Real-World Nonfiction Connections Bundle: Thoreau, Douglass & Chopin

Make reading classics relevant to secondary students with these real world nonfiction connections. With these three lessons, help your students meet the expectations of Common Core Standards by guiding them through close readings of texts that vary by genre, time period, and author; then help them construct connections with engaging nonfiction texts.

Paired texts include the following: an excerpt from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass & The New York Times online article “Malala Yousafzai, Girl Shot by Taliban, Makes Appeal at U.N.”; excerpts from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden & Associated Press online article “Tiny House Movement Thrives Amid Real Estate Bust”; Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and The Washington Post online article “Study Suggests You Can Die of a Broken Heart.”

Each lesson culminates in either a writing task that imitates the style of the PARCC prototype or another writing activity. Many of the activities are creative, differentiating for students’ interests and abilities. These lessons incorporate all strands of the Common Core English Language Arts (ELA) Standards.

Each Real-World Nonfiction Connections resource includes the following:

explicit lesson plan with identified Common Core ELA Anchor Standards

handouts with before-, during-, and post-reading strategy activities

sample texts

links to online texts

graphic organizers

essay prompts

rubrics

answer keys (with detailed responses for all activities and sample essays)

If preferred, you may access each nonfiction connection lesson separately:

Nonfiction Connections

Consider these other engaging writing lessons:

Writing Lessons

And here are more reading lessons:

Reading Lessons

Meaningful and Memorable English Language Arts by © OCBeachTeacher

All rights reserved by author.

Limited to use by purchaser only.

Group licenses available.

Not for public display.