ALEX Lesson Plans

Subject: English Language Arts (12), or English Language Arts (12), or Technology Education (9 - 12)
Title: Teaching the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Description: In this self-directed study involving research, composition, and presentation, students analyze Chaucer's characters of The Canterbury Tales as presented in the Prologue. Each student casts a modern personality in the role of one of the characters and writes an essay defending the choice.

Subject: English Language Arts (12), or English Language Arts (12)
Title: Writing About Issues in the Media
Description: In this lesson students analyze media coverage of current issues and present their findings in a formal research paper and class presentation.

Subject: English Language Arts (12), or English Language Arts (11 - 12), or Technology Education (9 - 12)
Title: Interpreting Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Description: After a study of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, students working in small groups conduct research and create a slideshow presentation that emphasizes key aspects of the play and/or new ideas generated by the play.

Thinkfinity Lesson Plans

Subject: Language Arts
Title: In Literature, Interpretation is the Thing Add Bookmark
Description: Students consider Shakespearean literature to be or not to be useful in a modern context when they analyze the relationship between text and reader interpretation..
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: Chaucer's Wife of Bath Add Bookmark
Description: This lesson from EDSITEment introduces students to one of the most admired characterizations in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath. Students read Chaucer's description of the Wife in the General Prologue to consider how he represents her, both as the poet of The Canterbury Tales and as a character in his own poem, then read the Wife of Bath's Prologue, where he has her speak for herself, to gain additional perspective on her character. Next, students investigate some of the literary sources that Chaucer drew upon as he created this portrait of a woman with her own ideas about matrimony, and examine evidence about marriage in the Middle Ages and the role that women played in medieval society. Finally, students read the Wife of Bath's Tale and explore the alternative readings of the tale in relation to the character of the Wife of Bath.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'': Fear and the ''Dagger of the Mind'' Add Bookmark
Description: This EDSITEment lesson is designed to help students understand how Shakespeare's language dramatizes one such emotion: fear. Students work in small groups to perform the so-called banquet scene, in which the newly-crowned Macbeth, while entertaining the lords of Scotland, encounters a ghost only he can see. The twist here is that while there are opportunities for students to analyze Shakespeare's language, the performance itself is done without words. The wordless performance means that students need to develop physical equivalents for the clues to Macbeth's state of mind that are embedded in Shakespeare's poetry.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Valentine's Day is today! Add Bookmark
Description: Students find examples of figurative language and write an original example of each device, illustrate, and share them with the class.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: Exploring Arthurian Legend Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson from EDSITEment, students examine the historical origins of the Arthurian legend. Students gain insight into the use of literature as historical evidence. Through the references and links in this lesson, students can track the growth of a legend like that of King Arthur, from its emergence in the Medieval Ages to its arrival on the silver screen.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: An Introduction to Beowulf : Language and Poetics Add Bookmark
Description: Students are introduced to Old English and the poetic devices of alliteration, kenning, and compounding in preparation for reading the epic poem Beowulf.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 11,12

Subject: Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: The Beauty of Anglo Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to ''Beowulf'' Add Bookmark
Description: This EDSITEment lesson is an introduction to Anglo-Saxon literature. In it, students study the manuscripts and riddles of the early Middle Ages. By capturing their attention and imagination with visually stunning images of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts available through EDSITEment resources, this lesson prepares students to read Beowulf with an appreciation for its artistry and beauty. Students study online early manuscripts, learn the conventions of Anglo-Saxon poetry, solve online riddles, write riddles, and reflect on what they have learned.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Reading Literature in Translation: Beowulf as a Case Study Add Bookmark
Description: Using several translations of the same passage of Beowulf, this lesson introduces students to the idea that translation is not an objective practice, but that it involves '' imaginative reconstruction.''
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Arts,Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: 'Hamlet'' and the Elizabethan Revenge Ethic in Text and Film Add Bookmark
Description: This lesson, from EDSITEment, contains a set of five activities for students to explore the themes of honor, loyalty, and revenge in selected scenes from Hamlet. These activities involve literary analysis of the text, discussions of characterization and motive, and comparison with a cinematic adaptation of the play.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Preparing a Character for a New Job: Character Analysis through Job Placement Add Bookmark
Description: Working as career counselors for a literary character, students find a job for the character, prepare a resume, and design questions and answers to prepare them for a job interview.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts,Philosophy,Social Studies
Title: Profiles in Courage: Harper Lee's ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from EDSITEment, students read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird carefully with an eye for all instances of courage, but particularly those of moral courage. They then consider how To Kill A Mockingbird frames issues of courage and cowardice against the backdrop of the American South in the 1930s.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Varying Views of America Add Bookmark
Description: Students work together to analyze three poems about America with varying points of view.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Arts,Language Arts
Title: Shakespeare's ''Othello'' and the Power of Language Add Bookmark
Description: This lesson, from EDSITEment, contains seven activities for students to explore the linguistic ingenuity of Iago's rhetoric in Shakespeare's tragedy Othello. The activities involve a close study of key scenes, using worksheets to focus on the use of language to reveal character, motive, and theme. The final activity allows students to compose their own persuasive writing inspired by Iago's wordplay or a literary essay analyzing Iago's speeches.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'': Fear and the Motives of Evil Add Bookmark
Description: In this EDSITEment lesson, students study Shakespeare's Macbeth. Students use an Internet search engine to collect instances in the play of specific key words. They then organize and analyze the passages in which these key words appear for what they reveal about Macbeth's state of mind and the motives behind his increasing evil.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Birches Add Bookmark
Description: This student interactive, from an EDSITEment lesson, guides students as they examine Robert Frost s use of simile in '' Birches.''
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 9,10,11,12