J. R. R. Tolkien
Lesson plans for The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings

|Biography and Background| |The Hobbit| |Lord of the Rings|

Biography and Background

Alphabet Soup: Exploring the World's Different Alphabets
This lesson plan asks students to read a New York Times article about a man who converts the world's alphabets to computer Unicode. After reading it, students research the alphabets of the world.

J. R. R. Tolkien
The author's biography at Wikipedia.

The Tolkien Professor
A professor of medieval literature offers a free series of podcasts on the works of Tolkien.

The Tolkien Society Education Page
Teaching ideas. This page has a few ideas and is interested in hearing yours.

The Hobbit

Glory Road: Epic Romance As An Allegory of 20th Century History
Historical background to and influences on The Hobbit, lesson plans and activities, annotated bibliography.

The Hero's Journey
Links explaining the archetypal journey of the hero and drawing comparisons between The Hobbit and the Odyssey and Indiana Jones. Some documents require MS-Word or compatible application for access.

The Hobbit
This 12-page document addresses 58 vocabulary words drawn from the novel. Adobe Reader or compatible application required for access.

The Hobbit, Study Questions
Four essay/discussion questions and possible answers.

The Hobbit Teachers Guide
Activities to support the novel.

Old Hobbits Are Hard to Break
This standards-based lesson asks students to "role-play advertising executives in an exploration of how films are marketed on the Web to distinct audiences" (from the site).

Lord of the Rings

Character and Society in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
Focus on characters by creating a new hobbit, dwarf, or elf or by choosing an existing character an working through a detailed analysis.

Lord of the Rings Word Search
An online, interactive word search for character names. A good activity for elementary students.

National Geographic, Beyond the Movie Lord of the Rings
From the site: "Discover the history, myth, and cultural forces that inspired The Lord of the Rings and explore the parallels between the imaginary world of Middle-earth and our own." An excellent resource with lots of classroom application.

Screen Play
In this standards-based lesson, "students examine The New York Times' review of the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' as a starting point for learning about the basic elements of scriptwriting. They then act as scriptwriters to adapt scenes from literature into scripts, following a conventional screenplay style and format" (from the site)."

The Sorcerers Shown: Comparing Similar Character Genres in Literature and Film
Designed for grades 6-12, this lesson draws heavily from U. S. popular culture. Students read an article from the New York Times (available at the site) and analyze the relative strengths of various characters.

Teacher's Guide for The Lord of the Rings
Separate guides for The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.