English I

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

Literary parodies: Exploring a writer's style through imitation

In this lesson, students analyze the features of a poet's work and then create their own poems based on the original model. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Is a sentence a poem?

In this lesson, students analyze syntax, imagery, and meaning in a chosen one-sentence poem to decide what makes it a poem. Then students write one-sentence poems describing a picture. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Investigating names to explore personal history and cultural traditions

In this lesson, students investigate the meanings and origins of their own names in order to establish their own personal histories and to explore the cultural significance of naming traditions. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Identifying and understanding the fallacies used in advertising

Students examine the fallacies that they encounter daily through exposure to advertising. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Id, ego, and superego in Dr. Seuss's “Cat in the Hat”

In this lesson, students explore plot, theme, characterization, and psychoanalytical criticism using The Cat in the Hat. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Focus on first lines: Increasing comprehension through prediction strategies

In this lesson, students examine opening sentences in literary works and make predictions about the content of the texts they will read later. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying": Crossing the River

Students consider the symbolism of the river crossing in As I Lay Dying and how Faulkner's use of multiple narrative perspectives relates to the author's thematic concerns. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)

Provided by: National Endowment for the Humanities

Exploring literature through letter writing groups

Working in groups, students will explore a work of literature by exchanging a series of open-ended letters. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Discovering poetic form and structure using concrete poems

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students are introduced to the genre of concrete poetry, and encouraged to explore the relationship between the structure and meaning of a poem. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Discovering a passion for poetry with Langston Hughes

In this lesson, students explore contemporary youth poetry as well as the poetry of Langston Hughes, placing the poems in their historical context. They go on to create their own poems that communicate a personal view on a current world issue. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Decoding the dystopian characteristics of Macintosh's "1984" commercial

Students explore the dystopian characteristics and symbols presented in Macintosh's “1984” commercial and analyze the comments that it makes about contemporary society. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Decoding “The Matrix”: Exploring dystopian characteristics through film

In this lesson, students are introduced to the definition and characteristics of a dystopian work by watching video clips from The Matrix and other dystopian films. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Critical reading: Two stories, two authors, same plot?

This lesson encourages students to read and respond critically to two different pieces of literature with the same title. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Comic makeovers: Examining race, class, ethnicity, and gender in the media

In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students explore representations of race, class, ethnicity, and gender by analyzing comics over a two-week period and then re-envisioning them with a “comic character makeover.” (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

The comic book show and tell

In this brief authentic writing experience, students compose original comic book scripts using detailed, descriptive language and exciting dialogue. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Book report alternative: Characters for hire! Studying character in drama

In this lesson, students create a resume for a character in a play. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Become a character: Adjectives, character traits, and perspective

In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students “become” one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using lists of accurate, powerful adjectives. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Audio listening practices: Exploring personal experiences with audio texts

In this lesson designed to develop students’ involvement with media literacy, students keep a daily diary that records how and when they listen to radio, music (e.g., songs on MP3 players, podcasting), and other streaming media or archived broadcasts. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Analyzing the stylistic choices of political cartoonists

In this lesson, students learn terminology that describes comics and political (or editorial) cartoons and discuss how the cartoonists' choices influence the messages that they communicate. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE