Created byFree Comma Rules Guided NotesHelp students follow along with comma instruction using these free guided notes covering seven common comma rules.Students fill in key terms, complete quick checks, and add commas directly to examples as they work through the notes. The format gives students enough struc
7th - 11th English Language Arts, Grammar, Writing
Free
Created byTeach rhetorical appeals and devices without stopping at simple identification.The Art of Persuasion is a ready-to-use secondary ELA mini-unit that helps students understand how speakers and writers influence an audience—and why their rhetorical choices matter.Students begin with an accessible Feel
9th - 12th English Language Arts, Reading, Writing
$9.50
Created byNeed a quick way to introduce Gothic literature without turning it into an elements checklist? This free Gothic literature activity pairs a student-friendly field guide with a continuous public-domain excerpt from Edgar Allan Poe's “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Students identify details that cre
8th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Reading
Free
Created byVirginia Woolf’s “A Haunted House” fits easily into part of a class period, but the shifting pronouns and two couples can make the first read confusing. I revised this activity after using the story with my own AP Lit students and seeing where they lost the thread. The first five questions help stud
10th - Higher Education Close Reading, Literature, Short Stories
$3.00
Created byTeach A Doll's House with a complete, coordinated unit that helps students understand what is happening in the play before asking them to make larger claims about character, power, marriage, identity, and Ibsen's dramatic choices.The unit begins with a spoiler-light ethics pre-reading activity and a
10th - 12th Literature, Drama
$32.99
Created byStudents can find a quotation—but can they explain why it matters? This free, 30-minute literary analysis mini-lesson helps students in grades 9–12 move beyond plot summary and develop commentary grounded in specific textual details.Students work with a short model and two original literary passages
9th - 12th Literature, Writing
Free
Created byStudents can recognize an eerie setting—but can they explain how a writer creates that feeling? This FREE Gothic literature mini-lesson helps students in grades 9–12 analyze how word choice, ordinary details, and uncertainty make a setting feel unsettling.Students begin by comparing two descriptions
9th - 12th Close Reading, Literature
Free
Created byStudents often write discussion questions that ask classmates to recall what happened rather than interpret the text. This mini-lesson helps them develop questions that invite different interpretations and require supporting evidence.This free 45-minute mini-lesson uses an excerpt from Frank R. Stoc
9th - 12th Literature, Reading
Free
Created byStudents often begin a personal narrative or college essay with a topic that is too broad to describe in detail. This free mini-lesson helps students in grades 9–12 find a specific moment within an experience, plan what happened, and begin writing a scene.Students first compare broad topics with mor
9th - 12th Writing
Free
Created byStudents sometimes describe what characters say without explaining how a conversation develops characterization. This free mini-lesson gives students a focused opportunity to examine dialogue, repetition, silence, and actions in a scene from O. Henry's “The Gift of the Magi.”Students first read the
9th - 12th Literature
Free
Created byGive students the mythological background they actually need for Sophocles' Antigone without turning the unit into ten unrelated mythology reports. In this collaborative research project, groups investigate one focused topic, teach the class the most useful background, and then students keep using a
9th - 12th English Language Arts, Literature
Also included in: Antigone Bundle | Greek Tragedy, Mythology, Context & Analysis
$4.50
Created bySixty question comprehensive test on prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Meant to accompany a unit on Antigone, but could be used any time to teach prefix, suffix and roots. Common core aligned, Also helpful for SAT prep. Included is a chart with many different roots.
