Once upon a time are four words most children are familiar with when reading a fairy tale. But do they know that fairy tales are a great way to learn the literary elements of reading and writing? Use a thorough fairy tale unit...

Dazai Osamu’s short story, “A Sound of Hammering” is the focus of a three-day investigation of modern Japanese literature and life in post-World War II Japan. The events in Osamu’s story mirror those in his own life, and give a...

With many factors leading to a great athlete, does height make Usain Bolt unfairly fast? Middle schoolers conduct analysis to change the running distance of the Olympic races to be proportional to the height of the participants. They...

Fourth and fifth graders use their knowledge of developing character, dialogue, and setting to produce an original story. An excerpt from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is used as inspiration to get everyone's...

Fifth graders analyze a nursery rhyme to explore the writing process. In this writing process instructional activity, 5th graders recite Humpty Dumpty and chart the plot of the story. Students select their own nursery rhyme and write a...

Third graders identify the three major parts of a story. After reading the book "Stellaluna," students discuss the beginning, middle and end of the story. They write a short story depicting the events that would happen if the story...

Students interact with the main concepts of a narrative text in the six lessons of this unit. The setting, prediction, retelling, sequencing, and the identification of the beggining, middle and end of a story are investigated.

Middle schoolers who are about to read the chilling tale, The Lottery, do some writing beforehand. They are asked to write how their lives would change if they won a huge lottery jackpot. Then, they read the short story, and will be...

Elementary schoolers find out which month has the most class birthdays (mode) and which birthday represents the middle point of all the birthdays (median). They gather and organize data to find one number that fairly represents the whole...

Guide class members through Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis with a series of questions designed for before, during, and after reading. Readers consider Gregor's situation and his options. In addition, they...

Second graders identify story elements in familiar stories from their lives. In this story elements activity, 2nd graders act out familiar activities  by following directions. Students read a story and discuss the story elements....

First graders discover predicting and clarifying skills while reading "The Old Woman and Her Pig." During the reading, they check their predictions while evaluating the characters, setting, problems, and solution. On the second day,...

Here’s a cross-curricular program music activity that uses Peer Gynt to engage class members. Groups take one section of “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” choreograph their section of the tune to represent the story as they imagine it,...

What is the initiating event? What is the protagonist's goal? What attempts are made to achieve this goal? What is the outcome? Model for your class how to map out the structure of any narrative. Readers then search for answers as the...

Write dear old Peter Rabbit a letter with this lesson. First, youngsters listen to the story Peter Rabbit and analyze the story elements. Then they complete a story map graphic organizer in order to write a letter to Peter...

Students evaluate/distinguish scientific fact from fiction. They discuss similarities and differences in the life cycles of various birds. Student use the Internet as a research tool.

Learners listen to a read aloud of Jon Scieszka's, The Frog Prince. They predict what happens after the frog prince marries his princess.

Students complete a unit using the story of the Little Red Hen to learn the storybook reading format as well as improve their reading and social skills. In this storybook lesson, students complete five lessons using the story of the...