If you want some help with teaching themes and symbols in Animal Farm, this may be beneficial. After a class discussion about possible themes, class members write a paragraph explaining which they believe is the most important. Next,...

Young scholars work through a Haiku Organizer to determine the characteristics they use to write eight haiku poems on a theme that they choose. They design presentation folders of their completed work.

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...

If you are teaching Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, you can't afford to miss this source. An extensive list of ideas outlines numerous discussion topics, writing prompts, comprehension questions, oral presentations, and projects. Have class...

Explore the components of rhythm and form through a reading of Jean Marzollo's I Spy books. After discussing Marzollo’s format, the class agrees upon a theme for a class book and topics that fit with that theme. Pupils write a poem,...

Travel through Europe with ten-year-old Teddy Roosevelt in this writing activity, which uses the picture book My Tour of Europe: by Teddy Roosevelt, by Ellen Jackson. After reading the book, readers compare it to passages from The...

Combine art and literature to teach greater themes and symbolic meaning. Using the plan outlined in this resource, expose your class to the story "Zebra" by Chaim Potok, conduct discussions about social issues and nicknames, and ask...

Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...

Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...

Examine a variety of literary responses to Abraham Lincoln's death and the impact of perception. Your class can work in writing groups to analyze either poetry, eulogy, or a newspaper article. They retell the events of Abraham Lincoln's...

Give your WWI study collaborative energy using a group research project. Groups are assigned one of the six main themes (included). Each group has an outline to guide research but will need an assignment guide. Consider supplementing the...

Seventh graders explore the various elements found in the advertisement of a dramatic experience. Playbills are created that reflect the plot without revealing the climax of the play. Costumes, set construction, and character description...

Students explore the elements of film to analyze character, action, and the themes in the movie, "Quiz Show." The lesson encourages students to make personal connections and real life applications as they view the movie, critically.

Tenth graders identify certain literary elements such as conflict, and exposition within the text of a variety of studenT books. Aspects of literary elements such as theme, and allusion are explored in this lesson.

Students examine the methods of effective characterization. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss how emotions, dialogue, actions, and physical descriptions build believable characters. Students then use the methods of...

Students define and interpret the elements found in a short story. Then they identify the elements of plot found in a short story. Students also apply knowledge of plot to an original work of fiction. Finally, they identify the...

This detailed overview of a curriculum unit suggests using travel literature to engage and stimulate your third graders’ interest in reading. The suggested reading list includes fiction and non-fiction materials and offers urban children...

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...

Learners respond to the text Riding Freedom. They will compare and contrast two settings by filling in a graphic organizer. They explore different settings, discuss the reasons why settings change, and draw conclusions using descriptive...

Students explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry instructional activity, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.

Students, after reading and discussing, "The Metamorphosis," by Franz Kafka, explain the symbolism of Gregor's metamorphosis moving beyond a literal view of "he turned into a bug" into the idea that society/family/stress/environment led...

Study story elements with your young learners. Read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and discuss the order of events by making a story panel out of butcher paper. Sentences are given as suggestions for the panel, though you may...

Read Clap Your Hands to explore new vocabulary with your class. In this three-tiered vocabulary lesson, youngsters read the book and identify the plot, setting, and characters. They also define vocabulary terms from the book and...

Students complete reading Because of Winn-Dixie individually or as a class. As students reunite Opal and Winn-Dixie in this timed reading comprehension maze game, they demonstrate their understanding of the novel's plot, theme, and...