This site has a free download copy of a program that allows the user to create graphic 

organizers; it also has sample classroom ideas.

This site is maintained by Henry Rusche of Emory University. This site is called Shakespeare 

Illustrated and it links Shakespeare with the artwork that is inspired by his lines or plays. 

Many plays are listed. There is also information about the artist as well as the play or line 

and Shakespeare. "Shakespeare Illustrated, a work in progress, explores nineteenth-century 

paintings, criticism and productions of Shakespeare's plays and their influences on one 

Title: A Brief Outline of Medieval English Literature
Annotation: Overview of the major characteristics of Medieval English Literature with links 

Annotation: Summary of the life and works of John Donne with links to sites that can 

Assignments

Work in groups of four. Using the Web sites listed below as your resources, each of you is to

read a short story or poem of Poe’s and write a news article based on it’s theme. Information 

about Poe that you find in the biographies you read on-line can also be alluded to (see extra 

credit).  The four articles from each group will be combined into a newsletter and then will 

be copied and shared with the rest of the class. See attached example of newsletter and 

directions for creating the masthead and adding clipart.

Extra Credit: Find three references to Poe’ background/history in the newsletter example. 

Extra credit will be given for similar allusions in your newsletters.

Poe Sites

II. Writing Assignment: Mini-Research Paper

You are to find information from the Internet, Reference CD’s, and traditional sources about

one of Poe’s contemporaries and write a short paper which includes biographical information, 

famous works written, description of one work, and a discussion of that author’s contribution

to writing and/or writing style. Your paper must include a bibliography. You will need to search for the correct way to cite a Web Page.

Internet Search Strategies

who fall in the same general time frame as Poe.

III. PowerPoint Presentations

• Complete the research on one of Poe's contemporaries as described above.

• Using the "American Writers Unit Fact-Gathering Questionnaire", you will create a

  multi-media presentation in PowerPoint

Presentation must include all information gathered on the questionnaire.

• Presentation will also include a title slide, pictures gathered from the Internet, and a 

• reference slide to cite your sources.

• See PowerPoint Evaluation form for the specific criteria and grading points for each

Fact-Gathering Questionnaire

Student Name/Date ________________________________________

Date born ________________ Where? __________________________

Who were Poe’s parents and what did they do?______________________

_________________________________________________________

Who raised Poe?_____________________________________________

What was Poe’s childhood like? _________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Tell about Poe’s education _____________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Whom did Poe marry and when?_________________________________

Why did Poe have difficulty keeping a job? _________________________

_________________________________________________________

What was Poe most recognized for during his lifetime? ________________

_________________________________________________________

First published work/date _____________________________________

Three most famous works _____________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Contribution(s) to literature ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

1. _______________________________________________________

2.________________________________________________________

3.________________________________________________________

What is the controversy regarding Poe’s death? ___________________

_________________________________________________________

What mystery still surrounds Poe today? (hint:: graveyard) _____________

Newsletter Directions

Microsoft Word 97

1. Change Margins:

1. File menu, Page Setup, Margins tab

2. Change all four margins to .5 (half inch), OK

2. Use Word Art for Masthead:

1. Insert menu, Picture, Word Art -OR- click on the WordArt tool on the Drawing 

   Toolbar

2. Choose style, OK

3. Type in text, choose font style & size, OK

4. Word Art toolbar appears for editing Word Art

3. Wrap Text Around Word Art:

1. Click on Word Art to get handles

2. Right click, Format Word Art, Wrapping tab, choose style

4. Volume/Date:

1. Move cursor past Word Art (If WordArt moves with the cursor instead of staying 

   in place, go to Format, WordArt, Picture tab, uncheck the box that says "Move with 

   text")

2. Type Volume number, set right tab at 7.5 on the ruler, tab over, type a date

5. Add a Border Line:

1. Turn borders on with the Tables & Borders button

2. Choose a line style, click on the Border button, choose the bottom border

6. Add a Break:

1. Insert menu, Break

2. Choose Continuous (use Show/Hide button to check)

7. Change to Columns:

1. Format menu, Columns

2. Pick a Preset or indicate number of columns, check to add a line if desired, OK

3. At bottom of dialog box, where it says Apply To: select This Point Forward

8. Add Pre-written Articles:

1. Insert menu, File

2. Change to the correct drive, double-click on the folder with the document in it

3. Double-click on the file name

9. Add Clip-art:

1. Insert, Picture, Clipart

2. Choose category and picture, click on it, OK

10. Add a Saved Picture:

1. Insert, Picture, From File

2. Change to the correct drive next to where it says Look in: (ex., A Drive for Floppy Disk)

3. Double-click on the folder with clip-art in it (ex., Graphics folder)

4. Change viewing mode in dialog box to Preview to see pictures of the clip-art

5. Click on the file name, click on Insert button

6. Size graphics at handles (double-arrow)

7. Move graphics from center (four-way arrow)

1. Format Articles:

1. Highlight titles, bold, center

2. Highlight article text, full justify, change font style & size as desired

2. Even Out Columns:

1. Place cursor at the end of the last article

2. Insert Menu, Break, Continuous

3. Add names of group members to bottom in small print, Print Preview & Print

• File, New

• General Tab - new template should be there. Double-click to open

• When students save individual copies, go to File, Save. Word should save directly to the 

  My Documents folder and save as a regular document

• File, Open

• Change to Template folder: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates

• If cannot see template, change to ALL FILES where it says "Files of type"

• Double-click filename to open

• Make changes, Save, says yes to saving changes

________________________________

Names of group members: __________________________________, ______________________________, __________________________, ______________________________ Date: _____________________

Name of Newsletter: ________________________________________

Criteria Point Value Pts. Earned

Newsletter includes four articles based on a

story or poem by E. A. Poe 50 _________

number

Newsletter includes clipart and looks neat

and readable 15 _________

All articles are clear, understandable and

are error-free 20 _________

Articles include hidden clues about Poe. extra credit _________

Total Points _________

Newsletter strengths: ________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Suggested Improvements: ____________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Additional Comments: _______________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Name: _______________________________ Date: ________________

Members of Group: __________________________________________

____ The newsletter includes four articles based on a story or poem by

E.A. Poe.

____ The articles include hidden facts about the author (extra credit).

____ The newsletter includes a masthead, and volume number, etc.

____ The newsletter includes clipart and looks very neat and readable.

____ Every member of the group read two other articles to check for

spelling, punctuation and clarity.

____ I contributed as much as other members of the group.

____ I felt I had to do more work than the others to finish the project.

____ I contributed less than the other members.

____ I felt that all of the other members of the group contributed their share.

____ I felt that one or more members did not contribute as much effort.

The most interesting thing I learned while doing this project. ____________

___________________________________________________________

What I would do differently next time to improve the project. ____________

___________________________________________________________

Comments to the teacher. __________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

___________________________

American Writers Unit

Technology-Connected Lesson Plan

Curriculum Areas: Language Arts, 6-12

Lesson Objectives/QCC’s Covered (http://www.glc.k12.ga.us)

• Reads and responds to short stories, tales, poems…

• Is familiar with the structural elements of literature (e.g., plot, characterization, 

  mood)

• Uses research process: selecting topic, choosing sources, paraphrasing, note-taking, 

  organizing, summarizing, and presenting.

• Organizes, selects, and relates ideas. Develops them into coherent, multi-paragraph 

  compositions.

• Refines all areas of the writing process including prewriting, drafting, revising, 

  editing, proofreading, and publishing.

• Writes in narrative, descriptive, persuasive, and expository modes…

• Uses precise punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and other elements of manuscript 

  form.

• Use reference CD-Roms for individual research and whole-group fact gathering

• Use MS Word to create Newsletter

• Use the Internet for research

• Use Inspiration to write an outline for the research paper or multi-media presentation

• Use Word to write a report with bibliography -OR- Use PowerPoint to create a class 

  presentation of researched author

• An assessment form will be used to assign points for each grading criteria

• A self-evaluation handout will be completed by each student to rate individual and 

  group paticipation.

