This site provides a selection of major authors and works associated with English literature, ranging from Geoffrey Chaucer to Sir Isaac Newton. Each author's page contains online texts of the author's works, essays about the author and works, a biography, memorable quotes, and much more. Most also include a clip of music from the author's period.

This lesson plan incorporates art, drama, social studies, and language arts. Students use recycled paper and boxes to create a castle, then use it as inspiration to write and act out their own play. (To access this lesson plan, you must register with Crayola.com. Registration is free and takes only a few moments to complete.)

By closely reading historical documents and attempting to interpret them, students consider how Arthur Miller interpreted the facts of the Salem witch trials and how he successfully dramatized them in his play, "The Crucible." As they explore historical materials, such as the biographies of key players (the accused and the accusers) and transcripts of the Salem Witch trials themselves, students will be guided by aesthetic and dramatic concerns: In what ways do historical events lend themselves (or not) to dramatization? What makes a particular dramatization of history effective and memorable?

The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

This unit uses William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing as a vehicle to help students consider how a person is powerless in the face of rumor and how reputations can alter lives, both for good and for ill. They will consider comedy and what makes us laugh. They will see how the standards of beauty and societal views toward women have changed since the Elizabethan Age and reflect on reasons for those changes. As students consider the play, they will write on the passages that inspire and plague them and on topics relating to one of the themes in the play. Finally, they will bring Shakespeare’s words to life in individual performances and in group scene presentations.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing .
Students read two Shakespearean sonnets and excerpts from an Elizabethan morality handbook dealing with types of women, and they respond to them from several different perspectives.
For each work of literature, students do some writing. They learn to write a sonnet; create a Prompt Book; complete a Dialectical Journal; and write an analytical essay about a topic relating to a theme in the play.
Students see Shakespeare’s play as it was intended to be seen: in a performance. They memorize 15 or more lines from the play and perform them for the class. Students take part in a short scene as either a director or an actor.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

What are society’s expectations with regard to gender roles?
Does humor transcend time? Do we share the same sense of humor as our ancestors?
How do we judge people?
How important is reputation?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT (Cold Read)

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

CLASSROOM FILMS

The Branagh version of Much Ado About Nothing is available on DVD through Netflix and for streaming through Amazon. Other versions are also available on both sites.

In this lesson, students will revise the final couplet of their sonnet, learn more about the characters in Much Ado About Nothing, and begin their Dialectical Journal. Finally, they will use their developing understanding of iambic pentameter to analyze Shakespeare’s language choices.

This site, by the author of a workbook on the craft of writing, is filled with essays about many elements of dramatic writing, from the principles of storytelling, to plot development, to character development. There are also numerous reviews of movies, novels and plays.

Sonnets presented in three parts, and excerpts from two plays are here in three different audio formats. RL.11-12.7 Multi Interpretations

Multiple text versions of all of Shakespeare's works, including Folio, Quarto, and/or modern versions of some (Click on "A full list of the plays and poems, in their various versions"). Part of a larger site about Shakespeare containing a variety of information about him and his work.

This Nobel Foundation profile of writer George Bernard Shaw is organized into the following sections: "Presentation Speech," "Biography," and "Other Resources."

For more than 400 years, Shakespeare's 37 surviving plays, 154 sonnets, and other poems have been read, performed, taught, reinterpreted, and enjoyed the world over. This Teacher's Guide includes ideas for bringing the Bard and pop culture together, along with how performers around the world have infused their respective local histories and cultures into these works.

Access the complete works of William Shakespeare - all his plays, sonnets and other poetry - with a lot of interesting tools to aid in serious studies of the Bard's works. Each of the works is completely searchable. In addition, the site offers a concordance which allows users to trace all uses Shakespeare made of any particular word. Users can also view sonnets individually, or choose any two to examine side by side.

Explore this comprehensive site featuring lesson plans about Shakespeare's plays and life in Elizabethan England.

A past exhibition that offers a fascinating look at the African tradition of mask-making and masquerades. Includes colorful photos and information, to spark children's creativity.

This lesson is designed to apply Common Core State Standards and facilitate a comparison of informational texts and primary source material from the Scottsboro Boys trials of the 1931 and 1933, and the fictional trial in Harper Lee's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird (1960).

Discover major events in William Shakespeare's life through The Intersection of Art and Life, an interactive timeline. The timeline spans from Shakespeare's birth in 1564 to the post-mortem publication of his First Folio in 1624. Explore the impact of personal events on the poet and playwright's masterpieces and watch segments from film adaptations of his plays.

As one of literature's most iconic figures, both Shakespeare's plays and poetry provide an interesting glimpse into a variety of essential themes. In this lesson, students will examine how Shakespeare used the sonnet tradition to enhance his stagecraft by performing a scene from his play Romeo and Juliet.

A biographical sketch introduces this translation of The Swan Song. Multiple formats of the text can be accessed from this page.

In 1691, a group of girls from Salem, Massachusetts accused an Indian slave named Tituba of witchcraft, igniting a hunt for witches that left 19 men and women hanged, one man pressed to death, and over 150 more people in prison awaiting a trial. In this lesson, students will explore the characteristics of the Puritan community in Salem, learn about the Salem Witchcraft Trials, and try to understand how and why this event occurred.