11th Grade English Language Arts Unit Plans

DEEP DIVE into literature with Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart"

Perfect for Horror/Gothic Literature units in English

8 activities focusing on skills for fiction with this masterful text. Students will have the opportunity to practice comprehension, questioning the text, engage in class discussions, and respond.

What's Included:

1. Powerpoint Guide for each activity
2. Pre-reading activity to activate prior knowledge
3. Two Word Documents that allow students to form questions while reading, or make their own annotations (with the abridged text)
4. A guide to facilitate class discussions after reading
5. Summarizing activity and questions
6. Examining Story Elements page with plot diagram
7. Analyzing Characters practice
8. Inferencing
9. Constructed Responses

**All documents are in Word with a PDF - Also translated for Spanish speaking students - Answer Keys included (including sample responses for the constructed response)**

Depth not Breadth

The benefits of 'depth not breadth' are seen in many scholarly journals. When teachers & students spend more time with a text, they have more opportunities to interact and respond to literature.

• Deep Understanding: When students delve deeply into a text, they gain a thorough understanding of its themes, characters, and nuances. This deep engagement allows them to appreciate the complexities of literature, fostering a richer and more meaningful reading experience.
• Critical Thinking: Depth encourages critical thinking. Students learn to analyze, interpret, and evaluate texts, which enhances their ability to think critically about what they read. This skill is crucial not only for academic success but also for making informed decisions in everyday life.
• Skill Development: Engaging deeply with a few texts helps students develop essential literacy skills, such as close reading, analytical writing, and evidence-based argumentation. These skills are foundational for success in higher education and beyond.
• Connection and Retention: Students are more likely to form connections with the material and retain information when they study it in depth. This approach allows them to see the interconnectedness of themes and ideas, making the learning experience more cohesive and memorable.
• Personal Engagement: When students spend more time on a text, they have the opportunity to relate personally to the material, fostering a greater sense of engagement and motivation. Personal connections to literature can inspire a lifelong love of reading.
• Addressing Complexity: Many literary works are complex and require time to unpack fully. By focusing on depth, students can explore these complexities, enhancing their understanding and appreciation of literature's multifaceted nature.
• Application of Concepts: A deep dive into a text allows students to apply literary concepts and theories in a meaningful way. They can practice applying various analytical lenses, which deepens their understanding and prepares them for more advanced literary study.
• Quality Over Quantity: The quality of learning is often more important than the quantity. By focusing on a few key texts, teachers can ensure that students are engaging with high-quality literature and getting the most out of their reading experience.

Teaching a play by William Shakespeare? Want to provide students with a fascinating overview of the author's life, the construction of the Globe Theater, the language of early-modern English, the rhythm of iambic pentameter, and more? This 50-page EDITABLE resource has EVERYTHING you could possibly want to introduce ANY play by William Shakespeare....

This comprehensive bundle includes a Biography of the Bard, an account of the construction of the Globe Theater, handouts and exercises to help students understand Shakespeare's language, a Shakespearean insult generator, worksheets and quizzes introducing students to iambic pentameter, and more.

Here's what you'll find inside this 50-page resource bundle:

• William Shakespeare Biography: This 4-page biography of William Shakespeare explains the conditions of his early life and schooling in Stratford-upon-Avon, how he became involved in the London theater scene, the impact which the death of his son Hamnet had upon his writing career, his gradual transition from comedies to tragedies, and more. Includes a comprehension check with answer key. (5 pages)

• The Globe Theater: A 2-page handout on what inspired Shakespeare's acting company to build the Globe Theater. A dispute with the landlord of their old theater motivated Shakespeare's company to meet with lanterns in the middle of the night, disassemble their old playhouse, and transport the timber across the Thames River to the plot of land where they would build the Globe. How did the construction of the Globe infuse new life into Shakespeare's company? How would Shakespeare make reference to the Globe in plays written after its construction in 1599? Includes a comprehension check with answer key. (4 pages)

