Louisa May Alcott Teacher Resources

What did Jo write her stories with? How did the March sisters dress? A primary source set designed for Louisa May Alcott's Little Women prompts learners to look over images of household items and clothes from the 1860s before engaging in...

Louisa May Alcott longed to fight in the Civil War to end the scourge of slavery, but like most nineteenth-century women, was relegated to the ranks of wartime nurses and seamstresses. Learners watch a short dramatization of Alcott's...

Readers may not immediately think of transcendentalism when they consider Little Women, but its tenets of self-reliance, civil disobedience, and progressivism were major influences on Louisa May Alcott and her body of work. Learn more...

High schoolers discuss the life of Louisa May Alcott and create an outline of a biography of her life and times.  In this Louisa May Alcott lesson, students explore the Transcendentalist involvement in the abolitionist movement, relating...

Students discover the life and work of an American author, either Samuel Clemens or Louisa May Alcott. In this study of visual and written portraits lesson, students take a look at the authors through four different sources: a portrait,...

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...

Whether or not your class is reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, you can use this exercise as the basis of a mini-lesson on how to determine the main idea of a passage or as a pre-test to assess mastery of the skill. A graphic...

Start with the question in mind with a discussion activity on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. With four focus questions, note-taking prompts, and discussion points, readers practice answering thematic questions based on textual evidence.

Louisa May Alcott's third novel about Josephine March, spunky-sister-turned-successful-writer, is the focus of a reading comprehension activity. As class members read an excerpt from the third chapter of Jo's Boys, they answer four...

Pupils explore life of author Louisa May Alcott, define Transcendentalism, discuss the children's books Alcott wrote, read two selections she wrote, and compare the writing style of one of her children's stories with a story she wrote...

Young scholars explore characterization in Little Women. In this literature lesson plan, students participate in written analysis and research in order to explore Alcott's characterization in the novel.

How much of Jo's relationship with her writing is based on Louisa May Alcott's struggle to keep both her artistic integrity and her family finances afloat? Watch a short clip from a longer documentary on the author of Little Women that...

Jo's decision to sell her hair to bringing her wounded father home is a pivotal and poignant scene from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Class members read the excerpt and answer four questions about the details, vocabulary, and plot...

Jo March is all grown up in Louisa May Alcott's Little Men, and a new generation of children is benefitting from her tutelage. Young learners read a passage from the novel before answering four comprehension questions about plot details...

Jo's decision not to marry her childhood friend Laurie broke the hearts of many readers—but it also represented Little Women's successful break from traditional nineteenth-century gender roles. A short clip illustrates Jo's desire to...

Students examine the life of author Louisa May Alcott. In groups, they analyze the book "Little Women" discovering why she worte it and identifying the characters and settings. They use the internet to examine how the books can take...

In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 25 multiple choice questions about Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Students may submit their answers to be scored.

The March sisters (Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy) have delighted readers for more 100 years—and they continue gaining young fans every day. An eBook of the classic novel, Little Women, provides a more modern look, but it does so without taking...

Students explore one of America's favorite classic novels, 'Little Women'. They develop an interest in classics, study the author's life and discover which elements of her family history she incorporates into her work. They show how...

As Amy lament's Jo's decision to rid herself of her singular beauty, Marmee puts a hand to her mouth, awed by her daughter's generosity. Watch the pivotal scene from a Masterpiece production of Little Women, and lead a language arts...

Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples for drama...

Young scholars examine the life of Louisa May Alcott. Using the Internet, they examine the types of books and plays she wrote. In groups, they compare and contrast the types of covers used on the various publishing's. They design and...