Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: Scrapbooks and Artifacts
High schoolers complete research to enhance their reading of "The Grapes of Wrath". Using the text, they identify and locate cultural artifacts and discuss their symbolic connotations. As a class, they create a museum exhibit of the...
EdHelper
George Washington's Socks by Elvira Woodruff
A solid, straightforward book report form is an excellent addition to your literature unit. Class members note the main characters, point of view, plot elements, and other important details from a story, adding their favorite part...
Curated OER
Literature Through Silent Movies
Middle schoolers 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.
Curated OER
Knowledge or Instinct? Jack London's "To Build a Fire"
Students closely read " To Build a Fire," to explore the use of narrative point of view and debate the distinction between knowledge and instinct. The elements of literary naturalism and how they relate to Jack London's work is examined...
Curated OER
Dr. Seuss and Universal Themes
Discover some of the themes of Dr. Seuss's major books. They see that despite being written for young people, Dr. Seuss' books contain powerful messages and important themes.
Curated OER
Narrative Writing Outline
Students explore the elements of a narrative for its purpose, type of audience, mood, main character, minor characters, setting, and conflicts in the story. A story outline is developed and a five paragraph essay composed in this lesson.
Curated OER
Write Me a Mystery
Eleventh graders, in groups, pre-write, draft, edit and revise a murder mystery short story to hone their skills in short story drafting, editing and revision, group collaboration and computer usage. They also evaluate writing for both...
Curated OER
Story Parts
Third graders identify the three major parts of a story. After reading the book "Stellaluna," students discuss the beginning, middle and end of the story. They write a short story depicting the events that would happen if the story...
Curated OER
Getting Ready to Become an Adult - Part One
Students read the book Ta-Na-e-ka and identify the elements of plot in the story. In this plot lesson plan, students also create a journal response to the story.
Curated OER
Show Me the Story
Students examine the elements of a story, read a review of Chris Rock's new sitcom, "Everybody Hates Chris" and create original sitcom episodes based on their own lives.
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men: Viewing Guide
In this Of Mice and Men viewing guide worksheet, learners study movie terminology as they read brief descriptions and respond to 26 short answer questions as the watch the film based on Steinbeck's novel.
Curated OER
The Magic in Writing
Young scholars watch a portion of a familiar film and write responses to a series of questions. They apply their observations to short stories.
Curated OER
Literary Analysis of Theme
Remember reading "The Lottery" and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson? Learners can experience and analyze the tension, themes, and human experience found in these pieces through reading and class discussion. They use...
Curated OER
The Carpet Fitter: Reading Comprehension
This online reading comprehension worksheet provides a short story and related questions. It may be appropriate for practicing for standardized tests as it includes 10 multiple choice questions and has a built-in timer.
Curated OER
Language Arts Jeopardy
Be the next Alex Trebek in this language arts themed Jeopardy game! Categories include Lit Terms, Short Stories, Romeo and Juliet, Tom Sawyer, and The Miracle Worker. By clicking on each category (points from 1-5), a slide with the...
Curated OER
Stories
Students read and write a short story. In this short story lesson plan, students read a short story and answer comprehension questions on it that teaches them about the world around them. Then they write a short story to teach...
Curated OER
Story Map Situations
Third graders explore a variety of ways to represent text. They represent text in story maps while on the playground. Students depict the elements of a story on a story map. They create a poster for character, setting, problem, and the...
Curated OER
The Higher Power of Lucky
Students complete activities using the book The Higher Power of Lucky. In this literature lesson, students read the story and identify the parts of the story. They create a wind chime like that found in the book.
Curated OER
Analyzing Story Elements
Lesson ideas to teach students how to analyze story elements through visual representation.
Curated OER
Five Minute Quickies
Challenge your class to take just five minutes to complete the tasks in each slide. The end result will be a short story. Each text includes writing a certain element of a story: opener, ending, characters, and more. After completing...
Curated OER
Screen Play
High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a...
Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
Curated OER
Tortoise and Hare Races
Practice basic map skills with the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. After listening to the story, class members create a map that indicates the starting line, the path the animals took, where they stopped to rest, and the finish line....
Curated OER
Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Young Goodman Brown"
Give your class some background information on both Nathaniel Hawthorne and his short story "Young Goodman Brown." Basic themes and characters are introduced, especially as this is an allegory with many symbolic elements. Help your...