11th Grade Halloween Literature Circles

This resource features a bundle of all of our lesson plans, materials, and activities for Edgar Allan Poe's chilling tale of revenge, The Cask of Amontillado. Each product is thoughtfully crafted and allows students to think outside the box by delving deeply into the story's themes, characters, vocabulary, and plot development. Lessons have all been classroom-tested and allow for differentiation while encouraging optimal student engagement. This activity bundle provides a week's worth of material to bring the story to life!

Included in this Bundle:

• The Cask of Amontillado Literature Guide: This 25-page literature guide features a Common-Core aligned mini-unit for the story. It provides basis for comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and reader response for The Cask of Amontillado and encourages students to think critically about Poe's use of irony, foreshadowing, literary elements, and symbolism. A full answer key is provided along with one bonus student-tested lesson plan. The wide range of activities in this guide will keep your students engaged and help them to gain a deep understanding of and appreciation for one of the most horrifying tales in American literature.

• The Cask of Amontillado ESCAPE ROOM: This meticulously-crafted resource features all of the materials you need to conduct a full-length Escape Room for The Cask of Amontillado. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task (and it is!), but this product provides everything from the basics and set-up instructions to signs and answer keys so that yours runs smoothly from start to finish. The activity involves movement, energy, creative thinking and most of all, collaboration. Because this is a skills-based escape room, it is the perfect way to review the story for the final quiz or test. Your students will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize the higher order thinking skills they are applying in the playing of this game!

• The Cask of Amontillado Socratic Seminar: This resource features lesson plans and materials to conduct a formal set of Socratic Seminars for Edgar Allan Poe's chilling tale of insult and revenge. Socratic Seminars (or "Fish Bowl" Conversations as referred to in this resource) are higher order ways of assessing whether your students are able to understand and react to your class texts. These seminars rely on the power of inquiry and allow students to take the lead in their learning and discussion. The only problem? They require a great deal of preparation. Fortunately, this student-tested resource includes everything you need to conduct a structured and formal set of Socratic Seminars in your classroom surrounding the short story, The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe... and no preparation is required by you at all.

• The Cask of Amontillado Family Crest Activity (also included within Literature Guide): This product features a thoughtful and engaging supplemental activity for the story. In this mini-project that can be done in class or as homework, students will closely examine Montresor's family crest (or is it!?), then create their own symbolic family crest using meticulous instructions and the template provided. They will also need to thoroughly explain what they have included on their family crest. A detailed lesson plan is included for use on the following day that allows students to showcase and explain their family crests using an imaginative teaching method. This is a great activity to get your students to think symbolically and to reflect upon the ideals of their own families. Your students will thank you for offering such a thoughtful activity to go along with their reading of The Cask of Amontillado!

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This resource features a bundle of all of our lesson plans, materials, and activities for Edgar Allan Poe's tale of the original haunted house, The Fall of the House of Usher. Each product is thoughtfully crafted and allows students to think outside the box by delving deeply into the story's themes, characters, vocabulary, and plot development. Lessons have all been classroom-tested and allow for differentiation while encouraging optimal student engagement. This activity bundle provides a week's worth of material to bring the story to life!

Included in this Bundle:

• The Fall of the House of Usher Literature Guide: This resource features a comprehensive Common Core-aligned literature guide for use while reading the story. The packet provides an excellent basis for comprehension and vocabulary acquisition for the short story and encourages students to think critically about Poe's use of literary elements, figurative language, plot elements, and symbolism. Also included is a creative "Snap Chat!" activity that will bring the story to life in the 21st century. A full answer key is provided along with two bonus student-tested lesson plans. The wide range of activities in this guide will keep your students engaged in this difficult story and help them to gain a deep understanding of one of the most shocking tales of American literature.

• The Fall of The House of Usher Anticipation Guide and Lesson Plan (also included within Literature Guide): This resource features an anticipation guide for the story and a detailed lesson plan that I believe is the absolute best way to approach a new story. Using a non-intimidating method called "Numbered Heads", this activity will get your students thinking, writing, conversing, and reporting about themes you will be encountering during your study of The Fall of the House of Usher and your overall Poe unit. This lesson is particularly useful for Poe's tale which can be difficult for students to understand at first. I am confident that your students will enjoy this thoughtful, engaging activity and beg you to begin reading Poe's tale of the most haunted of houses!

