 assessments promotes analytical thinking, measures and extends reading comprehension, and offers flexibility of choice to differentiate and satisfy the academic needs of students of varying proficiency levels in classroom and distance learning settings. Included are close reading activities, answer keys, and copies of public domain texts. Short story selections include the following:
“Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin *
“Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell *
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe *
“The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving *
“The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield *
“The New Dress” by Virginia Woolf *
“The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane *
“The Open Window” by Saki *
“The Oval Portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe *
“A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett *
“After Twenty Years” by O. Henry *
“The Businessman” by Edgar Allan Poe *
“The Legend of the Christmas Rose” by Selma Lagerlof *
“The Old Tombstone” by Hans Christian Andersen *
“The Wind Blows” by Katherine Mansfield *
“The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen *
“The Stolen Farthings” by the Brothers Grimm *
“Slave on the Block” by Langston Hughes
“The Wives of the Dead” by Nathaniel Hawthorne *
“The Sparrow and His Four Children” by the Brothers Grimm *
(* denotes a public domain text)
By completing these analysis exercises, students will demonstrate the following high-order skills:
An ability to apply knowledge of more complex literary devices to the texts including foreshadowing, situational irony, dramatic irony, hyperbole, personification, metaphor, symbolism, theme, and more
An ability to analyze context clues and draw logical inferences about character motivations and other elements of plot
An ability to discern and articulate details that illustrate contrasts between characters
An ability to define complex words by taking into consideration denotative definitions, connotative definitions, and context clues
An ability to find and articulate relevant textual details in support of claims
An ability to discern mood and tone in context
An ability to discern author’s intent
An ability to conduct brief research and articulate historical and autobiographical parallels
An ability to analyze text structures
An ability to analyze text to determine the function of an excerpt
An ability to analyze a text for how it conforms to the conventions of a particular genre
An ability to establish formal tone, paying attention to conventions of written English
An ability to take leadership in class discussions, addressing nuances in the author’s craft to help peers understand literature from different perspectives
This formative grammar worksheet reviews the basics of common and irregular adverbs that compare. Featuring 45 opportunities to apply knowledge of comparative and superlative adverbs, this resource is recommended for middle and high school students enrolled in composition classes emphasizing rudimentary writing skills. An answer key is included.
This formative grammar worksheet reviews the basics of common and irregular adjectives that compare. Featuring 50 opportunities to apply knowledge of comparative and superlative adjectives, this resource is recommended for middle and high school students enrolled in composition classes emphasizing rudimentary writing skills. An answer key is included.
Reinforce the standard conventions of academic writing and perform a quick check of students’ knowledge with this grammar worksheet on simple and compound subjects and predicates. Delivered in printable Word Document format, as well as in PDF format, this resource conveniently offers the option to edit. An answer key is provided.
Reinforce the standard conventions of academic writing and perform a quick check of students’ knowledge with this grammar worksheet on pronoun-antecedent agreement. Delivered in printable Word Document format, as well as in PDF format, this resource conveniently offers the option to edit. An answer key is provided. By engaging with this resource, students will demonstrate an ability to:
Use a singular pronoun to refer to anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, none, nothing, one, somebody, someone, or something
Use a plural pronoun to refer to both, few, many, or several
Discern whether to use an indefinite pronoun such as all, any, more, most, none, and some is singular or plural in context
Use a singular pronoun to refer to two or more singular antecedents joined by or or nor
Use a plural pronoun to refer to two or more antecedents joined by and
Recognize that a collective noun is singular when it refers to the group as a collective unit
Recognize that a collective noun is plural when it refers to the individual members of a group
Discern whether to use the pronoun each other or one another in context
Use this editable grammar activity to help middle and high school students reinforce the basics of conjugating verbs so their forms match their compound subjects correctly. To facilitate the process, the worksheet includes tips for discerning whether a compound subject is considered singular and plural. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By engaging with this grammar exercise, students will:
Demonstrate awareness of the definition of compound subject
Choose plural verb forms when multiple subjects are combined with the conjunction and
Navigate situations in which multiple subjects are combined with or, either…or, and neither…nor
This formative grammar packet reviews the basics of singular and plural indefinite pronouns and matching them with appropriate verb forms in context. This resource is recommended for middle and high school students enrolled in composition classes emphasizing rudimentary writing skills. An answer key is included.
Reinforce the standard conventions of academic writing and perform a quick check of knowledge with this grammar worksheet designed to help students understand how context influences word choices. Delivered in printable Word Document format, as well as in PDF format, this resource conveniently offers the option to edit. An answer key is provided.
