Curated OER
NteQ Lesson Plan for S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders
Explore literature through the completion of reading comprehension worksheets in class. After reading the classic book, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, middle schoolers review each chapter by completing study questions and story webs....
Curated OER
Story Pyramid and Summary
Learners read a short selection of a story individually or as a class. On their own, they create a story pyramid for the selection and write a one page summary. They use text from the story for their supporting details. To end the...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast: Literary Analysis
Great for a reading intervention or remedial Language Arts class, this instructional activity uses two stories from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul III ("Terri Jackson" and "Mary Lou" to reinforce note-taking skills, story elements,...
Curated OER
Literature: Plot Patterns
Students read and analyze "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" for plot patterns. In a plot summary pyramid, they organize the story elements in sequential order. To illustrate plot summary techniques, students cite examples from...
Hampton-Brown
From "First Crossing"
Young scholars look closely at four tales taken from the collection of short stories, First Crossing edited by Donald R. Galloby. While examining the life of four teenagers and the lives they lead as U.S. immigrants, your enthusiastic...
EngageNY
Analyzing How Shakespeare’s Play Draws upon Greek Mythology: Part 2
Pupils explore the narrative structure of a piece of literary text, mapping out the plot structure of the Greek myth "Pyramus and Thisbe." Next, they use their completed graphic organizers to write story summaries.
Curated OER
Narrative Writing-10 Strategies for Engaging the Reader
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...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Predicting and Clarifying Techniques
First graders discover predicting and clarifying skills while reading "The Old Woman and Her Pig." During the reading, they check their predictions while evaluating the characters, setting, problems, and solution. On the second day,...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Writing Lead Sentences
Sixth graders discover the importance of lead sentences and practice writing them. After reading lead sentences in books, they determine the qualities that attract and hold readers' attention. Finally, once they have identified the...
Curated OER
A Novel Ending/ Closure Activity
Young scholars summarize a story, identify the plot structure, and create a symbol that represents the essence of the story.
Avi Writer
The Cross of Lead, At the Edge of the World, and The End of Time
A fan of Ari's Crispin trilogy? Here is a packet that contains study guides for all three Crispin novels: The Cross of Lead, At the Edge of the World, and The End of Time.
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Beowulf
Beowulf, the Old English epic hero, comes alive again in the activities found in a teacher's guide designed to accompany a reading of the classic poem.
Curated OER
Call of The Wild
Prompt your class to interact with Jack London's Call of the Wild. By analyzing the events in the novel, middle schoolers discover how human experiences create who a person becomes. They critique and analyze the reading, focusing on...
Curated OER
Understanding a Narrative: The True Story of Balto
Strong comprehension questions and a list of initiating events that drive the plot make this resource worth a try in your classroom. Intended for use with tools specific to the mindwing concepts reading strategy system, the outline...
Curated OER
Grab Your Reader: Great Leads
Get your readers' attention with this Six Traits of Writing lesson plan. First, young writers draft ideas in an organized manner utilizing words, sentences, and multiple paragraphs. They also use voice to fit the purpose and audience and...
Scholastic
Holes Match 'Em Up Challenge
Upper graders read the book Holes as a class or by themselves. In groups, they identify symbols and discuss how they are connected among the many plots in the story. They create a timeline in which they sequence the main events to end...
Curated OER
Creating an Original Opera
This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...
Curated OER
A New Point of View
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
Curated OER
Summary Scramble
Young scholars write summaries that contain the main ideas
and the most significant details of a reading selection. In this language arts lesson plan, students first play a game in which groups compete against each other to put the...
Curated OER
Writing A Book Review of The Hobbit
Students explore The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. In this book review lesson, students examine the elements included in a book review, such as author, opinions of the book, summary, character information, main points and plot summary....
Curated OER
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Students will explore And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. In this analysis instructional activity, students read And Then There Were None and take notes about the book as they read. Students write a plot summary of the book.
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast: Literary Analysis
Seventh graders are able to use active listening skills, take notes and identify literary elements of a short story. They use/create graphic organizer, compare/contrast literary elements from various stories and compare and contrast traits.
Curated OER
TEXT MESSAGING
Young scholars examine the differences between standard and non-standard English and use text-speak to rewrite a plot summary and a news story. They identify a type of non-standard English and determine the characteristics that make it...
Curated OER
Creating a Classic Comic Book
Learners read a given play. They choose the key scenes from the play and write a narration to carry the plot line between those scenes. They create a comic book that depicts these key scenes, complete with pictures and text balloons.