Young readers use graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and story maps, to analyze a variety of folktales and the elements of a story. They use writing, sequencing activities, and creative art to identify the morals learned from a...

"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...

Refuse to alienate your scientific-minded young scholars during your creative writing unit. Learners explore how literary writing can reflect observable fact, and be based in actual science. The links include examples of fiction and...

Read this twist on Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Dusty Locks and the Three Bears by Susan Lowell. Kindergartners listen, predict, and discuss the story. They then participate in a dramatization of the story and draw a picture...

If your ESL pupils love talking about movies, here is an activity ideal for providing practice with both informational reading and elements of a story. Given fictional movie posters, they decipher the information and put it into a...

Primary readers complete the activities in a Pebbles, Sand and Silt FOSS kit. As a class, they are given a group of rocks and they are to categorize them based on their activities in the FOSS kit. They use this information and apply it...

Students explore language arts by reading and reflecting on literary examples. In this fiction writing lesson plan, students read several different cultural versions of the story "Cinderella" and discuss their interaction with the story...

Twelfth graders read a variety of science fiction short stories. Using the text, they identify the components that make it science fiction and a well written piece of literature. They record their observations and share them with the...

High schoolers identify how the literary elements of theme, point of view, characterization, setting, and plot illustrate the effects of a certain disease on a community. They identify the aspects of the book that are specific to the...

Seventh graders explore the history of Christmas by researching classic literature. In this holiday instructional activity, 7th graders read the story A Christmas Carol and discuss the tone of Charles Dickens' classic literary work....

Second graders investigate realistic fiction, holiday celebrations, making tally charts. In this multi-disciplinary lesson, 2nd graders listen to a story about Thanksgiving and one about the Chinese New Year to develop an understanding...

Students read a series of sentences and decide what literary term is being shown. They also discuss a novel about prejudice.

Students explore literary classics by reading The Legend of King Arthur. In this legendary story instructional activity, students read the story The Legend of King Arthur and identify the main characters and how they will reenact the...

Students compare and contrast the elements used in the 19th century British novel and those novels in American society today. In groups, they brainstorm what it might have been like to be a teenager growing up in England during the 19th...

Students use position words to describe where their teacher is sitting and read a story that makes use of position words. For this spatial lesson, students make a stick puppet and play Simon Says focusing on using position words in the...

Students read Talking Walls and discuss the walls presented and their importance to the culture. For this geography lesson, students locate and label each country/continent discussed in the book on a world map. Students take a walk and...

Students review the characteristics of various characters in fairytales. As a class, they review the story details and create a concept map using a software program. They create their own wanted poster of the villians in the fairytale to...

Students read Blackbeard and brainstorm their knowledge of maps. In this language arts and geography lesson, students use landmarks on their playground to review north, south, east and west and discuss the compass rose. Students read...

Learners examine life in Pennsylvania during and after World War II. Using primary source documents, they compare the unity of the United States during World War II and the Iraq War. They also discover how citizens adapt to the war at home.

Eighth graders take photographs for a photo essay contest. Using primary source documents, they review various types of artwork and discuss how some of the images have become commonplace. They use the internet to view examples of...

Middle schoolers engage in scientifically oriented questions. They give priority to evidence, draw conclusions/formulate explanations and connect/evaluate explanations with scientific knowledge. Students communicate and justify proposed...