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.
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this plot-based quiz covering the classic fairy tale “The Golden Goose” by the Brothers Grimm. The assessment may double as a guided reading worksheet to facilitate active engagement with the text. An answer key and copy of the short story are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following aspects of plot:
The family’s treatment of Dullhead
Why the brothers go into the woods
How Dullhead’s experience in the woods differs from his brothers’
How Dullhead acquires a golden goose
What happens to those who touch the golden goose
The general demeanor of the princess
The conditions under which the king will allow a man to marry his daughter
The range of tasks the king gives Dullhead
The resolution
Help high school Creative Writing students better understand the conventions of the fairy tale genre and prepare for the drafting of modified fairy tales with this comprehensive, low-prep, standards-aligned unit plan. All supporting materials are provided in both Word Document and PDF formats. More specifically, the following are included:
A detailed, standards-based unit plan articulating the unit’s transfer goal(s), essential question(s), enduring understanding(s), learning target(s), academic vocabulary, formative assessment(s), summative performance task(s), and learning plan(s).
A PowerPoint addressing the conventions of the fairy tale genre.
Representative narratives by the Brothers Grimm for analysis with supplemental worksheets.
Detailed directions.
A student exemplar for reference.
A comprehensive outline for student planning.
A document to facilitate the editing process.
A comprehensive rubric for evaluating student writing.
Save time without sacrificing rigor in the high school Creative Writing classroom with this Common Core-aligned unit plan and these comprehensive materials for engaging students fully in the narrative writing process. Included are the following:
♦ A detailed, standards-based unit plan articulating the unit’s transfer goal(s), essential question(s), enduring understanding(s), learning target(s), academic vocabulary, formative assessment(s), summative performance task(s), and learning plan(s).
♦ A PowerPoint presentation addressing the conventions of Gothic literature.
♦ A formative research activity designed to build student knowledge in regard to the historical context of Halloween
♦ Representative Gothic narratives by Edgar Allan Poe (“The Black Cat”), H.P. Lovecraft (“The Outsider”), and W. W. Jacobs (“The Monkey’s Paw”).
♦ Worksheets to facilitate analysis of representative literature.
♦ Detailed directions.
♦ A comprehensive outline for student planning.
♦ A document to facilitate the editing process.
♦ A comprehensive rubric for evaluating student writing.
With these materials, students will do the following:
♦ Develop greater understanding of the conventions of Gothic literature and the horror genre.
♦ Analyze how famous authors of Gothic literature used characterization, description, and various literary devices that are consistent with the horror genre. The featured texts are Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat,” H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Outsider,” and W. W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw.”
♦ Conduct brief research on aspects of Halloween’s history and synthesize knowledge gained to draft an original narrative consistent with the conventions of horror writing.
♦ Organize initial ideas in a coherent manner.
♦ Engage the reader with a compelling exposition that establishes an eerie setting.
♦ Use many appropriate narrative techniques (dialogue, dialect, description, pacing, etc.) to enhance plot.
♦ Draft a coherent, cohesive, and appropriate narrative that builds toward a particular tone and outcome (a sense of mystery, suspense, etc.)
♦ Use precise words and phrases, active verbs, and sensory language to convey a compelling story
♦ Draft an unrushed conclusion that resolves conflicts and implies a theme
♦ Show mastery of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
Help high school Creative Writing students better understand the conventions of adventure fiction and prepare for the drafting of original short stories with this comprehensive, low-prep, standards-aligned unit plan. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. Included are the following:
A detailed, standards-based unit plan articulating the unit’s transfer goal(s), essential question(s), enduring understanding(s), learning target(s), academic vocabulary, formative assessment(s), summative performance task(s), and learning plan(s).
Representative adventure fiction narratives by Jack London (“To Build a Fire”), Richard Connell (“The Most Dangerous Game”), and H.P. Lovecraft (“The Beast in the Cave”).
Worksheets to facilitate analysis of representative literature.
Detailed directions.
Suggested prompts for students who struggle to generate their own ideas
A comprehensive outline for student planning.
A document to facilitate the editing process.
A comprehensive rubric for evaluating student writing.
