Collective story writing is a great way to reinforce the concept of story elements and collaborative learning. Young writers discuss story elements such as, setting, character, action, climax, conclusion, foreshadowing, dialogue, and...

Students explore racial prejudice in South Africa through the reading of "A South African Storm" by Allison Howard. In this cultural and geography lesson, students discuss ethnicity and prejudices and cite examples from the letter....

The field mouse, also known as the meadow vole, is most active at night, so hide the cheese! Scholars research these interesting rodents and record three fascinating facts using the novel study for Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. They...

Students read the novel, Music from a Place Called Half Moon. They are assigned chapters to analyze for literary elements and to assign titles to the book chapters.

Seventh graders read the novel, The Light in the Forest. They work in groups to research and create artifacts for a Native American Living Museum. They complete a Powerpoint presentation of their virtual museum to classmates.

Young scholars create a piece of original fiction utilizing flashbacks. Students define and identify the use of flashbacks in the novel Holes. Definitions and examples are recorded in student journals. They use their examples as...

Students use video and the Internet to make predictions, draw conclusions, determine conflict and point of view while reading a short story. In this short story analysis lesson, students watch a related video and complete a prediction...

Ninth graders analyze Chekhov's "The Bet". They repsond to a journal quesiton and use examples from the novel. In groups, they take on different roles analyzing the novel and then write one of my prompts to complete the lesson.

Students interpret what a similies and metaphors are. They give examples of similies and metaphors. Pupils write different similies and metaphors using fall or autumn descriptive words. Students base their comparisons on facts, once they...

Focus on building suspense as well as evaluating web sites through creative writing. After introducing the idea of suspense and holding a discussion, class members complete a WebQuest, during which they find inspiration for their own...

Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....

What was your most (exciting, maddening, nervous, thrilling, etc.) experience in school? A part of a unit on narrative writing, in this lesson class members review the elements of the form and then choose an event when they learned a...

Students select a Colorado animal, develop a Directed Web page, and research their animal. Each member of the group combine their research and develop a Newsletter.

Students organize facts about Harriet Tubman. In this writing lesson, students research Harriet Tubman, sort facts about her into two categories, and use the information they have found to write about her life in complete paragraphs.

Third graders analyze comics found in the newspaper for samples of logical, emotional, and ethical appeal. They write a paragraph for each selected comic strip explaining how the comic strip represents the use of logic, emotions, or ethics.

Eighth graders study the Civil War novel, Across Five Aprils, by Irene Hunt. They review vocabulary and literary elements and write a "Brother Against Brother" essay about coming face to face with a brother in one of the battles of the...

Students read and analyze the twelve short stories in the novel "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." They create their own detective that has to solve a new kind of crime, and write and edit a short story with their original detective as...

Third graders select a small item in a newspaper and then dramatize it in a well-constructed poem. They share their poems with the class.

Students explore their own culture and identity through the study of literature and artwork of other cultures. Students read and discuss Last of the Breed and identify cultural values. They create a presentation that incorporates their...