Classroom

For Grades 9-12. Nine classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia explore the life, work, and enormous cultural impact of J.D. Salinger. Using video from Salinger, discussion questions, activities, a poster, and handouts to further learn about his renowned novel, The Catcher in the Rye and how his life and experiences influenced his writing.

For Grades 9-12. Four classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia explore the life and work of renowned novelist and activist James Baldwin. Using video from James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket and accompanying educational support materials to learn how Baldwin became known as an articulate spokesman for the pain of black Americans and advocate for the brotherhood of man.

For Grades 9-12. Classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia use video from Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea, text, text-dependent questions, interactive vocabulary flashcards and teaching activities to examine author Ernest Hemingway’s life and impact on American literature.

For Grades 9-12. Four classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia use video from The Day Carl Sandburg Died and educational support materials to explore his life, well known poems “Chicago” and “The People, Yes” and his biography of Abraham Lincoln. His work still captures the attention of readers and is as relevant today as it was in the early 20th century.

For Grades 9-12. Five classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia use video from Bill T. Jones: A Good Man, discussion questions, lesson plans, activities and handouts to to investigate the life of Lincoln. Explore the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s production of Fondly Do We Hope, Fervently Do We Pray – a dance performance commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

For Grades 9-12. Three classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia use video from A Fierce Green Fire, discussion questions, activities, and handouts to explore the first Earth Day, climate change, and the environmental movement.

For Grades 9-12. Four classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia use video from Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun, discussion questions, educational activities, and handouts to explore author Zora Neale Hurston’s life and her famous novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.

For Grades 9-12. Two classrooms resources on PBS LearningMedia use video from Phillip Roth: Unmasked and discussion questions to explore the critically acclaimed American novelist’s writing process and critique process.

For Grades 9-12. Twelve classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia that explore the life and work of literary icon, Ralph Ellison. Using video from Ralph Ellison: An American Journey, extra footage, discussion questions, and other educational support materials, learn about Ellison’s legacy and place in the American literary canon and examine his groundbreaking novel, Invisible Man. Videos and resources also include content related to jazz in America, the Harlem Riot, and communism in the US.

For Grades 9-12. Five classroom resources on PBS LearningMedia that explore famous works of literature that embody different American dream stories. Using use video from Novel Reflections on the American Dream , discussion questions, classroom activities, and handouts to examine how novels such as Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Gish Jen’s Typical American and and Ann Petry’s The Street embody the themes of American dream themes of possibility, freedom, and self-made success.