8th - 10th English Language Arts, Vocabulary
$3.00
Created byIf your students jump into Antigone without enough context, the opening scene can feel confusing from the start. This resource gives them the background that matters most—without turning pre-reading into an overlong mythology lecture.Students work through the House of Thebes family tree, the key Oed
9th - 12th Literature, Drama
Also included in: Antigone Bundle | Greek Tragedy, Mythology, Context & Analysis
$4.50
Created byIntroduce Edgar Allan Poe with a concise biography and background lesson that gives students the literary context they need before reading his stories and poems. Rather than turning Poe’s life into a list of sensational facts, this lesson connects his biography to the themes, techniques, and literar
8th - 12th Literature, Poetry, Reading
Also included in: Edgar Allan Poe Unit Bundle | Background, The Raven & House of Usher
$5.00
Created byWhich character best fits the tragic-hero idea in Sophocles' Antigone? This post-reading lesson asks students to build the strongest case for both Antigone and Creon before they decide. Students compare the characters' choices, warnings, reversals, recognition, responsibility, and final costs, then
9th - 12th Literature
Also included in: Antigone Bundle | Greek Tragedy, Mythology, Context & Analysis
$4.50
Created byTeaching “The Fall of the House of Usher” is difficult for one simple reason: students cannot analyze what they cannot follow. Poe’s prose is dense, the plot is strange, and the story’s best ideas only land when students know what is actually happening.This 8–9 day guided-reading unit gives students
9th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Reading
Also included in: Edgar Allan Poe Unit Bundle | Background, The Raven & House of Usher
$7.50
Created byHelp students understand what happens in “The Raven” before asking them to interpret its symbolism and psychological horror.This close reading mini-unit follows Poe’s poem chronologically, with a stanza-numbered reading text, vocabulary support, a student analysis packet, and coordinated lesson slid
8th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
Also included in: Edgar Allan Poe Unit Bundle | Background, The Raven & House of Usher
$5.99
Created byGive students the background they actually need to enter Sophocles’ Antigone, then bring them back to the text for allusions and post-reading analysis.This four-resource bundle combines Greek theater and tragedy background, story-specific pre-reading context, a collaborative mythology/allusions proj
9th - 12th Literature, Writing, Drama
Antigone Greek Mythology Background Project | Allusions Research & Presentations
Antigone Pre-Reading Background | Oedipus Family Tree, Context, Guided Notes
Antigone Tragic Hero Analysis | Antigone vs Creon | Literary Analysis Lesson
Greek Theater & Tragedy Background | PowerPoint, Guided Notes & Teacher Guide
$18.00
$14.50
Created byTeach a complete Edgar Allan Poe sequence with three coordinated resources that move from author background into close reading of “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Raven.” Together, the resources provide approximately 2½–3 weeks of instruction for grades 9–12, depending on class length and h
9th - 12th Literature, Poetry, Short Stories
$18.49
$14.99
Created byStudents can follow what happens in “House Taken Over” and still miss the strangest part: Irene and the narrator barely resist as their world gets smaller. This lesson sequence slows the story down, makes the house and both takeovers concrete, and then moves students into ambiguity, evidence, and in
9th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Short Stories
$6.99
Created byBefore students begin A Doll's House, give them a chance to wrestle with some of the ethical questions they will encounter in the play - without telling them how those questions connect to Nora.Students respond to eight short scenarios involving secrecy, forgery, debt, loyalty, control, marriage, re
9th - 12th Literature, Reading, Drama
Also included in: Literature Pre-Reading Simulations Bundle | Critical Thinking Activities
$5.99
Created byBefore students meet Antigone and Creon, give them a chance to decide what they think about family loyalty, public order, conscience, community, and personal safety.Students work through eight modern ethical scenarios, make a choice before discussion, record what mattered most, and return to those s
9th - 12th Literature, Reading, Drama
Also included in: Literature Pre-Reading Simulations Bundle | Critical Thinking Activities
$5.99
Created byBefore students meet Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, East Egg, or West Egg, give them a social system to navigate.In Who Gets In?, students take on one of six fictional social profiles. Each profile begins with a different mix of money, family name, connections, education, and reputation. Students may improve o
9th - 12th Literature, Novel Studies, Reading
Also included in: Literature Pre-Reading Simulations Bundle | Critical Thinking Activities
$6.99
Created byBefore students meet Caesar, Brutus, or Cassius, place them inside a republic trying to decide how much power one successful leader should be allowed to hold.In WHO SHOULD HOLD POWER?, students take on one of six civic positions in the fictional Republic of Valeria. A respected general, Cassian Varo
9th - 12th Literature, Reading, Drama
Also included in: Literature Pre-Reading Simulations Bundle | Critical Thinking Activities
$6.99
After 24 years in the English classroom, I know how valuable it is to have resources that are thoughtful, practical, and ready to use. Plotting Something is built around the kinds of materials I’ve always wanted at my fingertips—resources that give students meaningful work without creating more work for the teacher.
Here you’ll find materials for literature, rhetoric, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and more. Everything is designed to spark thinking, encourage discussion, and help you make the most of your classroom time.
Literature-rich lessons, engaging classroom activities, and thoughtfully designed teaching resources for secondary English teachers.
