High School Fiction Teacher Resources

Did you know that Pocahontas was 12 when Jamestown was established? Did you know that she later married John Rolfe? Did you know that she lived in London for two years? Did you know that she died of small pox? Class members study the...

Kate Chopin's short story, "The Story of an Hour" and John H. Young's "Our Deportment, or the Manners, Conduct, and Dress of Refined Society" offer high school juniors an opportunity to compare the role of women in the 19th century with...

Was he or wasn’t he? We may never know for sure about the origins of King Arthur. But a video that leads middle school and high school viewers through the facts and fictions that have kept King Arthur alive in peoples’ imaginations for...

How can you effectively provide detailed concepts of water properties to your high school class in a way they find exciting and challenging at the same time? By letting them play, of course! Through a variety of experiments, pupils...

Are birds descendants of dinosaurs? Learners consider the question as they watch an informative video comparing fossil records of dinosaurs with current species. Following the video, groups ponder the evidence to draw conclusions about...

Wait, there is an effective way to practice writing dialogue with your high school class? Great! High schoolers will have a blast writing dialogue using a list of potentially silly situations and an image of people talking. Employ the...

During or after reading Catch-22, have your high school scholars complete this research project. First they'll brainstorm a list of people they might like to research, then they'll dive into your library's resources! There are several...

Pupils write a story. In this historical fiction lesson, students research how Thanksgiving began. Pupils write a fictional story where they are a main character of this time period.

Students investigate the experience of Puerto Rican immigrants to America. In this immigration lesson, students research the challenges that Puerto Rican immigrants faced and then write historical fiction selections that reflect their...

Communication is one of the most important aspects of science. In a two-day activity, your high school or college-level biologists will read excerpts from a fictional diary of Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the woman who discovered the...

Examine letters written during war-time. In this cross curricular history and English lesson plan, middle and high school scholars read letters and poems written by soldiers in the Vietnam war. They will examine the perspective and...

It sounds like the premise of a bad, low-budget horror movie: Cannibalistic sea slugs marching up the coast of California destroying the diversity of other nudibranchs. Truth is stranger than fiction, though. Learn about what is causing...

Students read and view information sent from seven high school students who travel to China. The daily reports that they send back to the weblog section of the site should be of high interest to students in Minnesota.

High schoolers read and compare excerpts from The Odyssey and The Adventures of Telemachus. They create an original story based on a secondary character from The Odyssey as well as a sketch of one of the pivotal scenes from the story.

Students analyze ethics issues as they read science fiction works. In this science and ethics lesson, students read science fiction short stories of their choosing, investigate the ethics issues raised in the stories, and present...

A teacher's guide for Kindred provides instructors with a wealth of materials to enrich either a full-class reading or independent study of Octavia E. Butler's popular science fiction novel. The activities are designed to encourage...

The odds are in your favor that your pupils will love this lesson that uses The Hunger Games to launch a study of gender empowerment, as well as the influence of social constructs of gender. Groups discuss how Katniss Everdeen and Peeta...

Everything you wanted to know about the history of English literature and language but were afraid to ask. From Beowulf to Canterbury Tales, the Knights of the Round Table to Robin Hood, Addison, Fielding, Shakespeare, Swift, and many...

Middle schoolers find a historial novel online and distinguish between fiction and nonfiction books. They research three historical events related to their novel and write a letter to a figure from their novel's time period.

Imagine an entire course devoted to dystopian literature. If that concept appeals to you, check out this course that uses 1984 as the anchor text and includes classic short stories as well.

Following directions is an important skill for any grade level. High schoolers work follow directions to an activity that focuses on filling out college and job applications.

The women working for equal rights in the early 20th century weren't a part of one large group; rather, they were members of dozens of small groups focused on social reform. Explore the ways groups in the Progressive Era like National...

Students discuss famous examples of historical fiction as a genre and why it is used so often. They create an original piece of historical fiction by developing a character who is an immigrant to the United States. They are assessed...