LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Goal 4

The learner will analyze and critique texts from various perspectives and approaches.

Objective 4.01

Develop critiques that enable an audience to judge claims and arguments by:
-establishing and applying clear, credible criteria for evaluation.
- substantiating assessments with reasons and evidence.

Resources aligned to this objective

The Trial of Hamlet
In this lesson students have the chance to research courtroom procedure to try Hamlet for the murder of Polonius. Then, with some students in the roles of characters from the play, the class will conduct the trial of Shakespeare's most famous anti-hero.
Format: lesson plan (grade 12 English Language Arts)
By Ross White.

Lesson plans on the web

Analyzing character in "Hamlet" through epitaphs
Students compose epitaphs for deceased characters in Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, paying particular attention to how their words appeal to the senses, create imagery, suggest mood, and set tone. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 12 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
From Dr. Seuss to Jonathan Swift: Exploring the history behind the satire
In this lesson, after exploring the historical allusions in Dr. Seuss’s The Butter Battle Book, the whole class discusses the history behind a passage from Gulliver’s Travels. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 12 English Language Arts)
Provider: 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)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
In literature, interpretation is the thing
This lesson challenges students to examine the relationship between the text and a reader’s interpretation. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 12 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Literary scrapbooks online: An electronic reader-response project
This lesson leads students to reflect on and respond to literature by creating an online scrapbook. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Monsters
In this lesson, from ARTSEDGE, students use Beowulf to investigate views about “monsters” in society. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 12 Visual Arts Education, Music Education, and English Language Arts)
Provider: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Paying attention to technology: Exploring a fictional technology
This lesson asks students to complete a short survey to establish their beliefs about technology and then compare their opinions to the ideas in a novel that depicts technology (such as 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9 and 11–12 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Reading literature in translation: "Beowulf" as a case study
This lesson introduces students to the verse form and poetic techniques used in various translations of Beowulf. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 12 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The Birth of Venus
Students use visual and literary tools to identify, analyze, and explain how elements in Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus and examples from Shakespeare's Hamlet illustrate the philosophy of Renaissance Humanism. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 12 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Weaving the multigenre web
In this lesson, students read novels, analyze the literary elements, and create a multigenre project to present information to their peers. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE