Students watch the 1963 film adaptation and complete a "Movie vs. Book" chart that asks them to record similarities and differences in characters, setting, theme, and plot. Students answer journal questions asking which omitted scenes were too critical to the novel's major theme and why. The lesson directs students to note added or changed scenes (for example, a comical Piggy scene and the omitted Ralph-officer conversation) and to look for subtext and how filmmakers convey characters' thoughts without an omniscient narrator.

The lesson explicitly teaches allusion and asks students to research the Magi, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon using linked biblical and informational texts. Students are instructed to write sentences describing the historical significance of these figures and to explain why the author alludes to them and how that knowledge contributes to understanding the story. The lesson's homework and parent-plan answer key show students connecting those references to the story's closing comparison of Della and Jim to the Magi.

Students research Alice Walker's biography and complete an "Author's Biographical Data Sheet" recording parallels between Walker's life and elements of "Everyday Use." Students investigate quilt-making traditions using provided web links and complete a "Quilted Heritage" page describing how quilts reflect lives and culture. Students identify and explain symbolic objects and character traits on a "Symbolism" page and rewrite a scene from another character's point of view to explore how background and perspective change meaning.

Students compare the printed short story "Harrison Bergeron" with the 2009 film adaptation 2081 (Activity 2) and complete a student activity page that asks them to identify scenes the director added, altered, or deleted. Students list changes in characters (appearance, age, behavior) and discuss significance, note which concepts are emphasized more in the film than in the text, and evaluate the director's interpretation. Discussion prompts ask students to explain why the filmmaker changed Harrison's speech and the execution scene, and the lesson's "Things to Know" explains adaptation decisions filmmakers make (theme emphasis, scene/character cuts, film techniques).

Students are asked in Activity 2 to read Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Counting-Out Rhyme" and explicitly answer how the poem is similar to and different from traditional counting-out rhymes, prompting comparison between Millay's poem and the traditional source. The Parent Plan and answer key for Activity 2 guide students to note that the poem's rhythm is similar to traditional counting-out rhymes while its subject matter and lack of end rhyme differ. The introduction also asks students to compare versions of the folk ballad "Lord Randall" (audio vs. printed) and to consider why oral tradition produced variations.

Students identify and interpret specific references that originate outside the poem: they map the captain to Abraham Lincoln and the ship to the United States in Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" and label the poem an extended metaphor. Students research cultural/historical allusions in Roy Helton's "Old Christmas Morning," answering questions about elderberry bushes, animals bowing, and Appalachian Old Christmas traditions and explaining how those references aid understanding. The activities require students to locate symbols, summarize literal meaning, and explain how allusions and background information contribute to a poem's meaning.

Students are directed to complete a "Symbols or Allusions" box on the Poetry Map for Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking" and are explicitly told to "be sure to look up the reference to Bluebeard." Students are asked to identify and annotate allusions and symbols as part of the explication process and to note historical references (for example, the Historical Note about William Blake in the "Poetry Puzzle" activity). Students also practice annotating poems (e.g., the sample annotation of "Ozymandias") which includes labeling themes and references.

Students read poems that were explicitly inspired by specific works of visual art (e.g., "The Great Wave," "The Dance," and "Ode on a Grecian Urn") and complete an Ekphrasis Analysis chart asking what the poem says about the artwork and how the poem changes its meaning. The prompt asks students to define ekphrasis and to ask how the poem both reflects the original visual work and becomes a "fresh, new portrayal," directing students to analyze transformation. Students also compare traditional sonnet forms with later variations (e.g., Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth") and identify ways poets tweak or diverge from conventional source material and forms.

The Parent Plan's Skills list explicitly names the standard "Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work." Choice 7 asks students to compare Bob Dylan's lyrics to the literary tradition of past winners and to read supporting and critical articles, which could prompt comparison of later work with an earlier tradition. Choice 5 (Poetry Explication) asks students to identify symbols, allusions, and layers of meaning, which gives students practice locating intertextual references.

Students read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and complete the "People of the Past" activity in which they identify historical and religious figures King references (e.g., Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; the Apostle Paul; Socrates; the early Christians) and match those figures to quotes from the letter. The Parent Plan explicitly notes that one rhetorical tool King uses is drawing comparisons to historical and religious figures and directs students to identify those figures and write descriptions of who they were to understand King's references. Students also answer questions about King's persuasive arguments and rhetorical strategies in the letter.

Students read and compare excerpts from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. in Activities 1 and 2, using a three-column table (Thoreau / Overlapping Ideas / King) and highlighting parallel phrases. Students are asked to explain overlapping ideas, analyze similarities and differences on topics (America, role of government, voting), and read excerpts from Thoreau for homework. The lesson text explicitly notes that King was inspired by Thoreau and prompts students to identify areas of agreement and disagreement between the two authors.

Students are asked to compare an allusion in A Long Way Gone to the allusion in "The Gift of the Magi," noting how references to the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon differ (Questions to Discuss). Students also complete the "Wiesel's Words" activity in which they choose and explain which Elie Wiesel quotation best applies to Beah's memoir, connecting another author's statements to Beah's text. The lesson includes prompts that ask students to cite specific pages and examples when supporting their conclusions about these intertextual connections.

Students are asked to identify examples of allusion in two works (Part III, Question 2) and the fill-in-the-blank section defines allusion explicitly. The poetry review (Day 2) lists "presence of symbolism or allusion" as an analysis target, and the Nonfiction review explicitly tells students they may be asked to explain how Thoreau's writing influenced Martin Luther King, Jr. The discussion prompts also ask students to explain how one author influenced or drew on another (e.g., Thoreau and King) and to compare genre conventions across works.

Students are asked to read the author's introduction and complete an "About the Author" page that includes the question, "How was Ender's Game partially inspired by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov?" The lesson's "Things to Know" and review sections explicitly note that Card was inspired by Isaac Asimov and by military stories, and Activity 1 directs students to research Card's influences and historical context. The Parent Plan repeats that students should identify Asimov's influence and Card's sources for military ideas.

Students read background materials on John Locke and Demosthenes and watch a short presentation, then write a journal entry explaining the links between those historical figures and the pen names Locke and Demosthenes used by Peter and Valentine. The Parent Plan instructs students to produce a theory explaining why Peter chose those names and notes the irony between Locke's philosophy and Peter's ambitions. In Activity 2, students match famous quotes about leadership to characters in the novel and explain how each quote applies, connecting historical ideas to characters' actions and rhetoric.

The lesson's Activity 2 is explicitly titled "Lord of the Flies vs. Ender's Game" and directs students to compare and contrast the two novels using categories such as setting, leadership, and theme. The activity sheet and prompts ask students to analyze shared themes (e.g., innate savagery, fear of an imagined threat), to consider how settings shape each novel, and to evaluate how fear and power operate in both texts. The wrapping-up language also asks students to consider portions of Ender's Game that "touch on themes found in Lord of the Flies."

Students are instructed to compare Ender's Game to a movie or Marvel comic adaptation: Option 1 directs them to "choose a scene to compare to the book's version... Take notes on the differences. Consider what information or dialogue was omitted or changed." Option 2 requires using a "Comic Adaptation" activity page to note what narration or dialogue was omitted or changed and whether the comic communicated the omitted material through pictures. The Parent Plan skill explicitly states students will "Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment."

Students watch a video summarizing Campbell's 12-step "hero's journey" and record the steps in their journals. They choose six steps and fill a graphic organizer describing specific parallels between those steps and events in Ender's Game. The parent-plan examples explicitly map many hero's-journey stages (Status Quo, Call to Adventure, Trials, Return, New Life, etc.) to moments in the novel.

Students research NATO and the 1955 Warsaw Pact, color and sort member countries, and are asked to list two key similarities and two key differences between the historical Warsaw Pact and the fictional Second Warsaw Pact and to answer why the author might have used this historical reference (Box 8). Students choose six "hero's journey" steps and draw parallels between each step and events in Ender's Game, then create a storyboard illustrating those parallels (Box 6). Students also rework dialogue to insert historical quotes into scenes (Box 4), which requires imagining how source material or famous sayings could be adapted into the novel's conversations.

Students watch Malcolm Gladwell's TED talk in which he takes the Bible story of David and Goliath and re-examines it, and they are instructed to jot down what they already know about the story before viewing. After the video, students discuss guided questions asking how and why Gladwell's interpretation challenges the traditional view, in what ways David had advantages, and what Gladwell means by the quote about Goliath's strength being his weakness. The lesson also notes that Gladwell uses other researchers' studies in Outliers to draw conclusions, and students begin reading chapters of Outliers that rely on those studies.

Students re-read the Introduction and identify how Gladwell defines "outlier," noting he provides dictionary definitions and a figurative definition on specific pages. Students analyze the Roseto study as an analogy and explain how Gladwell uses that study to argue for looking beyond individuals to culture and background. Students explain the origin of the phrase "Matthew Effect," compare the Bible verse to Gladwell's usage in the chapter, and are prompted to consider an alternate Bible translation for clarity.

Students summarize the focus of Sections 1–3 and answer guided questions that ask them to explain how Gladwell introduces Bill Joy, why Joy is omitted from Section 2, and how Section 3 applies ideas from Section 2 to Joy. Students analyze the order and structure of Gladwell's argument by completing the "Looking Closely" worksheet and explaining why Gladwell pauses the narrative to present scientific studies. Students read Sections 4–6 and mark key opportunities for The Beatles or Bill Gates, then create a visual that connects those examples to the chapter's larger ideas.

Students read Chapter 7 of Outliers and an external blog that criticizes Gladwell's use of evidence (Activity 4). They identify the blog author's main objections (misquoting the crash report, omitting transcript lines, failing to note that much of the crew conversation was in English, and not interviewing Korean pilots) and summarize those objections orally or in writing (Activity 5, Option 1). In Option 2 students complete a chart that records each criticism, how Gladwell responds, and evaluates the effectiveness of his responses, explicitly focusing on Gladwell's use and representation of source materials.

Students are asked to identify literary devices including allusion and to locate quotes from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address that exemplify those devices. The student activity page and answer key explicitly identify the line "...but let us judge not, that we be not judged." as an allusion to Matthew 7:1 and explain that it appeals to the Christianity of northerners. The lesson defines allusion and directs students to analyze the intended effect of that reference on the audience.

Students read multiple primary and secondary accounts of the Sand Creek Massacre and match secondary-source claims to supporting primary-source quotations (the completed graphic organizer and activity instructions). Students imagine being screenwriters adapting Chivington's testimony, selecting quotes to include and explaining why (Parent Plan description), and they create or write media pieces (split-perspective magazine cover or an editorial) that transform source material into new texts. Activities ask students to identify inconsistencies across sources and to analyze testimony for possible falsehoods.

The lesson explicitly states that Lorraine Hansberry got the title for A Raisin in the Sun from Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem" and quotes the line "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?" Students are instructed to "Think of this as you read Act I," linking the play to that source. Multiple activities center on the play's theme of dreams, which echoes the poem's central question.

Students are asked to notice and interpret a direct allusion when Act II Scene 1 makes a reference to Prometheus and the discussion question asks, "Why does George call Walter Prometheus?" Students also read excerpts from Lorraine Hansberry's To Be Young, Gifted and Black and respond to prompts that ask them to connect those autobiographical passages to characters and themes in A Raisin in the Sun (e.g., which character a quotation might describe and how Hansberry identified with Beneatha).

Students read Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem" and are told Hansberry used a line from it as the play's title and epigraph, establishing the poem as the play's source. Activity 1 directs students to examine the poem closely and "how it relates to the play," including defining "dream deferred," identifying similes in the poem, analyzing the final line "Or does it explode?", and choosing a play character to explain which poem comparison best describes that character's deferred dream. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill "Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material" and the Introducing the Lesson statement says students will analyze the relationship of the play and the poem.

Students watch the 2016 movie adaptation of August Wilson's play Fences and are told that much of the movie's dialogue is taken directly from the play. Activity 3 asks students to watch an interview in which Denzel Washington and Viola Davis compare doing the play versus the movie and to write at least three insights about the characters from that interview. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill of analyzing a subject or key scene in two different artistic mediums, signaling attention to differences between stage and film representations.

Activity 3 directs students to read excerpts of Ovid's "Pyramus and Thisbe" and complete a side-by-side "Pyramus and Thisbe Excerpt" activity sheet that asks them to note similarities with Romeo and Juliet. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill "Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material" and the lesson provides specific examples and teacher notes listing parallels (secret relationship, meeting at a tomb, misunderstanding, dual suicides). The student worksheet and accompanying notes require students to identify corresponding plot events and themes between the two texts.

Students watch Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film version and the Globe Theatre performance and complete a "Two Versions" comparison chart that asks them to note "Major changes from the original play" and "How characters are portrayed." Students are instructed to choose three specific areas of difference (e.g., use of color, portrayal of Mercutio, portrayal of Friar Lawrence) and write a three-paragraph analysis using the APE method, providing specific examples from both productions. The homework and checklist require each paragraph to include specific information or examples from both productions and an explanation of the significance or effect of those differences.

Students are asked to compare Romeo and Juliet with Pyramus and Thisbe (multiple-choice Question 7) and to give examples of similarities/relations between the two. The discussion prompts include an adaptation task asking students what they would change if they set A Raisin in the Sun in a current time period, which requires students to propose transformations of a source text. Several discussion questions (e.g., Part IV D/E) ask students to compare thematic elements and character perspectives across works such as Ender's Game and Romeo and Juliet.