Bookplethora

I have created a series of "Personal Response" analysis questions for each chapter of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story Of Success. I created application questions that forced my students to consider their place in their own corner of the world as well as the implications to their future in personal as well as professional relationships and their children's future in regards to parenting implications. Although these activities were designed for high school seniors they can be used with al

I have created an interactive packet of activities for The Kite Runner to assist teachers in completely assisting students in critically analyzing this entire novel with concentrated focus on literary elements such as irony, parallel scenes, symbolism, character details and significant quotations. Most of the activities are in three-chapter sets for ease of use. Additionally, I have included Reading Check quizzes, a test for chapters 1-12, and a full novel test, pre-reading, during reading and

Prior to reading The Kite Runner, I have found it helpful to have my students explore several topics related to the novel and to help provide the historical and cultural details several students lack in regards to the past several decades in the area of Kabul, Afghanistan over the past several decades. This activity provides 25 topics for students to choose from and a rubric that can be used or modified in grading mini Power Point / Google Slide presentations. In this way, students will have an

Is it me, or do grades begin to nosedive a bit around mid-February? I decided to offer this extra credit option to my juniors and seniors to give them an opportunity to raise their grades by a few points. This assignment also allows me to be more engaged, myself, in the football festivities. I included two options for students to choose from with this assignment, one that analyzes a commercial of choice and one that analyzes the halftime show. I offer this as extra credit, but it can be used in

I have created six higher-order analysis questions for O'Brien's story "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong". Since I require students to provide quoted textual evidence to support their responses, I have found success making this an "Open-Book" assessment on the reading, but these questions can also be used as class discussion starters, to divide students into groups for focus-analysis in class following the reading, or as preparation for the AP Literature exam.

I have created a collection of activities to promote Close Reading and Critical Discussion of Brave New World that can be flexibly used as in-class discussion activities, homework assignments, online shared discussions, checks for understanding, and/or writing prompts. I chunked each activity based on three-chapter segments so that the activities can also be flexibly used for pre, during and post reading use both individually as well as in groups. These activities ask students to consider the

The serious of questions I compiled to wrap up the first nine chapters of Frankenstein can be flexibly used as a formative assessment, online discussions, or more formal writing prompts. These questions require students to analyze more complex aspects of these chapters including identifying elements of Gothic Literary Romance, Comparing/Contrasting characters and circumstances, exploring elements of irony, applying personal response, and synthesizing thematic implications.

Not much is available for teachers online for Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Rappaccini's Daughter" so I decided to create my own set of critical analysis questions. For each question provided, students must provide specific, quoted textual support. This flexible set of questions may be used as written response, class discussion, debate, and may be assigned independently or as partner or group analysis, and as homework or in-class activities. I have also added an exercise that asks students

I have brainstormed 25 random topics that students could research based on Life of Pi. I have assigned these topics as mini-presentations that students present throughout the reading of this novel to engage themas they read it.

This Worksheet identifies 18 key quotations from Act III of The Crucible and asks students to identify the speaker and to indicate the significance of each. It works well following an in-class reading of this Act as a close-reading activity and for a class discussion.

"The Porter Scene" in Macbeth can be analyzed beyond mere comic relief. I have employed an excerpt from On the Knocking At the Gate In Macbeth by Thomas DeQuincey that appears in several high school textbooks, identified two key quotations, and used these quotations as a springboard for students to Close-Read and to apply a Personal Response critical lens to this scene. I recommend this in-class discussion as a group post-reading activity or a pre-writing brainstorm.

I have designed three culminating research essay options as written end-of-novel assessments. These three include a quotation-driven Literary Personal Response Essay, a Thematic Research essay, or a Researched Op-Ed Reaction Essay. Teachers may offer all three options, or select from among them. Additionally, teachers may opt to offer these projects as traditional research essays or as slide presentations. I have included a Research Writing rubric for the essay option that can easily be revised

I have a collection of handouts, Reading Checks, and analytical as well as creative writing prompts to support classroom reading and analysis of The Hunger Games.

Not many teacher references are currently available for this wonderful little drama by Margaret Edson. It is a short play that students can easily read in one or two class periods. I have created eight essay questions that may be flexibly used as a culminating writing assignment, or class discussion points. However, my recommendation is to provide these questions for the students prior to reading the play, so that as they read, they can be considering what topic they may be most interested in w

This lesson follows the reading of Chapters 5 and 6 or can serve as a guided close-reading of these two chapters, with attention to the characters of Assef and Hassan presented by Hosseini as foil characters. It may flexibly by used as a class activity with a follow-up discussion, or as a writing prompt, online discussion question, or reading check for understanding.

I have provided Clement C. Moore's original text, "A Visit From St. Nicholas", along with a template for students to use in writing their own creative parodies. I have also included a scoring rubric. This is a challenging but fun project that my students love! In addition to creating the parodies themselves, I also encourage them to experiment with font, layout and design and we display them in the hallways prior to Christmas.

This is a Reading Check Quiz for the first half of Part II of Life of Pi, Chapters 37-52. It is designed merely to identify who has read the assignment, and whether the students are picking up on the main plot and characters. I designed this quiz for a quick assessment that can be done in the beginning of a class period. It should only take the students around 10 minutes to complete it. It consists of eight short-answer (fill-in) questions worth a total of 20 points. I also added two Bonus quest

I have created a series of eight "quizzes", each containing 10 SAT vocabulary words in which I have indicated the part of speech, in addition to providing simple, easy-to-learn "short definitions" for each. Additionally, I have added some quick review exercises that ask students to determine if the words are positive, neutral, or negative terms, as well as to manipulate word endings and show understanding of flexible variations of the words in context. I used these as actual quizzes in my class

I have created 15 Multiple Choice "Reading Check" questions for Chapters 19-24 of Frankenstein. Although this is a Reading Check and the purpose is to check for understanding of basic plot details, my questions ask plot-driven questions that are not picky and insignificant, but rather, show understanding of character development and serve to identify misreadings that may compromise deeper thematic analysis. This quiz may be used as an actual assessment or an aide in understanding of a student's

I have created two analysis writing prompts that I offer as Extra Credit to my students based on the Superbowl. One is in regards to a commercial of their choice and the other is based on the half-time show.