This resource is a remix of the EDSITEment! resource found through this link. That lesson does a strong job of placing Chinua Achebe's watershed novel within a particular cultural context. This resource aims to provide teachers and students with choices for comparative literature projects. This resource does not include activities so much as a list of resources that might pair well with a novel that is often difficult for high school students to grasp. 

This unit is a study of the shifts in narrative voice and literary genres that Melville makes throughout Moby-Dick. It serves to introduce students to several unique features of the novel without demanding as much class time as would reading the entire text. The lessons comprise a series of close readings of passages from the novel.

The goal of this activity is for students to learn how to tell a story in order to make a complex topic (such as global warming or ozone holes) easier for a reader to grasp. Students realize that the narrative impulse underlies even scientific and technical writing and gain a better understanding of the role of myth as a "science" of imagination that helps us to gain insight into human motivation.

Out of My Mind is a chapter book that I read aloud to my upper elementary students. It is about a girl named Melody that has an amazing memory. She is extremely bright, but is unable to communicate verbally. She was born with cerebral palsy which affected her speech and her ability to move and function without the use of a wheelchair and communication board. She is very limited in what she can express and do, and for that reason, people treat her as if she is not smart or capable of learning.   

This video is part of the Learn and Grow with WHRO TV series. Watch Alystra Barefoot teach about story elements.

American author Pearl S. Buck spent most of her life in China. She returned to America in 1934, "an immigrant among immigrants"¦in my native land." In this lesson, students will explore American attitudes toward immigration in the 1930s through Pearl S. Buck's essay, "On Discovering America." They will explore the meaning of the term "American" in this context and look at how the media portrayed immigrants.

This guided reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1842) focuses on expanding vocabulary, developing student understanding of imagery and other figurative language, strengthening reading comprehension, and strengthening writing skills.

In this unit, students explore the power of reading and writing around the world. Over the course of the unit, students will grapple with and explore the power involved with education and reading, and why so many people across the world seek the power to read. Students will also discover that not all people have equal access to education and that in many places receiving a high-quality education is not an easy feat. As a connection to the informational unit on continents, when the setting is clearly defined by the author either in the author's note or directly in the text, make sure to reference it and challenge students to notice features of the culture or country. It is important to note that many of the texts in this unit are fiction; therefore, large generalizations about an entire culture or country should not be made based on the books alone. Students should, however, be challenged to think about the ways in which the author portrays the characters' struggles and desire for education and what we can learn from the characters' experiences. It is our hope that this unit, in connection with other units in the sequence, will begin to open students' eyes to the world around us and the ways in which values are similar and different around the world.

In reading, it is assumed that students are inquisitive consumers of the text and are able to retell stories, including key details, using both the illustrations and words as a guide. Therefore, in this unit students will be pushed further to notice more nuanced central messages, particularly related to the idea of education and reading. Students will also be pushed to notice the words and phrases an author includes to suggest feeling and appeal to the senses. In Unit 3, students were exposed to the skill of compare and contrast by comparing and contrasting similar versions of the same story. In this unit, students will be pushed to the next level by comparing and contrasting more nuanced experiences and messages across multiple stories.

In writing, students will continue to write daily in response to the text. In every piece of writing, students should be expected to correctly answer the question and provide details from the text to support their answer. In this unit, students will begin to learn how to explain their evidence and thinking in a way that shows a deeper understanding of the question or text. By the end of the unit, most students should be able to score a 3 on the Reading Response rubric.

This guided reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” (1845) focuses on developing student understanding of imagery and other figurative language, strengthening reading comprehension, and strengthening expository and persuasive writing skills.

This video is part of the Learn and Grow with WHRO TV series. Watch Caroline Doughty teach about metacognition comprehension strategies.

This collection uses primary sources to explore The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, is a CCSS exemplar for grades 11 "“ CCR taught at the upper high school level and in AP English. This three lesson unit looks at a variety of schisms and divisions in the novel. It provides a close reading of the novel by considering Dostoevsky's view of human nature, through his characters; the theoretical division Man v Superman; the societal setting in the novel.

This article highlights science lessons about mammals, mammal diversity and adaptations, and polar mammals. Literacy integrations and alignment to national standards are included.

Some of the most the most essential works of literature in the world are examples of epic poetry, such as The Odyssey and Paradise Lost. This lesson introduces students to the epic poem form and to its roots in oral tradition.

This resource suggests having students provide supplemental materials for a 21st century novel, using a Digital Public Library resource as a model.

This guided reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843) focuses on expanding vocabulary, developing student understanding of imagery and other figurative language, strengthening reading comprehension, and strengthening expository and persuasive writing skills.

Through close readings of Zora Neale Hurston'sTheir Eyes Were Watching God, students will analyzehow Hurston creates a unique literary voice by combining folklore, folk language, and traditional literary techniques. Students will examine the role that folk groups play in both their own lives and in the novel.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.