Digital Paired Texts - Road Not Taken and Dream Deferred - Essay Writing

Here is a paired text lesson for Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive that now includes an instructional video with a teacher "think aloud"! Much like my popular printed lesson, this activity guides students through close readings of paired poems "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost and "Harlem (Dream Deferred)" by Langston Hughes and then facilitates their understanding of the speakers’ attitudes and central themes as they construct connections between the poems. These classic texts help meet expectations of Common Core Standards and provide practice with a prose constructed response.

Activity handouts focus on before-, during-, and post-reading strategies. Furthermore, a slide with model annotations helps to scaffold instruction. After reading, students write an essay that imitates the style of a standardized assessment. Whether or not your students will face state assessments, this lesson provides instruction for any students needing practice with close reading and literary analysis writing. This lesson also incorporates all strands of the Common Core English Language Arts (ELA) Standards.

This resource includes a 15-page PDF file with the following:

-digital instructions for implementing with Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive

-explicit lesson plan with identified Common Core ELA Anchor Standards

-answer key with detailed responses for all activities and a sample essay (making this a valuable emergency substitute lesson plan)

In the PDF there is a link to 14 Google slides with the following:

-pre-reading guide and sample annotation passage

-poem texts (which are available in the public domain)

-rereading strategy handout

-literature web and poetry graphic organizer

-Venn diagram

-literary analysis prompt

-short literary analysis essay rubric

In one of the Google Slides, there is also a link to an instructional video on YouTube which includes a think-aloud as the teacher models her annotation process.

This activity can be used with a variety of online learning platforms including Google Classroom™, MS Teams™, Schoology™, and more!

If preferred, you can simply purchase the traditional format and print version of this lesson here:

Print Only Writing Task Road Not Taken & Harlem

Want other digital resources for distance or remote learning? You may be interested in these:

Digital Task Cards for To Kill a Mockingbird

Digital Task Cards for Reading Standards

Digital and Print TED Talk Lesson

And here are other print Paired Passages lessons (digital versions coming soon):

Paired Passages

Meaningful and Memorable English Language Arts by © OCBeachTeacher

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Group licenses available.

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