Genesis Energy
Harnessing Solar Energy
How does additional daylight hours affect people and nature? With the help from the legend Maui and the Sun and a grand conversation, scholars complete a graphic organizer to distinguish between the positive and...
Newspaper Association of America
Using the Newspaper to Teach the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment
Of all the amendments found in The Bill of Rights, the First Amendment contains some of the most important freedoms for American citizens. A unit plan on the First Amendment features interactive lesson plans designed to teach about those...
Curated OER
Reading for Life
Imagine a packet packed with reading resources designed for every grade and reading level. Imagine worksheets, graphic organizers, flash cards, activities, and exercises. This is just such a packet and is well worth...
Alberta Learning
Creating Authentic Diaries
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "What is history but a fable agreed upon?" A series of lessons encourages learners to look beyond the basic fable agreed upon related to events in history and consider multiple accounts of the event....
Washington Township Public Schools
Using Paired Text
Paired reading passages frequently appear on standardized exams, but finding text sets to use in the classroom is sometimes a challenge. A lesson plan on using paired texts includes a selection of passages and a graphic organizer for...
News Literacy Project
News Judges
Order in the court! Scholars act as news judges, learning how to analyze the newsworthiness of several pieces of information. Working in small groups, they determine which events are most newsworthy and then complete graphic organizers...
K20 LEARN
Analyzing Literary Figures: Analyzing Literature
The author study gets an update in a research project designed for high schoolers. Scholars search for information about literary figures that connects them to their times, their works, their themes, and other writers. Researchers also...
Curated OER
Story Plot Graph
This graphic organizer allows readers to visualize the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement of a story by filling in five corresponding boxes with details from a story.
Curated OER
That's The Story!
Images can inspire powerful writing. Engage your class in narrative writing with the idea included here. Individuals each snap a digital photograph that includes action. The teacher then mixes these up and hands each class member a photo...
Curated OER
Thematic Web
In this thematic web activity, students complete a graphic organizer with the main idea of the story in the center. Students then identify supporting details and write them in the boxes around the center.
Curated OER
Military Families
Tenth graders recognize and define vocabulary words. In this Military families instructional activity, 10th graders participate in a shoot n spell game. Students write the vocabulary in sentences, read words in text, and...
Curated OER
Story Maps and Boxes
Young scholars use a story map template to review the parts of a story and information about a book that they have read. The elements of the story are identified and placed into story boxes and shared with classmates.
Curated OER
Determining Theme Based on Events in the Story
Third graders read the book How the Fox Tricked the Tiger and determine the theme based on the events in the story. In this theme lesson plan, 3rd graders list the events in a graphic organizer.
Curated OER
Story Planner
In this pre-writing graphic organizer, students fill in a chart with the characters, setting, plot, beginning and ending that they will use to write a story.
Curated OER
Using a Title to Determine the Main Idea
Use the title of a book to determine the main idea. Readers will view the cover of The Wedding and predict what the story will be about. Graphic organizers help chart important information and build new vocabulary. Other stories are...
Curated OER
Marking Time
Two narrative excerpts tell the same story from different points of view. In the first excerpt (first person), sequencing words and phrases are bolded and learners write down what the bold type does. The second excerpt is in third...
Curated OER
Genre Lesson: Realistic Fiction
As scholars begin identifying stories as realistic fiction, its important they see many examples to solidify their concepts of this genre. Readers begin with a personal connection, thinking of television shows they like and determining...
Student Achievement Partners
Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston's "Farewell to Manzanar"
Passages from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar provide the context for a study of the historical themes of experiencing war, resilience during war, and understanding the lasting trauma of war. Appendices include extension...
Curated OER
Story Planner
In this literature worksheet, students write an original animal story filling in a graphic organizer with the setting, characters and a problem/conflict. Students include an introduction and conclusion and write the title of the story in...
Curated OER
Let's Retell This Story
Fourth graders identify story grammar elements of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." The elements are recorded on a chart and students use the story grammar elements from the chart to retell the story.
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
Imagining Your Science Fiction Short Story
Twelfth graders brainstorm ideas for their own science fiction story. Using worksheets, they sketch the plot and setting for their story. They create appropriate characters and develop their interactions among each other. They share...
Curated OER
Circular Story Map
In this story elements map worksheet, students use the blank graphic organizer to plan a story they will write. Students will write a story that takes place in the country they choose to study. Students think of the setting, characters,...
Curated OER
Story Elements: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
In this story elements worksheet, students respond after reading Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. Students identify the setting, main characters, problem and solution. Students write their notes in purse shapes.