Evaluate general reading comprehension, support critical thinking, and promote homework accountability with this bundle of formative assessments covering Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Emissary,” a piece of special appeal to high school students interested in Halloween, supernatural fiction, and the meaningful bond between humans and their pets. A plot-based quiz, a close reading analysis worksheet, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly. By engaging with these materials, students will perform the following tasks: Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly Discern the intended effect of the author’s language in context Consider the effects of the author’s narrative techniques Describe tone in context Verify interpretations of language, using reference materials as needed Examine how characters think, behave, interact, and develop Apply knowledge of literary devices with an emphasis on foreshadowing, personification, onomatopoeia, simile, metaphor, callback, and more Conduct brief research on Halloween’s history to answer a question pertaining to the season’s relevance to the plot Support claims and inferences with relevant evidence and sound reasoning Write about literature with clarity, accuracy, and precision

Evaluate general reading comprehension, support critical thinking, and promote homework accountability with this bundle of formative assessments covering Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Graves and Goblins,” a piece of special appeal to high school students interested in Halloween, supernatural fiction, and the relationship between the living and the dead. A plot-based quiz, a close reading analysis worksheet, the public domain narrative, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly. By engaging with these materials, students will perform the following tasks: Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly Consider the effects of the author’s language and narrative techniques Define complex words as they are used in the text Verify interpretations of language, using reference materials as needed Discern tone in context Classify the narrative as an example of a particular genre Examine how characters think, behave, interact, and develop Apply knowledge of literary devices with an emphasis on metaphor, euphemism, personification, and more

Frontload assigned readings with these vocabulary games and activities to facilitate comprehension of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. Alternatively, stash these materials in an emergency sub folder to keep students meaningfully engaged in the book during unexpected teacher absences. Included are eight vocabulary application activities, eight crossword puzzles, answer keys, and the public domain text. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. A total of 146 challenging words are addressed: abasement, absolved, acquiesce, afresh, alacrity, anguish, appease, ardor, armament, ashen, assent, avarice, badinage, barren, bauble, benign, beseech, brooding, brute, cackle, carafe, celerity, cerebration, chagrin, coarse, conspicuously, consternation, contemptuous, corroborate, decorum, demurely, desecration, desolate, detrimentally, dilapidated, disdain, disheveled, dismay, doggedly, eccentricity, emaciated, engrossed, enigmatical, exquisite, famished, feeble, fervor, fitfully, flourish, furtively, genially, gloomy, gnarled, haggard, harrowing, hasten, haughty, heresy, horrid, humbly, impalpable, imperious, impetuosity, implore, importunate, incite, indifferent, indignation, injunction, insolent, keen, laconically, languid, lethargic, livid, lugubrious, lurid, meekly, melancholy, menial, mirth, multitude, mundane, nebulous, obsequious, obstinately, obviate, odium, omnipotent, pallid, paroxysm, pedantry, perfunctory, peril, phlegmatic, pious, pique, placidly, plaintive, poignant, polyglot, precipice, procure, profuse, prosaic, quaint, redress, remonstrance, reproach, repudiate, resolute, reticent, reverently, salient, salvation, sanctify, saunter, scrutinize, sentimental, serpentine, servile, shrill, sneer, solemn, sternly, stertorous, stupendous, suavely, subdued, sulky, surly, swoon, tacit, tangible, tremulous, uncanny, vague, verbatim, vindictive, vivacity, vivify, vocation, wary, weary, withered, and woefully. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Evaluate comprehension and support the development of close reading analysis skills with this bundle of resources covering chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Dracula by Bram Stoker. A plot-based quiz, close reading worksheets, vocabulary activities, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in printable Word Document and PDF formats. This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly. By engaging with these materials, students will: Identify what the text says both explicitly and implicitly Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences Determine the function of a given excerpt Explore how setting contributes to mood Discern the intended effects of the author’s narrative techniques Examine how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Explain how gender norms of 19th Century England are broken Apply knowledge of literary devices including situational irony, verbal irony, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, metaphor, oxymoron, epiphany, and more Read a portion of Emily Gerard’s “Transylvanian Superstitions” to make sense of a character’s actions and thinking Conduct brief research on gypsies to explain why Harker believes they may be helpful to him Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence Write about Gothic literature with clarity, accuracy, and precision