Benefits:

Students will…read and discuss several blogs by YARN editors; compare and contrast blogs with regard to their purpose, tone, rhetorical strategies, and address of audience; compose their own blog, using what they have learned; become more active blog readers […]

Note to teachers: This originally appeared as a blog post by our Poetry Editor, Colleen Oakley, and we immediately saw its potential for teachers.  It’s not a formal lesson plan, but the ideas in it will help teachers design short writing exercises in the lead-up to a bigger assignment.   Thanks, Colleen, for all this […]

Students will discuss a short story, “In the Spotlight,” and an essay, “Beautiful Trouble,” using critical reading skills, supporting their responses with in-text examples. Students will compare and contrast on several levels: a short story vs. an essay; two different perspectives […]

Students will read published poetry written by students close to their own ages. Students will compare and contrast two poems by the same author, focusing on imagery, mood, and perspective. Students will apply the techniques they have learned in class to write poems of their own.[…]

Inside/Outside: “Fire Escape” by Mitali Perkins

Students will read “Fire Escape” by Mitali Perkins and compare how the roles of being an “insider” and “outsider” are portrayed in the story. Students will reflect on the force of culture in the lives of the characters as well as in their own lives […]

Inference, or Teaching how to Read Between the Lines using “The Weather” by Giulia Caterini.

Many students must be taught how to infer and the difference between an inference an opinion. Students will practice inference by learning to search for clues as they read “The Weather” by combining textual evidence and background knowledge […]