Ninth graders identify story elements utilizing a plot summary organizer. In this plot summary instructional activity, 9th graders discuss the elements of a good story and listen to the story of the three little pigs. Students complete a...

Two different knights grace this stationery. There are lines provided for writing a story or summary and a box where pupils can mark down a title.

Provide young readers with an opportunity to share their opinions about independent reading books with this book report form. Focusing on their favorite character, children complete a series of sentence frames requiring them to think...

Second graders view a video from United Streaming and design still frames of important parts of a story.  In this story-telling from different cultures instructional activity, 2nd graders understand general vocabulary about...

Who was Alexander The Great? How did Abraham Lincoln’s early life influence his political life? Learners select a historical figure to use for video biography. After developing research questions and collecting information, pupils search...

A reading of Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County not only offers pupils an opportunity to practice their listening skills but also provides them with examples of dialectic speech. This is the gol’derndest lesson...

Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...

Eighth graders discuss invention of bicycle and early obstacles to riding, listen to and discuss short story "Taming the Bicycle" by Mark Twain, define vocabulary words from story, and create and present humorous "how to" project to...

Second graders practice their reading comprehension by analyzing stories they read in class. In this children's literature lesson, 2nd graders are assigned to read a book for 20 minutes each day in class and also reflect on it in their...

Students practice experiencing writing with appropriate language and incorporating the eight parts of speech. They assess that many words have multiple functions when used in different contexts. Each student free writes in response to a...

Invite your young writers to take the reins with writing dialogue. Using two characters of their own creation, kids work with partners and then individually to write short conversations.

The 11 lessons in this educators' guide focus on using newspapers to develop critical reading skills in the content areas.

Map out the conflicts throughout history with a graphic organizer. It includes a section for kids to list the participants in an event, the problems or goals, and the theme or lesson learned.

Introduce "The Inn of Lost Time" by Lensey Namioka to your middle schoolers with a reader's resource page. It includes links to different activities, including a creative writing prompt about losing fifty years of your life, and a...

What makes a novel a novel? Class members select a favorite novel, record their impressions on a worksheet, and then come together in groups to discuss the elements common to narrative writing. Next, they identify the characters, the...

Read a Hans Wilhelm story and complete creative writing activities. Start by reading Tyrone, the Horrible and discuss the behavior in the book. Then split your class into groups to create a "bully" situation and discuss possible...

Utilizing a video camera, learners will read a story while being recorded. Later, they analyze the footage. After identifying their strengths and weaknesses with the teacher, they discuss reading fluency techniques. Adaptation: Instead...

Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...

In this teacher friendly worksheet, teachers write a word list, short statement, or question and the children use those with the letter "Aa" and pictures of an alligator, ant, and apples as prompts for creative writing. Learners write 1...

First graders participate in sequencing activities. In this sequencing lesson, 1st graders read the book the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Students retell the story and act out the scenes in groups. Students create a mural of the story...

Fifth graders are read a variety of Cinderella stories from around the world. In groups, they complete a comparison chart for each story and how it compares to the American version. To end the lesson, they participate in a fairy tale...

Fifth graders analyze a nursery rhyme to explore the writing process. In this writing process lesson, 5th graders recite Humpty Dumpty and chart the plot of the story. Students select their own nursery rhyme and write a creative story...

Young scholars explore seven basic story lines and apply these story lines to news articles in the New York Times. They write reports comparing the plot of a news article to novels, plays and movies with which they are familiar.