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Everything you need to teach Sandra Cisneros's classic coming of age novel, House on Mango Street. As with all of my unit plans, I do not lay out for you specifically how to teach the unit step-by-step, though in this case a few of the documents do have schedules. Instead, I give you all of my resources--and they are extensive here--and you pick and choose what works for you, in the manner that suits your style and your students best. Having said that, you'll find everything you could possibly n

Enclosed are the resources I use for showing the movie (not for the book) Whale Rider, which is a great film for 8th, 9th, 10 graders. You'll find a guide for the movie inside, as well as a group assignment, note taking sheets and discussion prompts! FYI: As a rule, my zip files for teaching a novel do not lay out step-by-step plans how to teach the book--that's up to you. Instead, what I give you is all of my resources to use at your disposition; some of the resources here I didn't even end up

Resources--activities, quizzes, essay options, discussion questions, etc.--for Raisin in the Sun. As with all of my unit plans, I do not lay out for you specifically how to teach the unit step-by-step, though in this case a few of the documents do have schedules. Instead, I give you all of my resources--and they are extensive here--and you pick and choose what works for you, in the manner that suits your style and your students best. Having said that, you'll find everything you could possibly n

This zip file contains over two dozen Word files with various resources for teaching Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. Inside you'll find the following: pre-reading activities, reciprocal teaching plans (i.e., student-led discussion), quizzes, assignments, questions for discussion and more! FYI: As a rule, my zip files for teaching a novel do not lay out step-by-step plans how to teach the book--that's up to you. Instead, what I give you is all of my resources to use at your disposition; some of the

Where to begin? There's 174 files in this zip! Everything you need is here. I use a persuasion unit to teaching various rhetorical and stylistic techniques, as well as more research practice, as I think working with nonfiction is often much more helpful to students than literature. In any event, I give you most of my resources--the rest are in other downloads (an editorial assignment and debates--and I'll let you decide how long you want to spend on the issue; you can focus on the basics and ju

This document contains dozens of ideas to develop lesson plans: bellringers/sponges, direct instruction techniques, group activity descriptions, closure exercises. Will inspire you during unit/lesson planning and save you lots of time! This is the one document I consistently return to, both for secondary and postsecondary teaching situations.

As part of an American Dream unit with my junior Am lit students, I have my classes investigate their own dreams and pursuits by researching a possible career they'd like to pursue as adults. It's a fun and informative project for them, and it pushes research and synthesis skills, particularly early on in the year when I schedule it. Students write not only narrative work but do a literature review that requires them to look at multiple sources of information to get a sense of things. You'll nee

Julie Otsuka's riveting novel is just starting to make its way into secondary english curriculum. If you're consdering teaching it, I highly recommend it: students are deeply moved by it, and it provides many opportunities to discuss style and rhetorical techniques used by authors to create meaning. There are very few resources available for this novel, so I'm pleased to offer mine, which I think match the complexity of the work appropriately. I should note that, in a rush because I had barely

So much here! In this zip, containing over 40 files, you'll find lesson plans, quizzes, group activities, vocabulary, paper assignments (over 10 options to choose from), discussion questions, literary criticism, even grammar! There are so many possible options for your classroom that you will never be able to get to all of them, which is the point: pick and choose what serves you best and explore! FYI: As a rule, my zip files for teaching a novel do not lay out step-by-step plans how to teach t

A lot here to talk about. So say you wanted your students to write a narrative or reflective essay focusing in on one particular moment... Well. Here's what we've got: at least two pieces of model prose (Langston Hughes' "Salvation" and Paula Grace's "Butterflies") with handouts for the other pieces (Rau's "By Any Other Name", Dillard's An American Childhood, and an excerpt from Zinsser's Writing Well) I use. These handouts cover the bases: the writing assignment, its rubric, prewriting tasks,

Handy, graphic-filled comma packet that works particularly well with freshman and sophomores. The major comma rules are explained clearly and are followed with practice exercises.