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...

Provide some group brainstorming and story-planning time with the fifth lesson in a series on examining and creating documentaries. After you've explained the purpose of each section of a documentary, groups meet to plan the beginning,...

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...

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...

Nineteen stylish worksheets offer lesson ideas and practice opportunities designed to reinforce summary skills. Scholars recall events over the weekend as well as favorite books—main characters, problems, solutions, the beginning,...

Elementary schoolers develop an awareness of the literary form known as the fable. They explore how authors write fables to pass along moral lessons. After reading and discussing many famous fables embedded in the plan, learners attempt...

Graphic organizers are a wonderful tool for young writers to use to help them get their thoughts in order for a piece of writing. Here, learners are coached on what a piece of narrative writing is, and how they must have a distinct...

All aboard! Pair a reading of The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg with a set of literacy activities. The packet of worksheets includes task cards, sorting activities, a synonym match, comparing and contrasting activities, writing...

After reading Elvira Woodruff's George Washington's Socks, young readers and writers embark upon writing their own historically based story, with a focus on developing ideas and details throughout the piece. In small groups, class...

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...

A lesson challenges scholars to create a cinquain poem. Writers begin by choosing a topic and brainstorm details, then compose their original poem making sure to count syllables. 

Create a buzz in your class with this collection of learning activities for the book Hi! Fly Guy. Including a list of comprehension questions, a sequence of events activity, a summary writing assignment, and a vocabulary list, this...

Middle schoolers learn to show, not tell, in their narrative writing. A slide show takes them through the process of choosing strong, descriptive words, and then provides writing prompts for them to use as practice. The first two pages...

Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...

Dive into a class reading of the book George Washington's Socks with the help of this guide. Including a vocabulary list and series of comprehension questions for each chapter, this resource provides an excellent foundation for...

Popcorn is a tasty part of a culminating activity designed to motivate readers to share important literary elements. The popcorn fills the inside of a white paper bag that is transformed on the outside into a presentation tool with the...

A basic lesson on personal narrative writing is here for you. In it, learners are asked to imagine they're going to share an experience of their own with someone who did not participate in that experience. They verbally tell the story to...

Build a literature unit around the book George Washington's Socks with this series of short answer questions. Broken up in two- and three-chapter increments, these reading comprehension questions allow young readers to demonstrate...

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

Follow the format of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with a journal-writing activity. Readers choose a character and examine the character's life and circumstances through brainstorming, research, and discussion before...

Get to know each individual through a memoir project. The lesson plan outlined here is a bit vague, but has some promising ideas for graphic organizers to help writers prepare their work. In order to succeed with the lesson plan, you...

Punctuating dialogue properly can be tricky, but your pupils can become punctuation masters with practice. This resource includes an explanatory page that describes the rules of writing dialogue and provides examples. On the second page,...

Welcome scholars back from spring break with a prewriting activity that challenges them to draft a narrative account of one event that took place over the long holiday.