Curated OER
Theater: Create a Script
Figurative language is the focus in the book Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia. After reading Peggy Parish's book, class members dramatize idioms from the text, using dramatic strategies such as characterization, exaggeration, and improvisation....
Curated OER
Dialogue Tags/ Synonyms for Said
Sixth graders analyze dialogue tags. In this synonyms lesson students work in groups analyzing a personal narrative. They enter the words onto a classroom chart as well as their notes or journal. The students replace tags with more...
Syracuse City School District
Reading Comprehension Unit Plan
A unit plan uses short texts to teach literary elements such as theme and characterization. Included are passages by authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Sandra Cisneros. Activities include quick writes, filling in graphic organizers,...
Curated OER
Dazzling Dialogue
Students practice the proper use of Capital letters in quotes and how to use quotation marks. In this dazzling dialogue lesson, students write a draft of a script using dialogue and capitalization. Students complete dialogue for a...
Curated OER
Creating Characters
Students examine the methods of effective characterization. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss how emotions, dialogue, actions, and physical descriptions build believable characters. Students then use the methods of...
Curated OER
Marvelous Mysteries
Fifth graders explore mystery stories. In this reading and writing lesson plan, 5th graders complete a planning guide for an original mystery. Students use the writing process to create a mystery story.
Curated OER
15 Seconds of Fame
Students write an autobiographical essay. In this writing lesson students read a narrative, Panic in Paris, and review the elements of a narrative as a class discussion. Well-known stories are used as examples for writing their own...
Curated OER
Adventurous Magic
Students investigate storytelling by creating their own dialogue. In this writing development lesson, students read the story Jeremy Thatch, Dragon Hatcher in class and discuss their own magical object they wish to write a story about....
Curated OER
Writing A Short Story with a Persuasive Letter
Students write short stories. In this story creation lesson, students write their own story and include their previously written persuasive letters as a component of their new story.
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3
Teach your class the basics of narrative writing! The resource first describes the Common Core standard for narrative writing in-depth, and then moves into how to apply the standard. Show your class the example essay and quiz them...
Curated OER
Step into the Painting: Social Studies, Literature, and Art
Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Writing the Artist's Statement
Learners read and write an artist's statement. In this artist's statement lesson plan, learners read Dorothea Lange's artist statement before writing one of their own about their photography. They examine their own photography and use...
Curated OER
Writing about Art:Comparing Portraits
Students compare and contrast an academic and Impressionist portrait. In this art history lesson, students look at two different styles of painting and write a paragraph as if they are the subject in the painting. They compare and...
Curated OER
Think of an Ending
Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final instructional activity in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to...
EngageNY
End of Unit Assessment, Part 1: Text-Dependent Questions and Storyboard Draft: “You Can Do a Graphic Novel” Excerpt
Eyes on the finish line. Serving as the first part of the end of unit assessment, learners answer questions based on a text about how to write a graphic novel. Using what they've learned, they then create a storyboard about the invention...
Star Wars in the Classroom
Star Wars Geography Unit
What kind of animals live on an ice planet like Hoth? How would the habitat on Tatooine allow different organisms to thrive? Connect social studies, science, and Star Wars in one engaging activity that focuses on the ecosystems of the...
Curated OER
First-Day-of-School Activity: The Kissing Hand
Looking for an interactive back to school activity? Start by reading the book The Kissing Hand, and having your class discuss their feelings about the first day of school. They trace their hand onto paper, cut out the paper hand, paint a...
Curated OER
Short Story Framework
The class gets creative after listening to a short story containing a definitive structure. They are required to think about character, relationship, and setting, while attempting to show rather than tell, in their writing. Dialogue,...
Curated OER
What's In a Name?
Students write a story. In this identification lesson, students write their name vertically and think of a word or phrase to match each letter. Students write a paragraph or story based on their name descriptions.
Curated OER
Show! Don't Tell!
Students write a descriptive paragraph. In this writing lesson, students define elaboration and discuss the characteristics of an elaborate paragraph. Students write a paragraph that contains vivid adjectives, strong verbs and exact nouns.
Curated OER
Crafting Poetry: A Sensory Journey
Tenth graders experiment with poetry devices to write poems. In this poetry lesson, 10th graders participate in learning stations. Students create a word pool and select a word from the list to create a line of poetry. Students complete...
Curated OER
On the Scene: Analyzing Scenes in Film and Literature
Students examine how a scene in a movie or in literature is constructed. In this film and literature lesson students answer questions based on film clips then create storyboards depicting a scene from their life.
Curated OER
Adjectives in Dialogue
Ninth graders use adjectives to depict setting and reveal character and incorporate adjectives into dialogue appropriate for setting.
Curated OER
Writing Application: The Canterbury Tales
Students read stories from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and create their own tale. In this writing applications lesson plan, students read the tales and analyze the specific details that Chaucer use. Students work in groups...