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Telling Stories: Symbols of a Life
Art and literature can go hand in hand, they both are used to express elements of the self in a creative and interesting way. Budding story tellers interpret and analyze the narrative elements they find in a work of art. They focus on...
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Whose Point of View? The Journey of Three Generations
A reading of Whale Journey, a fact-filled picture book by Vivian French, launches a study of the life cycle and migration of three generations of gray whales. The interdisciplinary lesson plan offers opportunities extensions into all...
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Virtual Realities of War
Students outline the major events, mat??riel, and setting of a war or conflict. They develop a computer game narrative that draws on these historically accurate details.
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Paul Revere, American Patriot
Students research Paul Revere's life and role in U.S. history by examining first-person accounts, works of historical fiction, a popular narrative poem, and other resources. They create a mural depicting their findings.
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Shakespeare: Henry V - Writing Task
Pairs of pupils choose a person who they consider to be a hero. They research that person, develop a speech, and deliver it to the class in hopes of persuading them that this person really is a hero. A vote is taken after the...
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Scrapbook of Freedom
Third graders create a scrapbook using personal narratives and samples of artifacts to connect to maps of geographical locations of the Underground Rail Road. they describe at least one of the feelings a child slave might have had...
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Language Arts: Creative Writing Devices
Eighth graders review sound and rhythm devices and apply them to their own writing exercises. Next, they interpret the poem, "Where I'm From," as an example of a personal narrative. Using their understanding of poetic devices, they...
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A Year in Review: The Memoir
If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...
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Symbols of a Life
Students identify the narrative elements in a work of art and write their own narrative. In this narrative and symbolism lesson, students interpret narratives depicted in the given works of art and write a biographical narrative about a...
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Great Explorations: To the End of the Earth and Beyond
Students analyze the factors that affect exploration such as religion, trade, territorial expansion, and science. In this Great Explorations lesson, students determine the names of famous explorers as well as their routes and...
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Responding to Literature: James and the Giant Peach
Fifth grade reader/writers create an alternate ending to an episode in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach in which our protagonist "loses" the chance to magically solve all his problems. Prompts students not only to write creatively...
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Digital Storytelling
Scholars of all ages can use the various tools of technology to construct and illustrate a story. Utilizing this resource, learners work with a partner to brainstorm and draft a story based on personal experience. They use computer...
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Supporting Character Worksheet
Where would Harry Potter be without Ron Weasley? Where would Holmes be without Watson? Where would a good narrative be without an interesting supporting character? Encourage character analysis with this resource, which includes six...
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Make Up Your Story
Putting together an interesting story can be hard, but this set of worksheets will guide your writers into the depths of their own creativity as they characterize both their main character and villain. Using humor to keep learners...
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Narrative Pantomime: The Great Kapok Tree
Students pantomime the story of The Great Kapok Tree for younger students. In this The Great Kapok Tree instructional activity, students warm up with a game before volunteering for parts in the story. Students practice acting out the...
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Wagons West
Middle schoolers assume the personality of a pioneer on a wagon train and create daily journals. In this journal writing lesson, students read excerpts from The Way West: Journal of a Pioneer Woman. Middle schoolers use their...
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Assignment # 1: Merry-Go-Round Story
Class members use e-mail and the merry-go-round story format to create a science fiction story. Each writer begins by selecting one of three prompts, crafting the introductory paragraph and sending the paragraph to the next person on the...
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Through Their Eyes: Perspectives on Slavery
Students write a personal account of slavery seen from the eyes of a slave trader, a slave plantation owner, a fugitive slave, or a working slave.
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Creative Writing - Getting Ideas
Learners examine the procedures that writers utilize to obtain and develop ideas for writing. Journal writing is fostered as a primary step in the writing process. Learners are encouraged to pay careful attention to using complete...
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Who's Who at Our School
Students interview staff members at their elementary school in order to get to know them better. They write interview questions, conduct an interview, write a paragraph about the staff member, and take digital pictures of that person....
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Build Your Dream Science Lab
Would your ideal science lab be filled with bubbling beakers and zapping Tesla coils? Or would it contain state-of-the-art computer technology and data analysis? Dream big with an innovative lesson that connects math and language arts...
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Through Their Eyes: Perspectives on Slavery
Students examine different perspectives of slavery. They write a personal account of slavery as a slave trader, a plantation owner, and fugitives and working slaves. They role-play these roles for the class.
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If I Could Talk Like the Animals. . .
Students read and discuss a film review of the animated movie Antz and then write a monologue from the perspective of a non-human organism.
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Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost
Learners read and discuss poems by Robert Frost. Students collaborate in small groups to draw inferences about speakers' character and motives and to gather evidence supporting those inferences.