Search results

A million fish... Serving up exaggeration

Students will become familiar with the term "exaggeration" and how it can be used in stories to catch the reader's attention. Students will create narrative stories of their own using exaggeration.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts)

By Jennie McGuire.

Yarns, whoppers, and tall tales

The following lessons will introduce students to characteristics of tall tales and help them develop an appreciation of this genre of American fiction. They will practice writing summaries from information they have gathered and organized. They will plan and write their own tall tales.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 English Language Arts)

By Deborah Mitchell.

Birds of a feather, an interdisciplinary unit: Language Arts wing

This lesson, which features Mark Twain's “Jim Baker's Blue-jay Yarn,” is part of an interdisciplinary unit on birds that contains math/science and language arts components. In the language arts wing, students will explore dialects and personification through this very entertaining tall tale full of the antics of talking blue-jays.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts and English Language Development)

By Janet Fore.

Subtraction sticks

Using craft sticks, students will practice subtraction of 2 and 3 digit numbers with renaming.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Mathematics)

By Susan Fry.

Reading Amadas and Barlowe

In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 4.2

In this lesson, students will read about Amadas and Barlowe's 1584 voyage to the Outer Banks, and will practice thinking critically and analyzing primary source documents.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Pauline S. Johnson.

"A sickening state of things"

In North Carolina in the New Nation, page 9.9

Letter from Rachel Lazarus of Wilmington, North Carolina, to Eliza Mordecai of Mobile, Alabama. The writer describes the supposed plot of a slave insurrection in southeastern North Carolina and concludes that whites must live in fear until slavery is ended. Includes historical commentary.

Format: letter

Analyzing primary sources: John White and the "lost colonists"

In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 4.3

In this lesson, students will read about John White's attempt to find the "lost colonists" in 1590, and will practice thinking critically and analyzing primary source documents.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Pauline S. Johnson.

Alternative discussion formats: History and literature on trial

In Alternative discussion formats, page 3

Putting historical or literary figures on trial makes a lively and challenging alternative to a class debate.

By Kathryn Walbert.

"Shew Yourselves to be Freemen"

To the inhabitants of the Province of North-Carolina. Dear Brethren, Nothing is more common than for Persons who look upon themselves to be injured than to resent and complain. These are sounded aloud,...

Format: pamphlet

Bicycles: Scourge of the streets?

In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.4

Newspaper editorials about a collision between a bicylclist and a pedestrian in Wilmington, North Carolina, 1897. Includes historical commentary.

Format: newspaper

An Address to the People of Granville County

In Revolutionary North Carolina, page 1.2

Excerpt of a speech by George Sims, Granville County school teacher and Regulator leader, in 1765. Sims blames corrupt lawyers and public officials for the problems of small farmers in the Piedmont. Includes historical commentary.

Format: speech

Rose O'Neal Greenhow describes the Battle of Manassas

In North Carolina in the Civil War and Reconstruction, page 2.6

Excerpt from the memoir of the Confederate spy in which she describes the First Battle of Manassas in June 1861 and her role in getting intelligence to Confederate generals. Includes historical commentary.

Format: book

Commentary and sidebar notes by L. Maren Wood.

Think for yourself! Media literacy every day

Information, like air, is everywhere, and we breathe it in whether we mean to or not. If we want our students to be rational, responsible citizens and consumers, we have to help them develop a filter they can use all the time, not just when they're doing research.

Format: article

By David Walbert.

A Brief Description of the Province of Carolina

In Colonial North Carolina, page 1.8

A pamphlet produced in 1660s London at the request of the Lords Proprietors described the economic opportunity and religious freedom available to settlers in Carolina. Includes historical commentary.

Format: book

Commentary and sidebar notes by David Walbert.

Amadas and Barlowe explore the Outer Banks

In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 4.5

On April 27, 1584, Captains Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe left the west coast of England in two ships to explore the North American coast for Sir Walter Raleigh. The party of explorers landed on July 13, 1584, on the North Carolina coast just north of Roanoke Island, and claimed the land in the name of Queen Elizabeth. Captain Barlowe's report describes the land and the people he encountered.

Format: journal

Resources on the web

Born on a mountaintop? Davy Crockett, tall tales, and history

The culminating activity in this unit is the student creation of tall tales. Such tales are built by combining the fictional element of exaggeration with historical elements of nostalgia about the past and anxiety about the future. John Henry, for example,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: EDSITEment

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)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Exploring satire with Shrek

Using the animated film, Shrek, students identify common characteristics of fairy tales and evaluate how this form of literature makes satirical social commentary. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Analyzing the purpose and meaning of political cartoons

In this lesson, students evaluate political cartoons for their meaning, message, and persuasiveness. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: IRA/NCTE