• Students will be introduced to E. A. Poe using a reference CD in a whole-group activity

• Students will fill in a fact-gathering handout about an author during a small-group 

  activity using a reference CD and the Internet

• Students will each write a short news article from a short story written by Poe using 

  Word

• Students will work in groups of four to create a newsletter in MS Word which combines 

  the individual articles, and includes a masthead and clipart

• Students will do further research individually and in small groups using additional 

  reference CD’s and the Internet

• Students will outline their papers or presentations using Inspiration mapping software

• Students will write individual reports with bibliographies using Word -OR- Students 

  will create a multimedia presentation to show to the class using PowerPoint

• Scan converter for whole-group instruction

• Reference CD-Roms (sign out from media center)

• MS Word software on classroom computer(s) and in media center (or in lab)

• Internet connection (reserve media center computers)

• Inspiration software

• Word processing software and PowerPoint (reserve computer lab)

• Handouts: fact gathering questionnaire, assessment form, self-evaluation form, assignment 

  sheet with newsletter example, newsletter directions sheet, sample PowerPoint presentation

___________________________________

British Author Project

Create a PowerPoint presentation of at least 25 slides that analyzes one of the following 

authors and their works. Be sure to do all of the following in your presentation:

• Make reference to the time period in which they are writing: list important literary 

  events, cultural events, and historical events. Show how the time period is reflected in 

  the author’s writing.

• Create a graphic organizer to summarize the poem or story.

• Analyze and evaluate the author’s works; Identify and explain all literary elements, 

  style and important techniques the author uses.

• Include at least 5 quotes from a critical reference source that support your analysis 

  of the author’s works.

• Include at least 5 quality websites containing relevant information about the literary

  pieces you are evaluating.

• Your last slide should be a works cited page (use proper MLA style).

• Supply the class with a handout of questions that they can answer as they listen to 

  your presentation (one page, front only, typed).

   

• Jonathan Swift (3)

Gulliver’s Travels: Part I&II

A Modest Proposal

• Alexander Pope (3)

From The Rape of the Lock

From An Essay on Man

Heroic Couplets

• Robert Burns (2)

To a Mouse

Green Grow the Rashes, O

A Red Red Rose

• William Blake (2)

The Tyger

The Lamb

The Chimney Sweeper (Innocence)

The Chimney Sweeper (Experience)

• William Wordsworth (2)

Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey

Composed upon Westminster Bridge

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge (3)

Kubla Khan

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• Percy Bysshe Shelley (2)

Ode to the West Wind

Ozymandias

To a Skylark

• John Keats (2)

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Ode to a Nightingale

• Alfred Lord Tennyson (2)

Tears, Idle Tears

The Eagle, A Fragment

from In Memoriam A.H.H.

Crossing the Bar

• Robert Browning (2)

My Last Duchess

Porphyria’s Lover

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning (2)

select 4 sonnets from Sonnets from the Portuguese

• A.E. Housman (2)

When I was One -and-Twenty

To an Athlete Dying Young

Is My Team Ploughing

• Gerard Manley Hopkins (2)

Spring & Fall : To a Child

Pied Beauty

God’s Grandeur

Spring

• Thomas Hardy (2)

Channel Firing

Ah, Are You Digging My Grave

The Man He Killed

______________________________________________

Group:____________________ __________________________

_________________________ __________________________

A. Analysis of works (20pts) ___________

Comments:

B. References to time period (15pts) ___________

Comments:

C. Graphic organizer (10pts) ___________

Comments:

C. Literary elements/style/techniques (20pts) ___________

Comments:

D. 5 quotes (10pts) ___________

Comments:

E. 5 websites (10pts) ___________

Comments:

F. Class handout (10pts) ___________

Comments:

G. Works cited (5pts) ___________

Comments:

Total: ___________x 3 = ________

 

___________________________________________

American Writers Unit

• Includes all information on fact sheet 50 points __________

• Includes a title page 5 points __________

• Includes a time line of 5 important dates

created in Organizational Chart 10 points __________

• Includes three additional graphics from

Clipart and Internet 5 points __________

• Uses proper spelling, punctuation,

word usage, etc. 10 points __________

• Last slide cites resources used 10 points __________

• Follows guidelines for whole group

presentations (See attached guidelines) 10 points __________

TOTAL POINTS __________

Teacher's Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Note: Grades will be on a regular curve where 90-100 points = A, 80-89 points =B, etc.