• Shakespeare's Language: A 3-page handout on the crucial topic of Shakespeare's language. Literary scholars have pointed out that "the life of Shakespeare's plays is in the language." What's so special about Shakespeare's language? Did he really invent 1,700 new words? What kinds of words did he invent, and how do they contribute to the meaning of his plays? Includes a comprehension check with answer key. (5 pages)

• Renaissance Glossary: This 2-page glossary features 50 words that appear frequently within Shakespeare's plays but are no longer used in modern-day speech: adieu, beseech, ere, fain, naught, prithee, troth, wot, etc. Familiarizing students with this words will make their reading experience much smoother! This glossary includes a definition for each word as well as an example of how it's used in Shakespeare's plays. (2 pages)

• Translation Practice: This 2-page worksheet features 20 brief quotations from a diverse range of Shakespeare's plays. Challenge students to translate each quotation into modern English. This exercise gives students a change to demonstrate their understanding of the words in the Renaissance Glossary. Includes answer key. (4 pages)

• Decode the Idiom: This 1-page worksheet features 12 quotations that feature idioms which Shakespeare invented: wear my heart on my sleeve, all that glitters is not gold, I have a charmed life, as good luck would have it, and more. Challenge students to identify the idiom by filling in the word missing from the quotation. Then have students explain the meaning of the idiom. Includes answer key. (2 pages)

• Blank Verse: A 2-page handout on the when and why Shakespeare employs blank verse (i.e. unrhymed iambic pentameter). This handout explains how blank verse emerged as a popular verse form as well as what distinguished Shakespeare's usage of blank verse. When and why do some of Shakespeare's characters break with the regular rhythms of blank verse? Why might some characters alternate between using verse and prose? (2 pages)

• Scansion Practice: Students learn to identify iambic pentameter by scanning 10 well-known quotations from Shakespeare's plays. Includes answer key. (4 pages)

• Quizzes on Meter (x2): The 2 quizzes on meter are designed to asses whether students are able to accurately scan Shakespearean lines. Each quiz features 10 quotations from Shakespeare's plays. Includes answer keys. (8 pages)

• Shakespearean Insult Generator: Shakespeare's characters are exceptionally creative in their elaboration of insults. Indeed, some scholars have suggested that the insults in Shakespeare's plays amount to their own education in wit. If your students are sufficiently mature, you could use this exercise to invite them to generate their own original Shakespearean insults. (2 pages)

The resource will download as a Zip folder which contains the entire 50-page unit in two separate formats: Word Doc *and* PDF. Because the Word Doc is fully EDITABLE, you'll be able to customize it to match your teaching style and/or the skill levels of your students — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access a PDF version of the full unit — which is easy to navigate and quick to print!

If you have questions about ANYTHING related to Shakespeare, please don't hesitate to get in touch! This unit was designed by a Ph.D. in English who has devoted over 20 years to studying Shakespeare — and who currently teaches a course called "Shakespeare's Masterpieces." I LOVE hearing from fellow teachers who share a passion for great literature. Wishing you an amazing experience with the Swan of Avon!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

P.S. Don't forget to click “follow” for email updates on new products by Rigorous Resources. New products will be 50% OFF for the first 24 hours!

Feel free to check out these complete units on Shakespeare's masterpieces:

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Romeo and Juliet

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Julius Caesar

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Macbeth

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Othello

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Hamlet

COMPLETE UNIT with Workbooks on Much Ado About Nothing

This 25-page EDITABLE writing curriculum has everything you'll need to help your students write high-quality analytical papers on any literary text. This unit was originally designed for high school English teachers who want to help students improve their analytical writing. But teachers across other disciplines report that it has helped them to deliver clear and informative lessons on how to write high-quality expository essays.

