Maine High School English: Text Analysis and Essay Writing Units
Maine High School English: Text Analysis and Essay Writing Units
Maine high school English teachers who need ready analysis and writing units can get nine of them, from characterization and rhetoric to Macbeth and Orwell's 1984, in the High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle for $109.99. It is especially useful for teachers new to the subject or covering a vacant section. It is not written for Maine's standards.
View the nine ELA unitsThe High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle ($109.99) gives a Maine English teacher nine units on close reading and writing about texts: analysis vocabulary, characterization, argumentative essays, political cartoons, political speeches and rhetoric, Macbeth, Orwell's 1984, the American Dream, and listening and viewing comprehension. It is a literature and writing strand you can teach as written, not a complete four-year program and not built on the Maine Learning Results.
The resources
High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle, Grades 9–12
9 resources in one download: $109.99 instead of $224.91 bought separately.
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle | Fiction, Speeches, Essays, Macbeth & 1984 | 9 Units | Grades 9–12
English Language Arts Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for High School ELA (Grades 9–12)
English Language Arts Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for Middle School ELA
Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
The real problem
Staffing, snow and a wide range of readers
Maine DOE names teacher shortage areas every year, and its 2024-2025 list included middle and secondary English language arts. That list decides which endorsements qualify for emergency certification, so some Maine English classrooms are led by teachers in their first years, by teachers certified in another subject, or by long-term substitutes covering a vacancy. Any of them may be handed a junior class and a reading list with little else. Winter makes planning harder. The state sets a 175-day minimum, and a remote day can be counted only if the school board approved it in advance within a cancellation waiver, so a stretch of snow days can push an essay unit into the next marking period. Classes also mix readers widely. Maine DOE uses the term multilingual learners, and ESOL teachers hold the 660 endorsement, but in many schools the English teacher works with these students most of the day. Maine publishes its standards under the Maine Learning Results name; confirm the current ELA standards with Maine DOE and your district. What teachers need in the meantime is units with a clear path from reading a text to writing about it.
Why it fits
What the units bring to a Maine English classroom
Each unit stands alone, so you can drop one into the course your department already runs.
- Analysis vocabulary and operators unit gives students shared terms before any essay is assigned.
- Characterization and fiction analysis unit works with whatever short stories or novels your school already owns.
- Argumentative essay unit takes students from planning to a finished multi-paragraph argument.
- Macbeth and 1984 units give a planned path through two texts many departments already teach.
- Political speeches and cartoons units build rhetoric skills useful in civics and election seasons.
- Listening and viewing practice pack supports students who understand more when they hear the text.
Getting started
Building a semester around the bundle
A suggestion for a Grade 10 or 11 English class. Adapt it to your department's reading list.
- Week one: the language of analysisStart with the analysis vocabulary unit so every student, including multilingual learners, has the words they need to talk and write about a text with some precision.
- Characterization with your class textApply the characterization unit to a short story or novel you already teach. Students practice making claims about characters and supporting them with evidence from the text.
- Drama or dystopia as the core textTeach Macbeth or the 1984 unit as the semester's main text. Choose based on what your school has in the book room and what students read in earlier grades.
- Speeches, cartoons and argumentMove to political speeches and cartoons, then close the sequence with the argumentative essay unit, so students argue a position using the rhetorical tools they just studied.
- Keep a snow-day bufferHold the American Dream unit or the listening and viewing pack in reserve. Either can absorb lost days without breaking the main essay sequence you planned for the semester.
What to buy
Bundle or complete curriculum
Buy the High School ELA Text Analysis & Writing Bundle at $109.99 if you already have a course and need strong units for analysis and essays; the nine units cost $224.91 one by one. If you need a structured program for Grades 9–12, ELA Complete – High School costs $149.90, or $189.90 with the Teach-Life-Balance course, and covers literary analysis and writing for Grades 9–12. A colleague in Grades 6–8 can use ELA Complete – Middle School at $149.90. Two Complete Curriculum packages bought together qualify for code TEACHMORE15, which does not apply to the bundle.
Honest limits
What to check before you plan with it
This bundle is not written for Maine. It carries no Maine Learning Results codes and is not reviewed by Maine DOE or any district, so compare each unit with your district's English course outcomes. Nine units are a strand, not four years of English. You supply the full texts of novels and plays, such as Macbeth or 1984, and any independent reading. The licence is for your own classes; for a whole English department, send Teach Lessons a message first. Within 7 days of purchase you can swap it for store credit of equal value; there is no cash refund.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is the bundle aligned with Maine's ELA standards?
No. It is not aligned with, endorsed by or reviewed against the Maine Learning Results or any district's English curriculum. The skills are common in high school English, but check each unit against the current ELA standards from Maine DOE and your department's course outcomes before counting it toward them.
I am teaching English on an emergency certificate. Will this help?
That is one of the situations it suits. The bundle is meant to be taught as written, so you can follow each unit in order while you learn the course and build your own notes. Talk with your department head about where each unit fits, and keep your district's curriculum as the guide for what must be taught.
Does it include the full text of Macbeth and 1984?
The bundle gives you units built around these texts, not printed editions of the play or the novel. You will need class copies from your book room or library. Check what your department already owns before choosing which of the two to teach this year, and order copies early if your book room is short.
Does it work for multilingual learners?
It helps in a general classroom: the analysis vocabulary unit gives shared terms, and the listening and viewing pack supports students who follow spoken English more easily. It is not an ESOL program, so work with your school's ESOL teacher on additional support for students who are early in English.
What happens to my plan after a run of snow days?
Each unit stands alone, so you can shorten or move one without breaking another. Whether any remote work counts as a school day depends on your board's approval and the state waiver process. Ask your district before assigning work for a closure, and keep one printed unit ready for the weeks right after.
How do I get the files?
Right after purchase you receive a download link by email, and the files stay in your customer account under Orders. Everything is digital, so you can print handouts or show the materials on screen the same day. Nothing ships by mail, and the files stay available in your account later.
Nine ready units for your English classroom
See the unit list and sample pages on the product page.
View the nine ELA units