LitwithLeo

Resource Details:Color-coded 90-day fall semester calendar reveals detailed daily lesson plans which include daily objectives aligned to CCSS along with agendas for 50-60 min. classes.  Blank spring calendar included, so you can easily copy and paste the days into the next semester.  Within each agenda handouts, prezis, slideshows, videos, etc. are linked to provide you with everything you need to teach the entire course, but you can also review the days  and organize them to accommodate your ow

Color-coded fall semester calendar reveals detailed daily lesson plans which include daily objectives aligned to CCSS along with agendas for 50-60 min. classes.  Blank Spring Calendar included, so you can easily copy and paste the days into the next semester.  Within each agenda handouts, prezis, slideshows, videos, etc. are linked to provide you with everything you need to teach the entire course, but you can also review the days  and organize them to accommodate your own schedule and preferen

16 days of lesson plans around the popular genres Dystopia and Horror.  Great any time, but perfect in the month of October right around Halloween.  Students will read informational texts about the genres, read 4 stories, 2 from each genre, and have multiple opportunities to write in each genre preparing them to write their final story with rubric included.  Includes links to prezi, Google Slides, and multiple handouts that include everything from a dice game to a detailed characterization hando

“Recitatif” is one of only two published short stories by the novelist Toni Morrison. She is famous for novels like The Bluest Eye and Beloved which take on issues of segregation and slavery and the resulting racism that persists because of them.  With this story, students are able to analyze the impact of racism and privilege on society while making comparisons between it and a popular web-comic by Toby Morris which allows students to make more meaning.   Having read both, students will writ

Although the AP Literature test is now online only, we all know that handwriting helps students to process their thinking. Use this paper at the beginning of the year to scaffold into typing. This paper is designed to look like the former test-format that students used to write on for their AP essays if you would like them to experience the "good-old days." Can be printed front-to-back. Students should write using a blue or black pen, according to AP guidelines, but more so because when we ca

These Lens Slideshows made up the bulk of my AP Literature course during Distance Learning 2020-2021 (as shown in preview calendar). By teaching students to read through a lens then allowing them to select a play or novel of their interest, students were more engaged with the content and ready to share their thoughts on their reading in weekly Book Clubs set up through breakout rooms (Book Club planning document included) where they worked together (group work rubric included in bundle) to expl

Are you teaching Creative Writing or would you like to infuse your ELA course with Creative Writing options? These units will allow you to hit on standards that work for any ELA course while helping students develop their voice and style and dive into engaging texts. Representative authors include: Margaret Atwood, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin, Yann Martel, Joan Aiken, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edgar Allan Poe, Kate Chopin, Roald Dahl, Robert Browning, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Are you teaching PreAP* English 1 but unsure how to incorporate a full novel?  This unit allows you to take the books from Unit 4 of the PreAP curriculum and implement them into a Book Club-Style independent reading experience where students will choose one of the titles to read over the course of the first semester.  This unit takes about a week to introduce then is to be completed one day per week throughout the rest of the semester. Through it, students will learn the important AP skills of a

Whether you are just getting started with AP Literature or are looking to refresh your units, this bundle includes the traditional like Hamlet (see preview) to the contemporary like The Handmaid's Tale all while providing students with choice in both a Book Club and Poetry and Song Comparison unit as well as with a Deepening Assignment (great for sub days!) that will allow them time to extend their learning in their area of interest, even with some cross-curricular connections. Lastly, you ar

Are you looking to reinvigorate your short story lessons? Many of these short story lessons includes both a reading and writing experience for your students to enjoy. All are designed to be completed within one to two days, but there is plenty to extend each to a whole week's worth of plans if you give students time to draft and publish. Representative authors include Sandra Cisneros, Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Ray Bradbury, and Kate Chopin and range in complexity from dealing with them

Are you and your students stressing with the AP Literature test around the corner? This 5-Day review is perfect right before the test. It utilizes all of the work you have done throughout the class to help students realize how prepared you really have made them, and it provides fun and interactive stations that help them feel relaxed, engaged, and interested. Stations include: Journal/notebook review with handout, multiple choice practice with strategies, reviews of their readings, links to

Are you looking to incorporate the high-interest text The Handmaid’s Tale into your curriculum?  This unit is designed for AP Literature but can be modified for ELA 11 or 12, and if you are a bit wary of requiring the possibly controversial book for all students, they get to choose between it or The Awakening all while the whole class reads A Doll’s House which are both part of the public domain and can be found online if you do not have copies already.  Students are introduced to all three t

If you are looking for a short story for your students to explore both theme and citing text evidence, “The Flowers” by Alice Walker is exactly what you need. This two-page story paints a beautiful picture of a sharecropper’s little girl exploring the scenery around her until she comes across a poignant reality from the past. First, students learn a little about the author with a short video.  Then, as the story is read to them, students work in table groups to draw images of what they envision.

After the AP Literature test, students will explore their own writing style as they have examined so many others.  Through this unit, students will utilize the drafting process to build a portfolio that represents who they are on the outside and inside they will explore everything from the origins of their name to their hopes and dreams for the future. The project will culminate in a conclusion exploring what Barbara Kingsolver means when she writes, “To live is to change. To acquire the words o

If you have been wanting students to have a way to deepen their understanding of the work you have been doing in AP Literature, Language Arts, or any ELA course, here is a huge selection which are all scored using one rubric. Included is a list of options sorted by strand, including student examples for most, links to relevant websites or Quizlet sets, as well as the scoring guide, a reflection template, and a photo-voting slideshow for the Deepening Showcase of all of your students' amazing wo

Are your classroom procedures not working as planned or are you just getting started as a teacher?  Either way, this procedures brochure and Google Slides (as shown in preview) will help you to consider the key components of a smooth-running positive environment where the expectations are clear and students, parents, and administration know the in’s and out’s of your classroom.  Includes Habits of Mind, Skills to Target, Absent or Late Work, Attendance, Hall Pass, Rules, Grading, Short Film, and

Been looking for the perfect book to connect everything from Shakespeare to Mythology? The Alchemyst by Michael Scott is the perfect answer. This book is filled with mythological and historical allusions as well as poetic, literary, and dramatic devices. Either to start your year or tie it all together, this unit plan introduces the idea of an allusion while students investigate one of the many to create an "-ology" or study-of book in which they follow one of the characters, places, or symbo

This slideshow includes 8 poetry choices for students. The expectation is that they complete 4 of their choice over the course of the semester if students self-select, or you can implement each slides as it's own 2-5 day lesson. Poem choices (shown in main cover) grow in complexity as they delve more deeply, and you give feedback on their work. Each poem choice includes a "Learn About It" where students read and experience a poem or complete an activity in order to learn more about poetry. E

If you have tried TPCASTT before, but have not had success this might be the lesson plan and prezi you need to get your students interested in poetry and able to access the huge variety they may get on the AP Test. This 6-7 day unit gets your students to access poetry through looking at a favorite song and comparing it to a poem that has appeared on the AP test in a slideshow format. Students will unknowingly encounter over 40 poems in 6 days and feel prepared to practice and write for the AP L

This one-to-two day introduction to any ELA, Creative Writing, or AP Literature class goes beyond the boring procedure lecture students are stuck with in every other class the first week of school (but can really be used at anytime students need a pick-me-up as to why they are attending your class). This will introduce students to the valuable Habits of Mind as well as get them reacting to poetry in the first week of class, and they will even enjoy it! Utilizing Margaret Atwood's "The Page" st