Here are some highlights from this 25-page unit on analytical/expository writing:

• The Writing Process (Handout #1): This handout offers several tips about how to choose a topic for an analytical paper on literature. Encourage your students to use the writing process as an opportunity to deepen their knowledge about the text. (4 pages)

• The Intro Paragraph: Hook & Thesis (Handout #2): In the first page of this handout, students learn to identify and formulate the interpretive questions which they will hope to answer or solve while writing their papers. The challenge of "problem construction" will present most high school students with the opportunity to develop a new and exciting skill — one that will serve them well in college and beyond. In the second and third pages of this handout, students learn to write thesis statements that balance complexity with clarity. They learn to use grammatical subordination in order to generate a main claim that is sufficiently complex to anchor an entire paper. (4 pages)

• Body Paragraphs: Evidence & Analysis (Handout #3): In this handout, students learn about how "evidence" in the humanities differs from evidence in the sciences. Because evidence in the humanities is rarely factual or indisputable, student writers will always need to frame, unpack, and analyze their evidence. This handout offers several suggestions about how, as it were, to "make the evidence speak." It also offers strategies for how to organize evidence into a series of body paragraphs that build upon one another in a logical and compelling manner. (2 pages)

• Topic Sentences / Transitional Sentences (Handout #4): This handout offers advice about how students can use transitional expressions to clarify the logical connections between the claims in each of their topic sentences. It includes a list of different types of transitional expressions along with several examples. (2 pages)

• Precepts for Effective Prose (Handout #5): This handout features about a dozen precepts or "rules of thumb" that students should follow when writing academic papers. The handout contains brief paragraphs on each of the following topics: Avoid plot summary; Always use the present tense; Minimize intensifiers; Alternatives to writing "It says"!! (2 pages)

• Sample Introductory Paragraphs: Look at six introductory paragraphs from articles published by literary scholars in academic journals over the last decade. Invite students to reflect on what they find to be particularly effective — or ineffective —about each introductory paragraph. How does each writer hook the reader's interest? How do they construct an interpretive problem? How do they generate a complex thesis statement? (6 pages)

• Paper Outline Template: Invite students to use this template when generating the outlines for their analytical papers. (3 pages)

• Rubric: Use this rubric to evaluate the analytical papers that your students write in response to any literary text. (1 page)

The entire writing unit will come to you in two different formats: Word doc *and* PDF. Because the Word doc is editable, you'll be able to customize the materials to suit your teaching style and/or your students' skill levels — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access the entire unit as a PDF file, which is easy to navigate and quick to print!

Because I believe that teachers on TeachShare should be able to see what they're getting before they make a purchase, the preview for this resource provides access more than a dozen actual pages from the resource. Click on the green “preview” button to see exactly what you’ll get....

Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

P.S. Don't forget to click “follow” for email updates on new products by Rigorous Resources. New products will be 50% OFF for the first 24 hours!

Feel free to check out these other resources on writing:

How to Write a College Application Essay

How to Write an Poem Analysis Essay (AP Lit FRQ 1)

How to Frame Quotations or Embed Evidence

Figurative Language Stations

This is a full unit plan for reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding through a choice of two different lenses: Psychology or Gender. You'll receive the full Unit Plan in a grid format, as well as every assignment for both lenses.

Students will be put in groups according to their chosen lens and will explore a number of resources pertaining to their lens. They'll complete a wide variety of assignments, including a Double Entry Journal, Socratic Seminar, Symbolism Word Splash and Explanation, Theme Formal Essay, and Characterization Creative Situational Writing. The directions and rubric are included for each assignment. Since it's in a Google Doc, it's all ready for you to post and have your students complete digitally, OR you can print it out and have then do it that way, too!

Please let me know if you have any questions! My students LOVED being in charge of their own learning by choosing how they would read the text and having all of the assignments laid out for them right from the beginning. Thanks for looking!

When I read Night with my students, our focus is how imagery contributes to the author’s purpose of examining how cruelty fuels dehumanization. This product gives you everything you need to track the imagery, check for understanding with 2 paragraph response prompts, and a final test. I’ve included many examples you can refer to as exemplars for the tracking chart, sample paragraph responses, and the Essential Question that you can hang on your board. The final test includes 10 rigorous multiple choice questions that require students to analyze Wiesel's imagery, as well as a final paragraph response question. A thorough answer key for the test is included as well.

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