Explore plot structure by analyzing text samples with writers. They define terms such as problem and solution, cause and effect, and story arc. They also identify the sequences used in modern stories by reading samples and determining...

How does recognizing the author's purpose help you draw conclusions about a topic? Using two articles (both are attached), learners brainstorm why each author wrote each article. Are their purposes similar or different? Learners use a...

Sixth graders use short reading passages to identify, explain, and discuss the author's purpose for writing. After a lecture/demo, they utilize a graphic organizer embedded in this plan to organize their writing ideas.

Identify the author's organizational pattern for expressing ideas. After reading an article on the California Gold Rush, middle schoolers determine the author's purpose for writing a passage of informational text. A full list of...

Although the article that launches this lesson is about the history of the Periodic Table, the objective is reading comprehension. Using the eight-page informational text, learners answer five comprehension questions and craft one essay....

Students create a thematic booklet containing examples of different types of expository text structures. They explore a variety of expository text structures.

Learners take a closer look at the organization of written pieces. In this writing skills lesson, students examine transitions, repetition, parallelism, and other organizational patterns in writing. 

Analyze and interpret a literary work your class has read during the course. After reading a variety of literary works, middle schoolers alter the ending of a selection by creating an alternate ending. They generate five comprehension...

Pupils listen to several of David Shannon's books and identify patterns in the text. They write and illustrate a story of their own in the style of David Shannon, and share their books with classmates.

Students complete a variety of activities related to the book "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White. They create a comic strip based on the characters, setting, and plot of the story, and examine the author's writing process. In small groups...

Write what you know, sound advice for any writer and something many famous authors are known to have done. Use these materials to explore how Shakespeare's life influenced his plays. This resource is packed with readings, video segments,...

Students study questions and answers within a text to learn about writing structure and organization. In this writing structure lesson, students investigate books in class by asking questions for the text. Students then format their own...

Learners hone their skills at identifying the principle story in a work of art and text. Through discussion, students assess the central and supporting stories of a work of art that is characterized by multiple layers of action and meaning.

Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...

Students write their own fables. In this writing fables lesson, students use handheld computers to write a fable. The class designs a spreadsheet to organize common elements of fables. Students also edit each others' work.

Second graders explore artists as authors. They discuss the stories that their pictures tell. Students describe what story they think the artist is trying to tell in their pictures. Students search the Internet and choose a piece of...

Students examine how to skim textual material. They read an article, and identify the main ideas by reading first and last paragraphs, topic sentences, and other organizational clues.

A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...

Second graders interact with the story of Alexander's horrible day by connecting it to their lives. They practice predicting, writing paragraphs, reading aloud, discussing his problems, making a card to cheer him up, and designing a pair...

As guided practice, class members work together to revise a model persuasive paragraph. Then they practice independently with their own writing. The included rubric looks at prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, nonfiction text...

Students research literary elements of fables. In this literature lesson, students analyze literary elements of fables. Students work collaboratively using a jigsaw strategy to analyze literary elements.

Eleventh graders ponder about what it means to be an "American." They discuss the impact of an author's word choice and sentence structure on text. They identify some major themes and development of the Letters... Compose paragraphs and...

Eighth graders draw the structure of an atom. They construct atomic models, list parts/locations of an atom, organize parts of the periodic table and write a descriptive report about an element.

Eighth graders examine various websites and gather information from them about influential Latino-Americans. They synthesize the information they gathered to create a poster about their chosen influential Latino-American. Students...