Curated OER
Design a Book Cover
Class members take on the role of graphic designer and craft a cover for a book they are reading. Individuals formulate a proposal outlining the images they will use to not only grab the interest of readers, but hint at the mood and...
Curated OER
Peer Editing
Sudents read and critique three of their fellow classmates' science fiction short stories on three consecutive days for mechanics, short story elements, style, and informational elements.
Curated OER
Writing with Writers
Students participate in Writing with Writer's, a step-by-step set of directions aimed at improving different genres of student writing. They identify the characteristics of different genres and follow a specified writing process to...
Curated OER
Teaching a Short Story
Young scholars work in small groups and prepare an analysis of a short story to be presented to their peers. They research the story and create a handout or a visual aid that cites sources of information and summarizes the main points...
Curated OER
Land Use Over Time
High schoolers view aerial photos and topographic maps of their local area. They compare and contrast major land use patterns over time by comparing these images to maps that are at least 50 years old. They analyze them using the four...
Curated OER
Writing a Children's Book -- Young Authors
High schoolers practice their writing skills by creating a children's book. They integrate five elements of short stories into the narrative. They share their stories with their book buddies.
Curated OER
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Students use reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, written expression to write in journals as reading "Holes" by Louis Sachar. Some days are set aside for tests and/or food tasting.
Curated OER
Meet the Press
Students give their book reports as oral "Meet the Press" type interviews. They team up with another student "reporter" and answer questions about main idea, details, and the point of view.
Curated OER
Teachers See the Truth but Wait: Teaching Short Stories with Literature Circles
Students use literature circles to analyze four short stories from the Realms of Gold, Volume 3. In this literature circle lesson, students are assigned a role in the literature circle to improve their critical thinking skills for...
Curated OER
Writing a Tall Tale
Learners study the various aspects of tall tales. They read various tall tales and discuss the characteristics and literature aspects of tall tales. Students write their own unique tall tales.
Curated OER
Good Brother, Bad Brother
Learners are exposed to the writings of John Wilkes Booth. They discover that fanaticism is not just a modern phenomenon. They examine four periods in American history when treason was at issue.
Curated OER
A Formal Analysis of Science Fiction
Students write a five paragraph expository theme. They explain in their theme how the story they read qualifies as science fiction. Students write using all the conventions of English correctly.
Curated OER
The Window
Students read a story entitled, "The Window," and discover how some cultures are rejected by others. Students write a letter expressing feelings of rejection and keep a journal of significant events in the story. Using a graphic...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Characters and Plot
This lesson introduces the connection between characters and plot in fiction writing.
Caro Clarke
Caro Clarke: Pacing Anxiety, or How to Stop Padding and Plot!
This is the seventh installment of a series giving advice to the author who is new to writing novels. This article focuses on how to take your characters and use them and their conflicts to develop the plot of your story. W.9-10.3b...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Literary Visions
Twenty-six half hour videos on literary analysis for high school students that feature authors, scholars, actors and noted critics. Topics include The Art of the Essay, Setting and Character in Short Fiction, Responding to Literature and...
Caro Clarke
Caro Clarke: What Is Conflict?
This is the sixth in a series of articles designed to help the new writer with their novel. This article focuses on conflict and how it effects the characters and the plot of the story. W.11-12.3a Narratives
Other
Pixton: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
This lesson plan on The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is available with a free trial registration. Learners use the provided illustrated characters and props to explore character, plot, and theme.
Caro Clarke
Describing Your Characters Through Their Actions
This is the tenth in a series of articles designed to help the new novel author. This article focuses on how to develop characters through their actions instead of simply relying on dialogue and description of thoughts. W.11-12.3d...
Yale University
Yale University: Elements of the Short Story
This unit from the Yale University on elements of the short story is designed to develop student comprehension skills, particularly making inferences and generalizing. It also involves students in reading a number of short stories to...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Interpreting Shakespeare's a Midsummer Night's Dream
After a study of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, students working in small groups conduct research and create a slideshow presentation that emphasizes key aspects of the play and/or new ideas generated by the play.
Other
Class tools.net: Fakebook
With this tool, students can create fictional profile pages. Access to each page is controlled by the page creator and is password-protected. Add friends, status updates, and event dates, while maintaining the relationships between...
SparkNotes
Spark Notes: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Read a Plot Overview of the entire book of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte or a chapter by chapter Summary and Analysis. Also provided are links to character lists, main ideas, quotes, and writing help.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: A Chapter Book Writing Lesson: Creating a Parallel World
Inspired by the opening events in The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, students are asked to create an original parallel world that is similar to ours but different in certain ways. They will focus on the similarities and differences...