Fantasy is currently one of the most popular genres across every platform in fiction. From film to gaming to literature, fantasy tops the charts. Why? Why do people who believe in democracy and live with the magic technology appear to long for wizards and dragons and the matters of kingship? In this class, we will explore this question, and from that base read articles, novels, write exercises and stories in this genre.

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.

This article provides links to lessons and units about birds, bird characteristics, and penguins. Ideas for literacy integration are included, and all lessons are aligned to national standards.

This lesson plan asks students to read To Kill A Mockingbird carefully with an eye for all instances and manifestations of courage, but particularly those of moral courage.

This course examines major works by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner, exploring their interconnections on three analytic scales: the macro history of the United States and the world; the formal and stylistic innovations of modernism; and the small details of sensory input and psychic life. WARNING: Some of the lectures in this course contain graphic content and/or adult language that some users may find disturbing.

Judith Priestman, curator of the Bodleian library, discusses the World Book Day 2010 exhibition, where a selection of J.R.R. Tolkien's original artwork which was used to illustrate The Hobbit, was on display to the public. This podcast is part of the Literature, Art and Oxford series from Oxford University.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn how to analyze characters in stories, reread Why Is Coco Orange?, and complete a journal entry.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson lets students learn about air quality, how to analyze characters in a story, and how to tell a story about the impact of air quality on human health. This lesson has passed the science review process and is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson allows students to explore their own personality traits and relate them to the characters in the story.
-This lesson shows students the best ways to support their classmates who have asthma.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Students should be familiar with the vocabulary in the story. You can use the vocabulary words slideshow with your students to review the words or play games with the words.
-Analyzing the characters in Inside Out is an easy way for students to begin practicing character analysis.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-You can choose to read the book aloud to your students, watch the video read aloud as a class, or have students read the story independently or in groups.
-You could print the vocabulary cards for students who need to refer to them during the read aloud.
-Students could read their journal entries to the class after they have finished. Some students may want to share their own journeys with asthma or how they are supporting friends and family with asthma.
-Students who finish early could conduct more research on ozone and its impact on the respiratory system.

Students compare and contrast genres with a civil rights theme. Full details are in the Google Doc.

International Women’s Voices has several objectives. It introduces students to a variety of works by contemporary women writers from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and North America. The emphasis is on non-western writers. The readings are chosen to encourage students to think about how each author’s work reflects a distinct cultural heritage and to what extent, if any, we can identify a female voice that transcends national cultures. In lectures and readings distributed in class, students learn about the history and culture of each of the countries these authors represent. The way in which colonialism, religion, nation formation and language influence each writer is a major concern of this course. In addition, students examine the patterns of socialization of women in patriarchal cultures, and how, in the imaginary world, authors resolve or understand the relationship of the characters to love, work, identity, sex roles, marriage, and politics.

Through their interpretation of primary documents that reflect Victorian ideals, students can learn the cultural expectations for and limitations placed on Victorian women and then contemplate the writer Charlotte Brontes position in that context. Then, through an examination of the opening chapters of Jane Eyre, students will evaluate Jane's status as an unconventional Victorian heroine.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson introduces students to air quality.

SCIENTIST NOTES: The lesson introduces to students to basic knowledge on air quality and how it is interpreted using the AQI. This lesson is void of any scientific misconceptions. Thus, it is recommended for classroom use.

POSITIVES:
-Journaling is great for students to reflect and explore how they feel about air pollution.
-Why Is Coco Orange? is a great book for students to build empathy for those with underlying health conditions.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-It may be best to split students who read the book and students who watch the read aloud video. Perhaps these two groups can use two separate spaces if possible.
-Students will use these journals throughout this entire unit. Students could create new journals or use journals that they use all year or for different subjects.
-"Air pollution" is kind of a catchall term, referring to things like ozone, particulate matter, and even greenhouse gases. This can be tricky for elementary students to sort out. The purpose of this lesson is for students to learn that breathing in the pollutant ozone is harmful to their health.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-You can have students complete the KWL chart in groups instead of a whole class. One student can act as the scribe while the group discusses.
-You can assign students to read the book or watch the read aloud video, depending on their strengths and weaknesses.
-You can provide sentence stems for weaker students when they are journaling. For example, if they select option #1 - written reflection - you can provide them with the following sentence stems:
-Today I learned that...
-I am thinking...
-I am feeling...

In this lesson, students learn about archetypes and spend time analyzing their use in both traditional and modern stories.

Drama combines the literary arts of storytelling and poetry with the world of live performance. As a form of ritual as well as entertainment, drama has served to unite communities and challenge social norms, to vitalize and disturb its audiences. In order to understand this rich art form more fully, we will study and discuss a sampling of plays that exemplify different kinds of dramatic structure; class members will also participate in, attend, and review dramatic performances.

This course investigates the uses and boundaries of fiction in a range of novels and narrative styles--traditional and innovative, western and nonwestern--and raises questions about the pleasures and meanings of verbal texts in different cultures, times, and forms. Toward the end of the term, we will be particularly concerned with the relationship between art and war in a diverse selection of works.

This course investigates the uses and boundaries of fiction in a range of novels and narrative styles--traditional and innovative, western and nonwestern--and raises questions about the pleasures and meanings of verbal texts in different cultures, times, and forms. Toward the end of the term, we will be particularly concerned with the relationship between art and war in a diverse selection of works.

This course investigates the uses and boundaries of fiction in a range of novels and narrative styles, traditional and innovative, western and non-western, and raises questions about the pleasures and meanings of verbal texts in different cultures, times, and forms.

This course offers an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of videogames as texts through an examination of their cultural, educational, and social functions in contemporary settings. Students play and analyze videogames while reading current research and theory from a variety of sources in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and industry. Assignments focus on game analysis in the context of the theories discussed in class. Class meetings involve regular reading, writing, and presentation exercises. No prior programming experience required. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.

Students align original FSA photographs from the 1930s and the author's own journal entries, to trace parallel elements John Steinbeck then incorporated into passages in The Grapes of Wrath.

This article sets an historic context for Jules Verne's novel Captain Hatteras (1866), and presents an overview of day-to-day survival on the typical 19th century arctic voyage portrayed in this fictional account.

In this curriculum unit, students will explore how Chopin stages the possible roles for women in Edna's time and culture through the examples of other characters in the novella.