This discussion guide accompanies the fiction book Midnight Magic written by Avi, enforces story elements, inferences, and theme/plot. Have the class work on it over time, it will engage even your reluctant readers. 

Through reading and writing, learners explore common elements found in fairy tales. After discussing traditional fairy tales, class members listen to The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by John Scieszka, a hilarious retelling of the...

Investigate poetry and song lyrics with your class. They will identify poetic elements in their favorite modern music. Then they will play their song choice aloud for their classmates.

In order to understand figurative language, learners read 5 poems, each exemplifying a different literary device. They discuss and write responses to each poem. They then choose one literary device which they will use as the basis...

Students explore jazz's primary elements. They identify the basic definitions of terms associated with jazz. In addition, they listen to Song for My Father.

Students write their own fables. In this writing fables lesson, students use handheld computers to write a fable. The class designs a spreadsheet to organize common elements of fables. Students also edit each others' work.

Middle schoolers identify elements of myths, fables, and legends as they read an example of each.  After reading an example of each type of story, they list elements from each.  They compare and contrast these features by...

Looking for a motivating and creative technology activity? Then this activity is for you! After viewing a movie trailer, middle-schoolers follow that design to create a video preview of a book's story elements. They also create a...

Designed for third graders but appropriate for older learners as well, this packet of materials underscores the necessity of teaching kids how to summarize, how to identify main ideas and supporting details, and how to ask questions...

Science writing follows many of the same principles as writing in language arts, but some structural details differ. Individuals read an online science handout that covers how to write with precision, choose appropriate details, and use...

Artists explore textures they can create when working with acrylic modeling paste. In this simple-to-implement art instructional activity, learners divide a rigid surface into six squares, and use a variety of tools to create different...

To better understand the contemporary arts movement in Japan, learners engage in a guided discussion. They view several photograms by the artist Kunie Sugirua, then discuss the elements of art and techniques used to create each...

Combine landscape with collage to create unique art pieces. Class members examine works of art before creating their own pieces with photos of a special place. Learners create a panoramic image and add in figures.

Students study the elements in the production of an opera including the personalities, ideas, and stage presence. They examine the skills that are necessary to be a performer in an opera in this series of lessons including making...

Here comes the sun! Composition, shapes, and the properties of light are the focus of this bright lesson plan. Class members examine art and then create sun prints using photosensitive paper and various objects of different shapes and...

Middle and high school students engage in enameling and apply design elements. They study the history and tradition of Cloisonne. The history of traditional Chinese Cloisonne dates back over 700 years, with the most beautiful, artistic...

Art learners examine still-life arrangement images and respond to a series of prompts. In a whole-class discussion, pupils list elements and qualities that still-life paintings can have. After instructors create an arrangement and model...

Students read several fairy tales of Russian origin. They brainstorm common elements of a fairy tale and identify those elements in several examples. They retell a favorite fairy tale through a skit, oral storytelling, a sketch, or a...

Explore poetry with your class by having them film themselves reading different types of poems. They explore different elements in all types of poetry. They choose images to accompany their poems and learn to create video presentations...

Relate the structure of the essay to the structure of a building. The class compares an essay to a building, with the writer being the architect, the introduction being the foundation, and so on. They use the visual representation of a...

What is is about cereal boxes that draws consumers in? Tap into the effective marketing of cereal boxes and apply those elements to a book report. Pupils cover cereal boxes with information about their chosen books. they must create a...

Students watch Charlie Chaplin films and discuss film elements. They select a story written by Edgar Allen Poe to write and produce a movie of. They film scenes, edit, and create a final iMovie project.

Help your secondary reader/writers assess texts by studying press releases from Statistics Canada and drafting articles based on them. They then compare the press release, their own articles, and actual news stories they find online. I'd...

After reading the first reference page about parallel structure using correlative conjunctions, young learners rewrite nine sentences with errors in parallelism. Even the strongest writers in your language arts class could benefit from...