Evaluate general reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this bundle of formative assessments covering Act 4 of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A plot-based quiz, two close reading worksheets (one per scene), a vocabulary application activity, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with these materials, students will: Read for literal comprehension Determine the meanings of unfamiliar and archaic 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 Infer the intended effects of the author’s stylistic choices and dramatic techniques Describe tone in context Explore how complex characters think, behave, develop, and interact Apply knowledge of literary devices with emphasis on dramatic irony, 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 dramatic works

Evaluate general reading comprehension, facilitate vocabulary development, and sharpen critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this bundle of activities for teaching the short story “The Outsider” by H.P. Lovecraft. A plot-based quiz, a close reading worksheet, a craft analysis exercise, a vocabulary application activity, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By engaging with these materials, students will: Read for literal comprehension Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Determine the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques Describe tone in context Determine the function of a given passage Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Apply knowledge of literary devices including allusion, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, hyperbole, personification, situational irony, symbolism, and more Consider themes in context 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

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