Every child is an author with this engaging reading activity. First the class reviews the various parts of a book such as the title, author, dedication, and author-biography. Then each individual will choose a story of their...

Who is Mo Willems? Explore the author with your class. Learners read books written by Willems, compare and contrast the characters therein, and make predictions about what will happen. Finish off this author study by having small groups...

The multi-lesson, 47-page packet contains everything you need to ensure kids can recognize the clues provided to identify the type of text, the intended audience, and the author's purpose in writing the passage.

Youngsters write a story together with the help of their teacher. Use this language arts lesson plan to give your kids a chance to feel like real authors. Begin with the sentence, "Once upon a time, we went to school and found an...

Gradually build understanding of author's point of view through a scaffolded set of exercises. Moving from direct instruction, to collaborative work, and eventually to independent practice, these steps will assist your class in...

A simple activity for young readers, this introduces the idea of author purpose. Learners analyze various types of texts (newspaper articles, magazines, books, advertisements, etc.) and determine if the author's purpose for writing was...

Reading the original Hans Christian Andersen tale of “The Little Mermaid” and viewing the Great Performances: The Little Mermaid from the San Francisco Ballet video offers class members an opportunity to consider how artistic decisions...

Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...

Plan a Parts of a Book scavenger hunt. Begin by giving your young adventurers a book, and asking them to find the title, author, illustrator, and table of contents. After a discussion of the purpose of each of these items, class members...

Gary Paulsen’s Canyons is the focus of an exercise that models how to read closely using a Questioning the Author (QtA) strategy. Complete directions for the strategy, which can be used with any text, are included in the richly-detailed...

Using a variety of novels about survival, such as Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, pupils create author's studies using wikis. First, learners are placed in groups to study a particular novel. Then, they create a page...

Determining an author's purpose can help readers understand a text more deeply. Using a PIES chart (persuade, inform, entertain, share) and poems from Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems by Barbara Rogasky, class members organize...

Moby Dick is more than a whale of a tale narrated by Ishmael. A lesson studying Herman Melville's classic novel asks readers to examine the different genres the author weaves into his story. Instructors model how to conduct a stylistic...

Help readers recognize elements in a story. They will use pictures and text to gain meaning from written material. Have learners listen to the story A Plump and Perky Turkey and participate in a discussion. They recognize the...

Learners practice listening to and reading various types of media and text. In groups, learners use video, newspapers, magazines, and more to compare and contrast different types of information. They identify the differences between fact...

A 10-page guide to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men includes a brief plot summary, information about preparing readers for the language in the novel, pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading questions, essay prompts, and project...

Explore voice in poetry. Focus on several poems by Langston Hughes and identify words and phrases that represent the author's feelings about the topic of the poem. After working through a few poems together, individuals read "Youth" by...

Write what you know, sound advice for any writer and something many famous authors are known to have done. Use these materials to explore how Shakespeare's life influenced his plays. This resource is packed with readings, video segments,...

Encourage readers to think deeply about text with a reading strategy that promotes active comprehension. Individuals develop questions on four levels (right there, think and search, author and you, and on my own). Step-by-step directions...

Third graders read and create cartoons about endangered and threatened species of plants. Pupils are split up into groups. They each consider a conservation cartoon and attempt to decipher its meaning. They must decide if they agree or...

A teacher's guide for a seminar held at the Cincinnati Art Museum includes a full description of several Pre-Raphaelite art pieces, artists, and connecting literary works. Excerpts from authors and poets can help you make the connection...

Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...

"There comes an end to all things" and ending a study of horror fiction with a multimedia project is "like starting a stone. . . away the stone goes, starting others. . ." In this case, groups start with a question generated by Dr....

The class discusses the different purposes an author has for writing. The focus of the discussion is on writing to tell a true story and writing to give information about a specific topic. There are writing purpose sorting cards embedded...