Alliterative adjective nicknames generate stories inspired by Rosemary Wells' book Noisy Nora (also a thematic complement to any class with children who make a ruckus to get attention). Class members explore basic story elements --...

Seventh graders define six different literary terms after reading I, Juan de Pareja. In groups, they are given a specific literary term to create a PowerPoint presentation explaining how their term in utilized in the context of I, Juan...

With the songs "My Hometown" by Bruce Springsteen and "Allentown" by Billy Joel, learners examine external versus internal conflict. When they have finished the first part of the lesson, they create their own poem (or song) about the...

Bridge cultural awareness, community, government, and art with an introspective and thought-provoking lesson. Upper graders become globally and socially aware as they analyze and explore the art of Jeremy Deller. They consider his images...

Do your young authors suffer from writer's block when they try to write short stories? Access their natural creativity with C-Gor, the writing monster! The instructional activity takes aspiring authors through a new writing process...

Tenth graders explore the importance of peace in society.  In this Global History lesson, 10th graders create a common vocabulary for the different elements that exist in a peaceful society.  Students discover the connections...

Students investigate some the ways art has responded to conflict throughout history. Through teacher lecture and demonstration, students witness the historical background of a piece of artwork and how it reflects the conflict it...

Middle schoolers are introduced to literary elements and definitions in the worksheet Understanding Character but reading through each of the elements and definitions aloud. They read the story, "La Bamba" and identify examples of the...

Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...

Students explore issues contributing to current tensions between Pakistan and India, drawing conclusions about how the conflict came about and where it may be heading. They Participate in an in-class "diplomacy summit"; create a...

Students explain how individual elements (e.g., plot, theme, character, conflict, etc.) comprise the structure of a play. They write an original one-act play with developed characters, specific setting, conflict, and resolution.

Students discuss their favorite book. In this book discussion lesson, students name the title and tell what makes the book special. Students also review the setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Students make a book that tells all of...

Students explore the connection between analyzing a character and the character plot conflict. In this plot conflict lesson students role play two characters in the story, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Students also pretend to be a...

Tenth graders explore narrative poetry. They analyze sections of a poem and present to groups. They compose their own narrative poems using pictures as prompts. They exchange their poems and analyze their classmate's poem.

Readers practice character analysis by reviewing Gary Soto's short story "La Bamba" with the whole class (anything you've read together will work). They design t-shirts that feature traits and story elements to reveal the nature of a...

Introduce your class to drama! You cast each pupil as a different character from a story you have read. They are given a general outline of the scene, act out the scene multiple times, then discuss the weak and strong aspects of each...

It's all about using peer resources in this writing process lesson, which includes a fantastic novel revision worksheet packet. Learners have read a partner's story draft the night before, and groups have a "lightning round of...

Students create a dodecahedron shaped visual report of the literary elements of a short story.

Students participate in a study of short story elements, applying their knowledge and understanding to a selection of short stories.  In this short stories lesson, students read five short story selections, identifying conflict,...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

Introduce your young readers to fiction written by women authors. For each story, they explore the way these daughters discover and claim their own identities. Individually, class members use the literature to examine their role in their...

Young scholars write a coherent script based on characterization, theme, conflict and emotional tone as found in the songs' lyrics and develop an understanding of the enjoyment that comes through discipline and hard work leading toward a...

A classic Japanese print is attached to this instructional activity and its up to your class to write a story about it. Pretending the image is an illustration, they use what they know about Japanese mythology to compose a short story...

Your health class reads two biographical stories: one about a girl who has allergies and the other about a girl who has asthma. They watch a quick cartoon on the KidsHealth website about immunity and take the related online quiz. You...