Fifth graders discuss what narrative writing represents. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders review the ten strategies for engaging reader. Students listen to and read good examples of each strategyand write engaging beginnings in...

In this story elements worksheet, students complete a graphic organizer about characterization. Students describe the character's words, personality, appearance and reputation. There are four bubbles within the graphic organizer to...

Students examine story writing. In this writing lesson, students discuss the structure of a story and create a story using suspense and character description with dialogue.

Looking for a great lesson plan on how to write a biography? Here, middle schoolers draw from magazine articles, novels, historical figures, and current events to choose a person, or character to write about in a biography. They follow a...

Young composers demonstrate their understanding of the stylistic features of descriptive music, including pitch, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, and timbre, by developing a melody and countermelody for a main character in a story. As part of...

Students write about main characters. In this dramatic writing lesson, students brainstorm character ideas. Students create actions and give the character a voice. Students act out the scene in groups and create a final draft.

A thorough and well-designed resource for older learners, this lesson focuses on Chaucer's character the Wife of Bath from his classic novel, The Canterbury Tales. As a way of understanding Chaucer's complex characterization and...

A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...

Examine the fables of Aesop with your class. Pupils identify the morals of fables and role-play a scene from their favorite fable of Aesop. Additionally, they compose letters to a favorite character in the fable. Learners role-play again...

Examine the characters in Willa Cather's My Antonia with a group project. Small groups illustrate their chosen character on a large piece of paper and choose quotes from the text that tell about the character. Where students choose...

Sometimes, the best solution to a problem can be found by walking in someone else's shoes. Here, scholars use character cards to take on the roles of people around the world. They determine how their character's...

How does climate change affect you? First in a three-part series, the activity focuses on how individuals living around the world are affected by climate change. Individuals take on the role of a given character and share their...

Do your young authors suffer from writer's block when they try to write short stories? Access their natural creativity with C-Gor, the writing monster! The instructional activity takes aspiring authors through a new writing process...

Stories contain very specific elements; plot, characters, and key events. Learners use pantomime to retell a key event from the beginning, middle, and end of a story. They discuss setting and character as each group discusses and then...

Young writers generate descriptive words. They use pictures of various landscapes (from books, magazines, or the Internet) and complete a story pyramid. The pyramid (included here) asks to describe the main character, the setting, and...

Use picture cues as a tool in order to create meaning along with text. With a wordless comic, young illustrators discuss the main idea and character traits, and independently write a summary for a page of a wordless comic. This strategy...

What are the important character traits of a good military leader? Individuals ponder this question before reading Orson Scott Card's science fiction novel, Ender's Game. After individuals rank a series of qualities,...

Drama and movement are wonderful ways to cover story elements such as setting, character, and descriptive writing. Little ones listen to a poem about imaginary creatures. As they listen, they shape their bodies into what they think the...

Just because kids today are well-versed in texting and emails doesn't mean they shouldn't learn how to write a friendly letter! Reinforce their letter-writing skills with a lesson focused on the elements of a friendly letter, as...

"I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich, and it has colored my entire life and works." This colored view is the focus of a close reading activity that asks readers of The Great Gatsby to examine the way...

Create a picture dictionary for one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. After readers finish The Tempest, they assign each letter of the alphabet to a concept or character, and add a description and evidence from...

Here's an engaging, meaningful, and clever lesson on map skills for elementary schoolers. Pupils combine story writing with mapping skills to create an original piece of work. They utilize a worksheet embedded in the plan to guide them...

Upper graders view the animated short, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and analyze how the music score was chosen to express the scene. They create an animation as they listen to a classical recording to experience the connection between...

Students identify and interpret the current German energy mix and trends, as well as to make comparisons and contrasts to that of their own country. They write a two paragraph description of including its likely position in the future...