African American Dreams: Visual and Verbal

This resource pairs visual and written primary resources. The works of art with have been chosen from the American Art collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The written selections include poems, speeches, and other historical documents. Combining images with words provides students with multiple learning pathways for explorations of art, history, and language.

Material Type: Primary Source, Reading, Visual Media

Author: VMFA Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Beloved by Toni Morrison

This collection uses primary sources to explore Toni Morrison's Beloved. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Melissa Strong

Emily Dickinson:Simplicity of Language--A Life in Isolation

Objective: Interpret figures of speech through drawing inferences from Emily Dickinson's diction. Big Idea: Literal meaning and implied meaning can create confusion in readers; Dickinson's poetic descriptions of common things illustrate this to provide understanding for students. Students will utilize speaking, listening, reading, writing, and audio-visual medium, and then synthesize sources to demonstrate understanding of figures of speech through a homework writing assignment.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

This collection uses primary sources to explore The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Samantha Gibson

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

This collection uses primary sources to explore John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Franky Abbott

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

This collection uses primary sources to explore Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Samantha Gibson

The Poetry of Emily Dickinson

This collection uses primary sources to explore the poetry of Emily Dickinson. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Melissa Strong

The Poetry of Maya Angelou

This collection uses primary sources to explore the poetry of Maya Angelou. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Susan Ketcham

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

This collection uses primary sources to explore Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Franky Abbott

Commonsense Composition

This textbook follows California Language Arts Standards for grades 9-12 to provide a generalized understanding of composition and to serve as a supplementary aid to high school English teachers.

Material Type: Textbook

Author: Bruno, Crystal

The Glyfada Method: A Writing Process

The Glyfada Method is a formula to help students write essays by focusing on the most difficult part of an assignment: getting started. This method helps the writer discover what their main points are and what they have to say about each main point.

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy, Textbook

Author: Mitchell, Linda C.

Hacking the Writing SOL: Body Paragraphs

This resource is a quick reference guide for students as they develop body paragraphs in response to persuasive writing tasks, such as the Writing SOL Short Paper. The resource includes various strategies that students can use for elaborating on ideas and exemplar paragraphs based on a released SOL prompt.

Material Type: Lecture Notes, Student Guide

Authors: Margaret Harris-Shoates, Margaret Harris-Shoates

Hacking the Writing SOL: Conclusions

This resource is a quick reference guide for students as they use effective conclusion strategies while crafting essays in response to persuasive writing tasks, such as the Writing SOL Short Paper. The resource includes various strategies that students can deploy when concluding an essay and an exemplar paragraph based on a released SOL prompt.

Material Type: Lecture Notes, Student Guide

Authors: Margaret Harris-Shoates, Margaret Harris-Shoates

Composition I Anthology

This Composition Reader is an edited, curated collection of OER material for you to use as you see fit in your course.  It consists of personal essays, literature, video and audio files, web writing, and long-form journalism.

Material Type: Full Course, Textbook

Developmental Writing

This course introduces students to the writing process as a means of developing ideas into clear, correct, and effective writing.

Material Type: Full Course, Textbook

Hacking the Writing SOL: Introductions

This resource is a quick reference guide for students as they craft effective introduction paragraphs in response to persuasive writing tasks, such as the Writing SOL Short Paper. The resource includes essential components, stylistic options, guiding questions, and an exemplar paragraph based on a released SOL prompt.

Material Type: Lecture Notes, Student Guide

Authors: Margaret Harris-Shoates, Margaret Harris-Shoates

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This collection uses primary sources to explore F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Susan Ketcham

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

This collection uses primary sources to explore Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior. 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.

Material Type: Primary Source

Author: Franky Abbott

Animal Farm: Allegory and the Art of Persuasion

Allegories are similar to metaphors: in both the author uses one subject to represent another, seemingly unrelated, subject. However, unlike metaphors, which are generally short and contained within a few lines, an allegory extends its representation over the course of an entire story, novel, or poem. This lesson plan will introduce students to the concept of allegory by using George Orwell’s widely read novella, Animal Farm, which is available on Project Gutenberg.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Individual Authors

Browning's "My Last Duchess" and Dramatic Monologue

Reading Robert Browning's poem "My Last Duchess," students will explore the use of dramatic monologue as a poetic form, where the speaker often reveals far more than intended.

Material Type: Lesson Plan