English I

Martin Luther's Reformation in Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The setting of Victor Hugo's novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the fifteenth century, the transitional period between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance/Reformation era. This era ushers in the period known as the modern age and historical events are chronicled through Hugo's novel. Hugo sets The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the decline of feudalism and the infancy of absolutism through Louis XI (Spider King), the rise of a urban middle class and the beginnings of commerce as it is known today. Primarily this novel satirizes the Catholic Church's absolute power -- its abuses, and its excesses. Students will discover how Hugo's satire operates to show the Catholic Church's abuse of power during the late Middle Ages and the early Reformation in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Nancy Webber.

Introduction to Animal Farm

This lesson introduces students to Orwell's Animal Farm. They will summarize and reflect on reading and connect the novel to life in a meaningful way.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)

By Mary Lou Faircloth.

Futuristic airplane and the blind landing

A lesson plan, divided into two exercises, that teaches students techniques for communicating and observing both detail and directions using written, oral, and visual sources.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

By Elaine Cox.

Cause and effect writing: What it looks like and who reads it

Students examine the causes and effects presented in a brochure called “Ozone: The Good and the Bad.” They also examine the language of the brochure with regard to audience appropriateness. Students then write their own brochures examine their classmates' brochures for cause and effect and for audience appropriateness.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)

By Michelle Roberts.

Resources on the web

Magazine redux: An exercise in critical literacy

This lesson prompts students to act as critical readers as they consider how and why their approach and experiences differ when reading an online version versus a print version of a magazine. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–11 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Building Vietnam War scavenger hunts through web-based inquiry

This lesson uses fiction or nonfiction books on the Vietnam War as a catalyst for research on how the war affected different groups of people. Once small groups are formed based on student interest, the teacher models how to write effective questions and... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Computer/Technology Skills, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Audio broadcasts and podcasts: Oral storytelling and dramatization

After exploring the historical information surrounding Welles’ famous broadcast, War of the Worlds, students create criteria for effective audio dramatizations and then compose their own production of a group-selected scene... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–11 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink