Writing-Expository Unit Plans

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.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

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

Store: https://www.TeachShare.com/Store/Rigorous-Resources

This World War 2 bundle contains a timeline display and sorting activity, sixteen close reading activities that look at the key leaders and timeline World War II; two biography writing units about Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler; an opinion writing unit about the most influential allied leader; and an informational writing unit about World War II.

34 Lessons, or 34 hours of activities, with NO PREP needed!

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Firstly, there is a great classroom display and sorting activity that is perfect for introducing students to the key events of World War 2. There are 42 posters or cards that include many of the key events from the Second World War. The posters look great as a display in the classroom and the cards are a brilliant introduction to World War II. The displays and cards come both with dates and without dates, so the students can research the dates online before sorting the timeline. The cards look even better when laminated.

Then, there are sixteen close reading activities, or informational texts, about:

1 – The Outbreak of War in Europe

2 – World War II (Overview)

3 – Dunkirk and The Battle of Britain

4 – The Blitz

5 – The Eastern Front

6 – The Attack on Pearl Harbor

7 – The Battle of Midway

8 – The Holocaust

9 – The Surrender of the Axis Powers in Europe / VE Day

10 – The Atomic Bombs and Japan’s Surrender / VJ Day

11 – Winston Churchill

12 – Adolf Hitler

13 – Franklin Roosevelt

14 – Benito Mussolini

15 – Joseph Stalin

16 – Hirohito

These activities require NO PREP and have a body of text that students need to read through thoroughly; then they can use the text to find the comprehension and grammar answers. All texts then have an extension activity, crossword puzzle and wordsearch. Answers, for teacher use, are on the final page of each document.

Secondly, there are two biography writing units about Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler. The units have been split into four separate lessons which will take students approximately 40-50 minutes each.

Then, there is an informational text writing unit about World War II. The unit focuses on key facts about the war, from the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 until the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The unit has been split into three separate lessons which will take students approximately 40-50 minutes each.

Finally, there is a discussion based writing unit discussing who was the most influential leader from the war. The unit has been split into four separate lessons which will take students approximately 40-50 minutes each.

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Other similar or relevant resources:

• World History Resources
• World War 2 Resources
• Distance Learning Resources

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For more great resources follow my store ⇉⇉ CLICK HERE

Also, don't forget to leave feedback to earn TeachShare credits to spend!

These easy to use, no prep, substitution plans give you an ideal back up plan to have ready in your classroom just in case. The bundle contains sixteen close reading activities about key areas and leaders of World War 2, two biography writing units and two informational writing units. Ideal for emergency sub plans in fifth grade or sixth grade.

30 Lessons, or 30 hours of activities, with NO PREP needed!

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Firstly, there are sixteen reading comprehension activities, or informational texts, about:

• The Outbreak of World War II
• An Overview of the War
• Dunkirk & The Battle of Britain
• The Blitz
• The Eastern Front
• Pearl Harbor
• The Battle of Midway
• The Holocaust
• VE Day
• VJ Day
• Adolf HItler
• Winston Churchill
• Franklin Roosevelt
• Joseph Stalin
• Benito Mussolini
• Hirohito

These activities require NO PREP and have a body of text that students need to read through thoroughly; then they can use the text to find the comprehension and grammar answers. All texts then have an extension activity for those fast finishers. Answers, for teacher use, are on the final page of each document.

Then, there are two biography writing units about Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler, and two informational writing units about an Overview of World War II and The Holocaust. The units have been split into three or four separate lessons which will take students approximately an hour each.

Good luck, I hope you find the resource useful!

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Other similar or relevant resources:

• Distance Learning Resources
• Other World War 2 Resources
• U.S. History Resources

⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚⏚

For more great resources follow my store ⇉⇉ CLICK HERE

Also, don't forget to leave feedback to earn TeachShare credits to spend!