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...

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...

Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...

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...

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...

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,...