• The Fall of the House of Usher ESCAPE ROOM: This meticulously-crafted resource features all of the materials you need to conduct a full-length Escape Room for The Fall of the House of Usher. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task (and it is!), but this product provides everything from the basics and set-up instructions to signs and answer keys so that yours runs smoothly from start to finish. The activity involves movement, energy, creative thinking and most of all, collaboration. It is the perfect activity for Halloween, Poe's Death Day on October 7, or any day you want to shake it up with your students without sacrificing learning. Your students will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize the higher order thinking skills they are applying in the playing of this game!

• The Fall of the House of Usher Socratic Seminar: This resource features lesson plans and materials to conduct a formal set of Socratic Seminars for The Fall of the House of Usher. Socratic Seminars (or "Fish Bowl" Conversations as referred to in this resource) are higher order ways of assessing whether your students are able to understand and react to your class texts. These seminars rely on the power of inquiry and allow students to take the lead in their learning and discussion. The only problem? They require a great deal of preparation. Fortunately, this student-tested resource includes everything you need to conduct a structured and formal set of Socratic Seminars in your classroom surrounding The Fall of the House of Usher... and no preparation is required by you at all.

• Full Text of the The Fall of the House of Usher

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This resource features a bundle of all of our lesson plans, materials, and activities for Edgar Allan Poe's chilling tale of plague and pestilence, The Masque of the Red Death. Each product is thoughtfully crafted and allows students to think outside the box by delving deeply into the story's themes, characters, vocabulary, and plot development. Lessons have all been classroom-tested and allow for differentiation while encouraging optimal student engagement. This activity bundle provides a week's worth of material to bring the story to life!

Included in this Bundle:

• The Masque of the Red Death Literature Guide: This literature guide features a Common Core-aligned mini-unit for use while reading The Masque of the Red Death. The packet provides an excellent basis for comprehension and vocabulary acquisition for the short story and encourages students to think critically about Poe's use of literary elements, figurative language, and symbolism. Also included are 12 reader response task cards for literature circles and a creative social media activities that will bring the story to life in the 21st century. A full answer key is provided along with three bonus student-tested lesson plans. The wide range of activities in this guide will keep your students engaged and help them to gain a deep understanding of one of the most horrifying tales in American literature.

• Masque of the Red Death Anticipation Guide & Lesson Plan (also included within Literature Guide): This resource features an anticipation guide for the story along with a meticulously-explained lesson plan that is in my opinion, the absolute best way to approach a new short story. Using a non-intimidating method called "Numbered Heads", this activity will get your students thinking, writing, conversing, and reporting about themes you will be encountering during your study of The Masque of the Red Death.

• The Masque of the Red Death Social Media Activities (also included within Literature Guide): This resource features two fun, interactive activities to bring The Masque of the Red Death into the 21st century! In this 45 minute lesson plan with accompanying materials, your classroom will transform into a real life "twitter-world" in which students will create twitter accounts for hypothetical characters in the story and interact with one another through their twitter pages. The Snap Chat worksheet is perfect for an engaging homework or sub-plan that your students will look forward to working on and sharing with their friends.Your students will thank you for offering such fun ways to connect with Poe's twisted tale and will not even realize how much they are learning by digging deep into the text. Both work perfectly for a Friday or even on Halloween when students need a mental break and a chance to tap into their creativity!

• The Masque of the Red Death Socratic Seminar: This resource features lesson plans and materials to conduct a formal set of Socratic Seminars for The Masque of the Red Death. Socratic Seminars (or "Fish Bowl" Conversations as referred to in this resource) are higher order ways of assessing whether your students are able to understand and react to your class texts. These seminars rely on the power of inquiry and allow students to take the lead in their learning and discussion. The only problem? They require a great deal of preparation. Fortunately, this student-tested resource includes everything you need to conduct a structured and formal set of Socratic Seminars in your classroom surrounding the short story... and no preparation is required by you at all.

• The Masque of the Red Death ESCAPE ROOM: This meticulously-crafted resource features all of the materials you need to conduct a full-length Escape Room for The Masque of the Red Death. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task (and it is!), but this product provides everything from the basics and set-up instructions to signs and answer keys so that yours runs smoothly from start to finish. The activity involves movement, energy, creative thinking and most of all, collaboration. Because this is a skills-based escape room, it is the perfect way to review the story for the final quiz or test. Your students will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize the higher order thinking skills they are applying in the playing of this game!

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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence