Free 9th Grade Literature Printables

Print these fun bookmarks on colored or white cardstock and provide them to your students. The goal is to challenge the students to read and keep up with the number of books they read. Once they have finished a book, they are to color it to reflect they have finished the book.

You may also choose to laminate and them and have them use a permanent marker to cross out the emoji.

This lesson was designed to be used on the first day of a year-long 11th-grade American Literature course. The lesson includes a poetry packet with 7 poems by diverse American authors. Each of the poems raises important questions about what "America" represents. A land of freedom and equality? A refuge for immigrants? A diverse and inclusive nation? Or a land with entrenched inequality? A saber-rattling evil empire?

Here is a list of the poems:

1. Ada Limón, "A New National Anthem" (2018) — our new Poet Laureate!

2. Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" (1883)

3. Walt Whitman, "I Hear America Singing" (1860)

4. Langston Hughes, "I, Too" (1923) — responding directly to Whitman!

5. Claude McKay, "America" (1921)

6. James Lasdun, "The Question" (2012) — is America "good or bad"?

7. Tony Hoagland, "America" (2003)

This resource also comes with a classwork packet that features discussion questions on the poems by Ada Limôn, Emma Lazarus, and Langston Hughes. The discussion questions come on three handouts, each of which contains 7 questions about a particular poem. Each handout also has a quick write where students can answer one of the questions in writing.

How might the concept of "America" represent a set of ideals and promises? Has this nation lived up to its ideals and promises? How might the idea of America be different from the reality?

Thank you for choosing Rigorous Resources!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

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Rigorous Resources is your one-stop shop for resources on American literature. Every unit was designed by a Ph.D. with a research specialization in American literature. Feel free to check out these complete units on canonical texts by diverse American authors:

Complete Unit on Tommy Orange's There There

Complete Unit on Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Complete Unit on Frederick Douglass's Narrative

Complete Unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Complete Unit on Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Complete Unit on Nella Larsen's Passing

Complete Unit on J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye

Complete Unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

Complete Unit on Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

Complete Unit on Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese

This is a graphic organizer for A Midsummer Night's Dream that helps students to track the highly confusing "love arrows" between the four young lovers. You can give this to students at the beginning of the play and ask them to track the love arrows as they read. My students have told me that this simple worksheet has helped them tremendously to keep the characters straight!

Answer key with brief explanations of arrow changes is also included for your reference.

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⭐ This product is included in A Midsummer Night's Dream Literature Guide ⭐

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Also, check out these great products by Language Arts Excellence to complement your unit on A Midsummer Night's Dream:

⭐ Shakespeare ESCAPE ROOM

⭐Introduction to Shakespeare Powerpoint

⭐Shakespeare Scavenger Hunt

⭐Elizabethan England Differentiated Mini Unit

⭐ A Midsummer Night's Dream Bell-Ringer Prompts

⭐A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay Prompts

⭐A Midsummer Night's Dream Socratic Seminar Lesson Plan

⭐A Midsummer Night's Dream Anticipation Activity

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