Use this editable grammar activity to help middle and high school students apply knowledge of demonstrative and interrogative pronouns. To facilitate this process, the editable worksheet offers tips on when to use specific demonstratives over interrogatives, and vice versa. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By engaging with this grammar exercise, students will demonstrate knowledge of the following rules:
Use the demonstrative pronoun this to indicate a single person or object that is near in space or time
Use the demonstrative pronoun these to indicate multiple people or objects that are near in space or time
Use the demonstrative pronoun that to indicate a single person or object that is far away in space or time
Use the demonstrative pronoun those to indicate multiple people or objects that are near in space or time
Use the interrogative pronoun who to ask questions about a person performing an action
Use the interrogative pronoun whom to ask questions about a person on the receiving end of an action
Use the interrogative pronoun whose to ask questions about a person in possession of something
Use the interrogative pronoun which to ask for identification of a specific person or thing in a group
Use the interrogative pronoun what to ask open-ended questions about non-specific things
Reinforce the standard conventions of academic writing and perform a quick check of students’ knowledge with this grammar worksheet on apostrophe usage. Two versions of this activity are provided, including a multiple choice option to expedite take-home grading. Answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats. By completing this activity, students will demonstrate an ability to:
Indicate possession with a singular or plural common noun
Indicate possession with a singular or plural proper noun
Indicate possession with regular and irregular nouns
Indicate possession with singular and plural compound nouns
Indicate possession with a last name ending with s
Indicate possession with phrases including two names
Indicate the omission of letters and form contractions
Punctuate possessive adjectives
Refrain from inserting apostrophes into personal pronouns
And more
Use this editable grammar activity to help middle and high school students review the basics of singular and plural possessive pronouns. To facilitate this process, the worksheet offers tips on when possessive pronouns should precede nouns and when they may stand alone. Additionally, tips are provided for how to navigate possessive pronouns when addressing animals. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
Reinforce the standard conventions of academic writing and perform a quick check of students’ knowledge with this grammar worksheet on mains verbs and helping verbs. Students will practice identifying main and helping verbs while navigating the fact that they may be separated by words that are not verbs. Two versions of this activity are provided, including a multiple choice option to expedite the grading process. Answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats.
Reinforce the standard conventions of academic writing and perform a quick check of students’ knowledge with this grammar worksheet on the three types of verbals: gerunds, participles, and infinitives. Delivered in printable Word Document format, as well as in PDF format, this resource conveniently offers the option to edit. An answer key is provided.
Reinforce the standard conventions of academic writing and perform a quick check of students’ knowledge with this grammar worksheet on distinguishing transitive verbs from intransitive verbs. Delivered in printable Word Document format, as well as in PDF format, this resource conveniently offers the option to edit. An answer key is provided.
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking skills with this close reading analysis worksheet covering Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Wives of the Dead,” a piece addressing themes of grief and illusion. An answer key and copy of the public domain narrative are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly.
Students will perform the following tasks:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Discern the narrative’s point of view
Describe tone in context
Examine how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Compare and contrast the protagonists
Apply knowledge of literary devices including allusion, ambiguity, dramatic irony, and situational irony
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Support the development of high school close reading skills with this assessment on the short story “The Legend of the Christmas Rose” by Selma Lagerlöf. A variety of question types facilitates the process of analyzing character motivations, applying knowledge of literary devices, citing relevant and compelling textual evidence to support claims, and more. The resource is delivered in Word Doc and PDF formats. An answer key and copy of the public domain text are included.
By engaging in this exercise, students will…
Articulate what is stated in the text explicitly and implicitly
Identify setting
Analyze how complex characters think, interact, and behave
Analyze the dynamic transformation of a character
Articulate an internal conflict in context
Cite textual evidence in support of claims
Write with clarity and precision
Explore character motivations and intentions
Apply knowledge of literary devices including situational irony and symbolism
Analyze the author’s craft to discern how the author conveys the immediacy and intensity of the forest’s transformation
Conduct brief research to articulate historical parallels
Explore cause-and-effect relationships
Define complex words and phrases in context
Support the development of high school and college close reading skills with this assessment on the allegory titled “The Island of the Fay” by Edgar Allan Poe. A variety of question types facilitates the process of analyzing the author’s craft, applying knowledge of literary devices, making logical inferences about author’s intent, citing relevant and compelling textual evidence to support claims, and more. The resource is delivered in Word Doc and PDF formats. An answer key and copy of the public domain text are included.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students, ultimately, will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
By engaging in this exercise, students will…
Articulate what is stated in the text explicitly and implicitly
Analyze how the author uses figurative language and direct description to give the impression that Nature is a living force
Apply knowledge of various literary devices including oxymoron, metaphor, symbolism, and personification
Compare and contrast two regions of the island
Analyze the author’s craft to articulate how Poe evokes the concept of death in a given excerpt
Define complex words and phrases in context
Make logical inferences about the author’s mindset in the context of his allegory
Cite textual evidence in support of inferences and claims
Write with clarity and precision
