English II

Colors and Symbols of Stigmatization

This lesson is an introduction to the reading of NIGHT by Elie Wiesel, which students will read independently. The students will do research to discover the different colors and symbols used to symbolize the Nazi party's list of undesirable people. The students will gain an understanding of how other people can arbitrarily judge other people as inferior.

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

By Sandra Hurd and Wilma Gale.

Examining effective openers and closures in writings

Students will listen to a reading of Dr. Seuss' and Jack Prelutsky's Hooray for Difendoofer Day! Students will then work cooperatively to edit one another's rough drafts of analytical essay, focusing on openers and closures.

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

By Heather Bower and Michele Hicks.

Focus in Writing

This brief lesson will help students recognize when a paragraph loses focus and will help them understand the concept of focus.

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

By Peter Bobbe.

Looking Back - An Art/English/History Interdisciplinary unit

This is an interdisciplinary unit that incorporates research of historical events of the past century. By students learning to recognize that society impacts the themes within art and literature, students then take this knowledge base and interview an individual to develop a biographical narrative, a collage, and oral presentation.

The lesson can be modified to take two weeks or longer. Some of the activites are designed for long-term assignments.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts, Visual Arts Education, and Social Studies)

By Julie Osmon.

Making a Video Critique of an Information Source

After finishing their social issues research paper for their English class (or any other type of research paper), students will write and present orally a critique of one information source used in their research papers. Students will work in pairs to videotape each other, and they must also design appropriate backdrops for their oral presentations. Students will watch and evaluate all critiques.

This interdisciplinary assignment combines information skills and language arts skills, and requires collaboration between the media specialist and the English teacher.

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

By Bonnie Snyder.

Marketing Song of Roland--the Movie

This enrichment and review lesson ties the French epic poem Song of Roland to workforce development marketing skills. It allows students to imagine themselves as entrepreneurs engaged in marketing schemes for Song of Roland--the Movie as they read the epic in English world literature class.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–12 and English Language Arts)

By Betty Eidenier.

Lesson plans on the web

Analyzing symbolism, plot, and theme in Death and the Miser

In this lesson, students apply analytical skills to an exploration of the early Renaissance painting Death and the Miser by Hieronymous Bosch. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

A Biography Study: Using Role-Play to Explore Authors' Lives

In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students select American authors to research. They create timelines and biopoems about their authors and then collaborate in teams to design and present a panel presentation where they role-play their authors. The final project requires each student to synthesize information about his or her author in an essay that will be posted online at the U.S. Literary Map Project website. Extension activities include writing a formal research paper and reading other works by the selected authors.

(Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Censorship in the classroom: Understanding controversial issues

In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students examine propaganda and media bias and explore a variety of banned and challenged books, researching the reasons these books have been censored. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

Provider: 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)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Dramatizing History in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"

Students examine some of Arthur Miller's historical sources and read a summary of the historical events in Salem. (Learn more)

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

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

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)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Ghosts and fear in language arts: Exploring the ways writers scare readers

Students investigate what it is that is so fascinating about scary stories. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Gods, heroes, and other celebrated Greeks

This lesson, one of a multi-part unit from ARTSEDGE, is designed to help students shape a frame of reference for examining specific areas of ancient Greek influence on Western thought and culture. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 Visual Arts Education, Social Studies, and English Language Arts)

Provider: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Happily ever after? Exploring character, conflict, and plot in dramatic tragedy

Students pick a turning point of a tragedy and show how the action of the play would have been significantly altered had a different decision been made or a different action taken. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Holocaust and resistance

Students reflect on the Holocaust from the point of view of those who actively resisted Nazi persecution. (Learn more)

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

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

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)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Propaganda techniques in literature and online political ads

This lesson suggests using Aldous Huxley's Brave New World to introduce students to propaganda techniques used in literature and popular culture. This short unit would be appropriate to use with various novels and when discussing advertising campaigns used in government elections. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 10–12 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

So what do you think? Writing a review

After examining samples of movie, music, restaurant, and book reviews, students devise guidelines for writing interesting and informative reviews. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Using student-centered comprehension strategies with Elie Wiesel's "Night"

Working in small groups, students use reciprocal teaching strategies as they read and discuss Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE