Meant for use with Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the materials here are designed for a homeschool setting, but they'd suit any classroom or text. Graphic organizers, chapter summary...

Bring digital storytelling to your language arts class! To begin, learners select their own topic, such as a poem that reflects a life experience they had or a historical figure who interests them. Then they work to create a storyboard...

Examine the life of Arthur Miller and the characters in one of his well-known plays, The Crucible. The first few slides give background information on Miller as well as Senator McCarthy and the blacklisted celebrities during the...

A creative way bring autobiographical writing to your poetry unit or back-to-school curriculum, this lesson plan guides you through a bio poem activity. Kids use the graphic organizer to describe themselves using adjectives, things...

Young scholars use a word processor and some of its tools to create an exciting and visual autobiography. They download a sample letter and then create one of their own.

After reading an excerpt from Amelia Earhart's autobiography, The Fun of It, learners explore various nonfiction resources about her life and write a short newspaper article on a specific event. They then develop a longer piece of...

Eighth graders explore themselves and their community. In this writing lesson plan, 8th graders brainstorm ideas about their childhood, middle years, family, and future goals.  Students write an autobiographical sketch about...

Students complete autobiographical writing assignments throughout the school year that they save and rewrite to put into a published book during the last month of class. They include photographs, drawings and mementos of their lives in...

Students explore the concepts of intolerance and racism in the autobiography Kaffir Boy written by Mark Mathabane. The lesson reveals the story's depiction of the terrible toll of apartheid on the lives of individuals.

Students examine the contributions of African Americans in New Haven, Connecticut in the 19th and 20th centuries. After being introduced to new vocabulary, they review the elements of autobiographies and read excerpts of African...

Young scholars examine history of slavery in United States, discuss abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass who worked to end slavery, listen to excerpts from Douglass' autobiography, and visit interactive Underground Railroad web site.

Learners analyze slavery and its effects on humanity using Frederick Douglass' autobiography. For this slavery instructional activity, students analyze instances of reality and romanticized myth using a slave narrative. Learners explore...

Sixth graders examine implicit and explicit opinions in a text about Rosa Parks. In this explicit and implicit opinions lesson, 6th graders participate in direct teaching, guided practice, and independent practice while reading an...

Second graders create balancing mobiles using 5 labeled items that represent them and different time periods of their lives.

Students create a graphic timeline depicting who they are, where they've been and where they think they are going in their lives. They analyze and reflect upon the important events of their lives, and then use this as a starting point...

Students create a writing selection with a well-developed plot. They use a personal photograph in which they are visible to base their autobiographical writing. They write a description of the events surrounding the photograph in the...

Young scholars create a PowerPoint presentation. In this technology lesson, students create an autobiographical six slide presentation. This lesson includes worksheets explaining how the slide layout should be and a storyboard to help...

Much has been made of the differences between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. But was there any common ground between them? Class members reconsider what they think they know about these two civil rights leaders with...

Combine a study of biography writing with some tips for spicing up writing. After reading two passages, one much more descriptive than the other, pupils examine what makes one more interesting. They then brainstorm some ideas for writing...

Encourage young writers to tell their stories with a fun format. The title page provides space for a picture, author's name, and illustrator's name. Next, a story page includes lines for a short story, and a final page announces the...

As brave as a scarecrow, as silly as a book? What will your youngsters compare themselves to? Here is a creative and fun way to explore the world of similes that your class members will definitely enjoy!

Sometimes the most important details of an informational text aren't within the text at all. Teach your class how to read timeline with a set of activities that prompts them to find specific dates and events on the timelines, as well as...

How do nineteenth-century texts by African American and Native American writers contribute to the country's ideals of freedom and individuality? Learners explore the topic by watching and discussing a video, reading biographies, writing...

Many American writers in the late nineteenth century wanted their writing to reflect real life. Individuals watch and discuss a video, read and explore author biographies, write a journal entry and a poem, and complete a multimedia...