Literature

The Civil War affected all aspects of life during the mid-1800s. Students will read literature, informational texts, and primary source documents to learn how the war affected life based on the perspective of those who lived through it. 

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick is an all-time favorite novel for middle school students. In this module, students will be comparing the written story to its filmed version, analyzing the effects and techniques unique to each medium.

This module is taught in October, near...

In this module students will engage in a close reading of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, as well as close readings of outside sources dealing with heroes. Students will compare a contrast and character in Beowulf to a contemporary figure they believe is a hero....

This 2-3 day mini-module is designed to engage students in an important theme of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men before reading the entire novel. By having students think about types of friendship before beginning the novel, students acquire an analytical lens for evaluating the...

We just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. One of the main concepts we discussed was how Lee's work serves as Bildungsroman, or "coming of age" literature, that focuses on the moral, intellectual, spiritual, or emotional growth of a character. This module sets the...

Students will read two versions of The Three Little Pigs, compare the differing points of view of the two stories, and determine how point of view affects a story. This module was taught late in the school year, so while students listened to the stories read by the teacher, they wrote...

In this module students will use close reading techniques to analyze two pieces of literature and determine how conflict impacts characters choices providing examples from both text to clarify their analysis. In order

to meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards/Language Arts...

This module has been written with the intent of implementation at the beginning of the school year. This module has been designed with four purposes in mind:

1. Describe a character's traits in the novel Because of Winn Dixie using actions. thoughts, and words.
2. Support that...

This module has been designed to work within the 6th grade TCWRP reading unit, Lifting the Levels of Reading Through Strong Partnerships, and Bend 1 of writing unit, Literary Analysis: Quick Lit Essays and Fan Fiction Scenes . Many of the mini-tasks in the module are based on specific TC...

This seventh grade module is part of a larger unit that teaches students how to analyze literary elements: characters, conflict, plot, point of view, symbolism, and theme through short stories and poetry that explores themes related to growing up. The module is used at the end of the unit as a...

The task asks students to identify the cycle of the hero’s journey in a text, analyze the effectiveness of this technique, and apply what they learned to their own lives or a contemporary situation.

Students will read their choice book after a library resource visit or from a...

Students complete a literary analysis paragraph that makes a claim about an author's moves or choices in a text. 

Students will use their study and knowledge of a particular work of literary merit to design and create a piece of art and an artistic statement. The art and statement will demonstrate the connection between a thematic idea in the work and the literary elements that contribute to it (e.g.,...

Students will create a photographic essay that argues for their view of the American Dream today. They will compare and/or contrast their view of the American Dream with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s portrayal of the American Dream in the novel The Great Gatsby. Students will also analyze a...

For this performance task, students will analyze how an author uses imagery and symbolism to reveal a theme in a novel.

Taking the role of graphic artists working for the publisher of the novel, they will create a visual that highlights that theme and the imagery/symbolism from the novel...