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “The Golden Goose” by the Brothers Grimm. The brevity of the narrative and the nature of the learning targets help teachers fill awkward gaps in schedules without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key and copy of the fairy tale are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of 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
Compare two groups of characters
Apply knowledge of literary devices including sibilance and situational irony
Generate a relevant theme
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
Evaluate general reading comprehension, facilitate vocabulary development, and sharpen critical thinking skills with this bundle of materials for teaching the classic Grimm’s fairy tale “The Golden Goose.” A plot-based quiz, a close reading worksheet, vocabulary application activity, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with these materials, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Infer the intended effects of the author’s stylistic choices and narrative techniques
Describe tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Compare two groups of characters
Apply knowledge of literary devices including sibilance and situational irony
Generate a relevant theme
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
Evaluate general reading comprehension, facilitate vocabulary development, and sharpen critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this bundle of formative assessments covering Algernon Blackwood’s “The Woman’s Ghost Story,” a narrative of special appeal to high school students interested in Halloween, supernatural fiction, and the paranormal realm. A plot-based quiz, a close reading worksheet, vocabulary application activity, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, the short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By engaging with these materials, students will perform the following tasks:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Demonstrate knowledge of the conventions of Dark Romanticism
Consider the effects of the author’s language and narrative techniques
Determine the purpose of a given passage
Discern tone in context
Examine how characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices with an emphasis on simile, metaphor, imagery, hyperbole, foreshadowing, personification, epiphany, and more
Conduct brief online research on women’s rights in the context of England in the early 1900s
Explore themes in context
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Gothic fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Looking for high school ghost story activities for the Halloween season? Looking for a text to pair with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, or similar authors? Use this set of games and activities covering Algernon Blackwood’s “The Woman’s Ghost Story” to support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension. Answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: affect, aghast, ajar, alter, assert, beget, beseech, dingy, earnestness, ebb, grimace, humbug, hypochondriasis, intangible, misanthrope, pluck, preliminary, prolix, rogue, and weary.
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 classic Grimm’s fairy tale “The Golden Goose.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: apt, arresting, benevolently, berate, beseech, bestow, brazen, brusquely, countenance, dejected, disconsolate, emaciated, emphatically, hasten, immense, lethargically, noisome, parched, perpetually, prudently, reign, sneer, toothsome, vexed, voraciously, and zealously.
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 Act 5 of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abate, beset, besmear, bestow, cackle, cherubin, cuckold, feign, hark, hymn, immortal, infinitely, paltry, perchance, posy, prate, quarrel, quire, unthrift, vehement, vesture, whom, and 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
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Act 2 of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abode, allay, amorous, barbarous, base, beshrew, clamber, cozen, cudgel, foppery, gormandise, haste, immure, misconstrue, ostent, prey, proverb, renowned, reproach, sirrah, stern, tedious, valiant, and wherefore.
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 Act 4 of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: alter, beseech, commend, confiscate, contrive, deed, entreat, heartily, infidel, jot, keen, malice, mitigate, penance, perjury, precedent, predicament, principal, recant, salvation, tarry, temporal, tender, and thine.
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 Act 3 of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: accoutred, aloof, amity, bleared, carrion, counsel, cunning, cur, forbear, fourscore, fray, gaoler, gaudy, gratis, mar, peize, presage, prolixity, repent, shudder, summon, sunder, and wont.
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
Use this set of rigorous questions to help high school learners extend beyond general reading comprehension and develop close reading analysis skills while engaging with The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. This resource specifically covers Act 1, scene 3. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats. By engaging with this close reading activity, students will:
Articulate and analyze what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Discern the meaning of complex words and phrases in context
Apply knowledge of literary devices
Articulate how a biblical story applies to the plot of the play
Discern the primary function of a particular excerpt
Articulate what Antonio’s behavior reflects about his mindset
Analyze Shylock’s characterization to articulate the complicated relationship the audience has with his character
Identify the most relevant textual evidence in support of claims
Write with clarity and precision
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 Merchant of Venice. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the intended effects of the Shakespeare’s word choices and narrative techniques
Determine the primary function of a given excerpt
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including figurative language 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 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 2, of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the intended effects of the Shakespeare’s word choices and narrative techniques
Describe tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Compare and contrast two characters
Apply knowledge of literary devices including 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 dramatic works
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this plot-based quiz covering Act 1 of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. The assessment may double as a guided reading worksheet to facilitate active engagement with Shakespeare’s drama. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Antonio’s lack of awareness in terms of the cause of his sadness
Why Salerio and Solanio think Antonio is unsettled
Salerio’s stated belief concerning human emotions
Gratiano’s thoughts on sad men
Bassanio’s motive for needing money
Antonio’s generosity
Why Portia is sad, according to Nerissa
The condition under which Portia is allowed to marry
Nerissa’s role in Portia’s life
Shylock’s profession
The quality that most distinguishes Shylock
The reason for Shylock’s resentment toward Antonio
Shylock’s deal with Antonio
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Act 1 of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: argosy, bechance, conjure, decree, ducat, estimable, gaberdine, grandsire, knave, melancholy, mirth, mutton, peevish, prodigal, requite, reverence, rheum, shrive, signior, spurn, superfluity, thrice, usance, and wooer.
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
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 5, of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the intended effects of the Shakespeare’s word choices and narrative techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of various literary devices including euphemism and allusion
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 Merchant of Venice. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the intended effects of the Shakespeare’s word choices and narrative techniques
Describe tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of various literary devices with emphasis on situational irony and pun
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