Homeschool Close Reading Handouts
By Rigorous Resources for High School English
This 170-page EDITABLE curriculum has everything you'll need for profoundly stimulating lessons on Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye! Invite your class to engage in student-driven discussions without compromising on intellectual rigor. The pre-reading handouts, discussion questions, daily quizzes, and analytical writing assignment will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!
Hold your students accountable for completing the nightly homework by beginning every class with a quick vocabulary and reading quiz. Facilitate dynamic discussions that motivate students to become attached to the thrill generating shared knowledge. Challenge students to explicate textual details using a wide range of interpretive lenses: historicist, psychoanalytic, feminist, etc. Inspire students to arrive at a whole new depth of insight!
Here are some highlights from the 170-page editable curriculum:
• Discussion Question Handouts (x9): Thirty-five pages of higher-order questions guaranteed to inspire profoundly thoughtful class discussions! This unit features double-sided handouts with 8-10 questions for each of the novel's 9 sections. The discussion questions are the beating heart of these lesson plans. They challenge students to build interpretive arguments that require the support of carefully selected textual evidence — leading to keen interpretive insights! Guaranteed to foster deep thinking and dynamic discussions! (35 pages)
• Discussion Question Answer Keys (x9): The answer keys are informed by scholarly articles and books written by professors who specialize in African-American literature and the novels of Toni Morrison: Alice Walker, Susan Willis, Michael Awkward, Madhu Dubey, and others. Every answer is grounded in concrete textual evidence that gets submitted to careful analysis. While every section in this unit comes with an answer key, the keys for the discussion questions are distinguished by an extremely high level of detail. (35 pages)
• Vocabulary Lists: Lists of 12 vocabulary words for every reading assignment, complete with definitions and sample sentences with the words as used in The Bluest Eye. A total of over 100 words. (9 pages)
• Vocabulary & Reading Quizzes: Daily quizzes with 10 questions on the nightly reading homework plus another 8 questions on the vocabulary words. If you choose not to have your students study vocabulary, you can still use the portion of the quiz devoted to reading comprehension. Grading these quizzes is simple and quick. They’re an easy way to log 12 grades into your gradebook. Answer keys included. (36 pages)
• Literary Devices Quiz: This quiz challenges students to identify the literary devices used in fifteen quotations from The Bluest Eye. The literary devices include metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, allusion, onomatopoeia, and more. This bundle also features a glossary with definitions of the literary devices as well as examples of how each device is used in Morrison's novel — so you can review the devices with students before they tackle the worksheet. The worksheet can be used either as a quiz or as a fun refresher. Answer key included. (3 pages)
• Quotation Race: Students work in pairs to identify the speakers of 30 key quotations from The Bluest Eye. Introduce this fun activity when you need to mix things up, or to refresh students' memories in preparation for the AP exam. Answer key included. (4 pages)
• Analytical Writing Assignment: Challenge students to take their interpretations one step further by writing an analytical paper on Toni Morrison's wonderfully complex novel. Let students choose from one of four thought-provoking sample topics — or invite them to develop a similar topic of their own. Rubric included. (4 pages)
• Poetry Pairing: Deepen your engagement with the themes in The Bluest Eye by reading and discussing several poems that touch upon similar themes. Included are a cluster of complex poems by African-American poets Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks. Discussion questions and answer keys are included. (30 pages)
This entire 170-page unit will come to you in two separate formats: Word doc *and* PDF. Because the Word doc is fully editable, you'll be able to CUSTOMIZE the materials to suit 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 the entire unit as a PDF — which is easy to navigate and quick to print!
If you have any questions while teaching The Bluest Eye, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I love hearing from teachers who share a passion for great literature. Wishing you an amazing experience with Morrison's powerful novel!
Happy teaching!
Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.
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!
Rigorous Resources is your one-stop shop for resources on American literature. Every unit was created by a Ph.D. in English with a research specialization in American literature. Feel free to check out these complete units on canonical texts by diverse American authors:
Complete Unit on Tommy Orange's There There
Complete Unit on Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Complete Unit on Frederick Douglass's Narrative
Complete Unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
Complete Unit on Nella Larsen's Passing
Complete Unit on Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
Complete Unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun
Complete Unit on Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese
Their Eyes Were Watching God DISCUSSION QUESTIONS | 90 Pages of Questions + Answer Key!
By Rigorous Resources for High School English
This 90-page EDITABLE document features discussion questions for every chapter of Zora Neale Hurston's literary masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God. This discussion-based curriculum promises to elicit dynamic engagement from all students without compromising on intellectual rigor. The discussion questions will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!
Here's what you'll get in this 90-page resource:
• Discussion Questions: Inside are 9 double-sided handouts, each with 8-12 discussion questions per 20-page section of Zora Neale Hurston's novel. The discussion questions are so detailed and thorough that they'll set your students up to hold consistently engaging and thought-provoking discussions. Every discussion question is grounded in concrete textual details and challenges students to arrive at lucid interpretive insights!! (20 pages)
• Answer Keys: You will also get an answer key featuring in-depth answers to almost every discussion question. The answer key has been informed by articles and books by Hurston scholars such as Henry Louis Gates Jr., Mary Helen Washington, Hazel Carby, Carla Kaplan, and others. Of course, there is rarely a single "correct" answer for any question. Rather, the discussions questions are designed to foster lively exchanges and interpretive debates among students. (60 pages)
• Quick Writes: A "quick write" can be used at any time in a class to get students to pause and reflect on the text in writing. Introduce a quick write before you begin a discussion to allow students to collect their thoughts. Or roll one out toward the end of a discussion to let students capture and refine their best ideas. (9 pages)
The discussion questions and answer key will come to you in a 90-page EDITABLE Word document that you can customize for your teaching style! The questions lend themselves to a range of different pedagogical uses: 1) to focus students’ thinking prior to beginning a discussion, 2) to prompt in-class writing, 3) to assign written reflections for homework, etc.
The previews for my resources provide access to dozens of pages of actual content. Click on the green “PREVIEW” button to see what you’ll get. . . .
Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!
Happy teaching!
Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.
Note: These discussion questions are also included in my Their Eyes Were Watching God MEGA-Bundle. The bundle contains everything you'll need to deliver amazing lessons on Hurston's novel: over 165 pages of content-rich handouts and activities. If you've already purchased the bundle, you do not need to purchase these discussion questions.
Click to view the Their Eyes Were Watching God MEGA-Bundle
Click to view my TeachShare store
HIGH SCHOOL POETRY UNIT | 3 Weeks of Lesson Plans | 60+ Poems in 12 Packets!
By Rigorous Resources for High School English
UPDATED FOR THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR: Finally, a poetry unit designed for high-school English that teenagers genuinely love!! Your students' skills in close reading and literary analysis of poems will skyrocket....
The 3-week unit features 60+ canonical poems written by a diverse spectrum of English-speaking poets. The poems and accompanying lesson plans are organized into 12 thematic packets which can be used in sequence over two weeks. That's over 200 pages worth of editable poetry resources!
This unit promises to elicit dynamic engagement from all students without compromising on intellectual rigor. The discussion questions, quick writes, literary device quizzes, and analytical writing assignments will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!!
Here are some highlights from this editable 200-page curriculum:
• Homework Packets with Poems (5-6 Poems per Packet): The 12 homework packets contain a total of 71 poems by a diverse range of award-winning poets such as William Shakespeare, John Keats, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Robert Hayden, Theodore Roethke, Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, Mary Oliver, Gary Soto, Li-Young Lee, Ada Limón, Elizabeth Acevedo, and others. The poems are collected into ten reading packets that focus on prominent literary devices and themes: 1) poems using sensory imagery, 2) poems using figurative language, 3) love poems, 4) poems on ethical dilemmas, 5) poems on complex parent-child dynamics, and 6) poems on cultural identity. Because teenagers have a lot to say about these themes, the poems will set the stage for your class to have fascinating and profoundly productive discussions!! (75 pages)
• Literary Devices Glossary: A glossary with definitions and examples of the various types of figurative language, imagery, stanzas, and syntactic devices. Many teachers already have a glossary of literary devices, but I'm providing this in case you need one. (2 pages)
• Literary Devices Quizzes: A total of ten quizzes, each with 10 questions about a wide range of literary devices: metaphor, personification, symbolism, imagery, alliteration, etc. Open each class with a quiz to assess whether your students can accurately identify the literary devices used in the poems from the homework packets. Answer keys included. (24 pages).
• Discussion Questions: This bundle features a list of discussion questions for the first poem in each of the homework packets. The discussion questions will ensure that every class discussion starts on a productive foot. Every discussion question is grounded in concrete textual details and challenges students to arrive at lucid interpretive insights! The questions lend themselves to a range of different pedagogical uses: 1) to focus students’ thinking prior to beginning a discussion, 2) to prompt in-class writing, 3) to assign written reflections for homework, etc. Guaranteed to elicit student engagement and foster deep thinking! Answer keys included. (60 pages)
• Quick Writes: The quick writes give students an opportunity to capture and refine the best ideas generated in the discussion. Quick writes can also help reticent students to gather their thoughts so they'll feel ready and eager to contribute. (24 pages)
• Analytical Writing Assignment: Challenge students to take their interpretations one step further by writing an analytical paper on a poem of their choice. The assignment sheet contains detailed instructions for how to generate a formalist analysis of a poem (analyzing how the poem's formal features contribute to its meaning). This kind of formalist analysis is exactly what students are asked to generate on the AP Literature exam! Sample paper included. (15 pages)
This entire resource packet will come to you in two separate formats: Word docs *and* PDFs. Because the Word docs are fully editable, you'll be able to customize the materials to suit the skill levels of your students — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access all of the materials as PDF documents — which are easy to navigate and quick to print!
My store is called “Rigorous Resources” because all of the resources contain rigorous content that will motivate students to engage in thought-provoking and productive discussions. Thank you for choosing Rigorous Resources.
Happy teaching!
Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.
Should you prefer to purchase the poetry units individually, here are links to the five poetry units:
Poetry Unit #1: Sensory Imagery in Poetry
Poetry Unit #2: Figurative Language in Poetry
Poetry Unit #3: Love Poems
Poetry Unit #4: Poems on Ethical Dilemmas
Poetry Unit #5: Poems on Family Relationships
Poetry Unit #6: Poems on Cultural Identity
U.S. Women's History Reading Worksheet Bundle: 1600-1920 * U.S. History * ELA
By Christa Nonnemaker
This Teaching Bundle includes nine Reading Assignments and Worksheets from 1600-1920:
* Native American Women Reading Assignment and Worksheet
* Colonial Women Reading Assignment and Worksheet
* Women of the American Revolution Reading Assignment and Worksheet
* Early Women's Rights Movement Reading Assignment and Worksheet
* Women during the Civil War
* Women during the Industrial Revolution
* Women's Suffrage Movement
* Women during the Progressive Era
Each Reading Assignment and Worksheet is designed to take one class period, or portion thereof (30-50 minutes) or for students to complete on their own as independent study or to complete as homework. These close reading assignments will help students learn more about women's contributions in American society as well as the challenges that women faced during each of these eras.
Worksheets provide students with an opportunity to reflect on their reading. Worksheets are available as a printable or as a digital option through Easel.
Other American Women's History Series Reading Assignments and Worksheets are available:
* Women in the 1920s: Reading Assignment and Worksheet
* Women during the Great Depression: Reading Assignment and Worksheet
* Women during WWII: Reading Assignment and Worksheet
Or buy the entire bundle:
U.S. Women's History Reading Assignments and Worksheets: 1600-1945