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 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 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 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 byBring a little fog into your AP Literature classroom. This two-day case-file lesson for Stephen King's “Strawberry Spring” asks students to investigate the evidence, commit to a theory, and reconsider what they thought they knew after the ending.The Halloween atmosphere gives students a reason to le
10th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Short Stories
$5.99
Created byTurn Halloween into a Gothic survival game where every choice changes what students know - and how much the house has gotten inside their heads.Would You Survive Gothic Literature? is a one-class-period Halloween ELA activity for grades 9-12. Students work in teams as one fictional heir trapped insi
9th - 12th Literature, Other (ELA)
Also included in: Halloween ELA Activities Bundle | 4 Gothic Games, Mysteries & Simulations
$5.99
Created byLet students picture Poe's palace before they decide what it means. In this two-part lesson, students closely read and draw "The Haunted Palace," then return to the poem to trace its tonal shift, identify its human features, and discover how the palace becomes a picture of Roderick Usher's mind.FULL
8th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Poetry
$4.50
Created byCreate a moody, literary classroom display with 10 Gothic and dark-classic quote posters featuring public-domain quotes from authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Emily Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wilde, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and more.Bring classic literary
9th - 12th Literature, Reading, Other (ELA)
$7.99
Created byKeKeep “The Monkey’s Paw” tense instead of turning it into a worksheet marathon. This two-day secondary ELA lesson uses a few deliberate reading stops, then asks students to go back and examine how W. W. Jacobs builds suspense through warning, irony, pacing, Gothic atmosphere, and ambiguity.“The Mon
8th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Short Stories
$5.99
Created byTeach Saki’s “The Open Window” in one class period without stopping the story to death. Students read the complete story straight through, briefly sort out the ending, and then go back to examine how Vera gets Framton to believe her. Includes the full public-domain text in a beautifully illustrated
8th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Short Stories
$4.99
Created byTeach Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House with a complete novel unit built for 10th Grade English. Students get the support they need to understand what is happening before they are asked to decide what it means.The unit includes lesson slides, an 18-page student packet, an exact filled key
9th - 12th Close Reading, Literature, Novel Studies
$19.99
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.
