Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Tribal Origin Stories
The teacher reads and retells Californian tribal origin or creation stories that come from the traditions of a variety of California Indian tribes. Then, pupils get together in groups and retell the stories they just heard; just as the...
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Comparing Creation Stories
Students compare and contrast creation stories in different cultures. They write a creative story and design a visual aid showing what their new civilization would look like.
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Theatrical Economics
Read then role-play the characters from story of If You Give A Pig a Pancake. Young actors use improvisation and characterization to create the characters from the story. They will also write and role play original version of the story...
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Brown Bagging with Short Stories
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, plot,...
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Compare and Contrast Creation Stories
Learners compare and contrast creation stories. In this Bible studies lesson plan, students work in groups to read and summarize creation myths and share with their peers. The class goes on to create a chart to compare and contrast...
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Creating Social Stories
Developmentally disabled pupils participate in the creation of their own social stories. They select a topic for their social story and work with the teacher to write a social story or create a video social story presentation.
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Creature Creation
Students explore the characteristics of dragons as represented in the myths of cultures around the world. They create their own mythical dragons by hybridizing two creatures with desirable traits and writing stories about their creation.
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Cultural Creation Myths
Students write original plays based on supernatural explanations of existence. In this cultural creation myths lesson, students listen to five different stories about supernatural creation. Students record similarities and differences in...
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Looking at Life through the Creation of Personal Metaphors
Students focus on the creation of personal metaphors, which are first illustrated in pictures and caricatures and then extended to descriptive/analytical paragraphs. They teach the instructional activity to others using their own...
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Novel Creation
Students create an alternate ending with digital animations to illustrate their text. In this novel creation lesson, students read a novel and analyze the plot in small groups. Students collaborate on an alternate ending and create a...
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Shared Reading Book Trailer Creation
Scholars summarize sections of a book and compile them to create a book trailer. They are assigned sections of a book to read and summarize before recording as short video segments. The segments are put together in order to create a book...
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Curiously Strong Stories
Young scholars study fairy tales and how the stories that were written long ago are still relevant today in this Art and Language Arts lesson best suited for the elementary classroom. Emphasis is placed on the creation of a fairy tale...
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Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
The Kennedy Center
Fairy Tale Variations
Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and song....
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Social Studies: African Banner Boxes
Students write creation stories and design stamps to use on banners accompany them. They discuss the use of stamps in African culture to take the place of words. Students use a handout of stamps and their own creations to create banners...
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Can You Hear a Story?
Students gain an understanding of relationships between music and language arts. They analyze a story and create a musical composition that reflects and enhances the story. The musical accompaniment will be produced in a book on tape.
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Stringbean Coes Vacation
Third graders first begin the activity by reading Vera B. Williams Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea. This book is a collection of postcards that Stringbean Coe and his brother Fred write to their family while they were on a summer...
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Daughters Come of Age in Women's Fiction
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...
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Christmas Candy
Here is a tasty topic for a lesson: Christmas candy! Third and fourth graders research classic Christmas candies, then create their very own! They write a descriptive paragraph about their candy, then use KidPix to create an illustration...
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A Way with Words or Say What?
Students explore the language of Shakespeare. In this literature lesson, students examine words invented by Shakespeare as they interpret their meanings in drawings. Students pantomime the meanings and then write a short story...
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Nonsense Poetry and Whimsy
Primary learners are introduced to Lewis Carroll's whimsical poetry. They read "The Nursery Alice" Carroll's adaptation for younger readers, view story illustrations, listen to poetry and write whimsical verses of their own about food.
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Myth-try Cards Activity
Students read creation myths to learn various cultural explanations for natural phenomena. They select sharks and write myths to explain physical structures, behaviors or roles in ecosystems. They research the animals to provide...
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Identifying the Problem and the Solution in a Story
Story elements: the problem and the solution. Help your youngsters identify these elements by reading Bringing Down the Moon, by Jonathan Emmett. After a class discussion and chart creation discussing problems and solutions from past...
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Rock Art Stories
Young scholars examine different types of rock art. They analyze them to try to figure out the meaning of the art. They create their own rock art that tells a story. They share their creation with the class.