English III

"The American Dream"

In conjunction with a unit on Puritanism, students will define and illustrate their personal definition of "The American Dream" or their concept of the dream in general.

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

By Becky Ackert and Deborah Belknap.

"Civil Disobedience" excerpt seminar

This lesson plan is to be used for a seminar on an excerpt of Henry David Thoreau's work, "Civil Disobedience." The plan will follow the Paideia concept to discuss the great ideas of the text. The plan will provide a pre-guide activity, coaching activity, inner circle seminar questions, outer circle questions and a post writing assignment.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Francis Bryant.

Jonathan Edwards and the art of persuasion

In this lesson, students will study the elements of persuasive writing in Jonathan Edward's “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” according to the following criteria: speaker, audience, occasion, and means of persuasion, and then analyze a contemporary piece of writing, such as an advertisement, for similar elements.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11 English Language Arts)

By Dave Guiley.

Thematic and Organizational Patterns in McLaurin's "The Rite Time of Night"

Students will learn to identify and color-code thematic and organizational patterns found in the narrative and then use two-column notetaking to highlight how these patterns helped McLaurin give his story focus and organization. As a suggested follow-up activity, students are given ideas for writing their own narratives, using similar techniques as McLaurin.

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

By Vickie Smith.

Women of the South in a Changing Society

This lesson examines the lives of women in Southern Appalachia and other areas of the south during the Civil War and focuses particular attention on analyzing the historical stereotypes of women of the 19th-century.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11 English Language Arts)

By Cindy Mcpeters and Aletha Aldridge.

Lesson plans on the web

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)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Argument, persuasion, or propaganda? Analyzing World War II posters

In this lesson that can be used in both English and social studies classes, students analyze World War II posters to explore how argument, persuasion, and propaganda differ. (Learn more)

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

Provider: 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)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Broken worlds

This lesson, one of a multi-part unit from ARTSEDGE, provides a variety of options for conducting comparative analysis between two plays. (Learn more)

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

Provider: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Building Vietnam War scavenger hunts through web-based inquiry

After reading a book about the Vietnam War, students, working in small groups, adopt the perspective of members of a group involved in the war (e.g., soldier, nurse, doctor, photojournalist, TV reporter) and conduct Internet research to explore how that particular group was affected. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Copyright infringement or not? The debate over downloading music

In this lesson, students investigate the controversial topic of downloading music from the Internet as part of a persuasive debate unit. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Draft letters: Improving student writing through critical thinking

This lesson challenges students to think critically about their writing on a specific assignment before submitting their work to a reader. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Edgar Allen Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and the unreliable biographers

Students become literary sleuths, attempting to separate biographical reality from myth. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Examining transcendentalism through popular culture

This lesson, presented by ReadWriteThink, examines the elements of transcendentalism and challenges students to find examples of the literary movement in popular culture. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Exploring audience and purpose with a single issue

In this lesson, students explore the rhetorical concept of audience and purpose by focusing on an issue that divided Americans in 1925—the debate of evolution versus creationism raised by the Scopes Monkey Trial. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Exploring satire with The Simpsons

Using the images from the television show, The Simpsons, students explore the elements of satire—exaggeration, incongruity, reversal, and parody. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Exploring the power of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words through diamante poetry

In this lesson, students analyze the power of words while reading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 11 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Families in Bondage

Uses letters written by African Americans in slavery and by free blacks to loved ones still in bondage to give students a glimpse into slavery and its effects on African American family life. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying": Burying Addie's Voice

Students consider the role of Addie Bundren in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, the effect she has on the other characters, and the impact created by Faulkner's use of multiple narrative perspectives on revelation of character and exploration of themes. (Learn more)

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

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

From Friedan forward—considering a feminist perspective

In this lesson that focuses on feminism, students are challenged to think about how opinions develop and change based on such things as age, experience, time, and place. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 11 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE