Curated OER
Mystery of the Real Robinson Crusoe Solved
Students explore the location of the campsite of fictional character Robinson Crusoe. In this ESL lesson plan, students read an article that discusses the whereabouts of Robinson Crusoe's campsite, then have a class discussion on the...
Curated OER
Revising Your Mystery Story
Students edit and improve their short stories by examining character description, dialogue, and plot elements. In peer editing groups they correct gramatical and spelling errors. they read aloud their new story drafts.
Curated OER
Dishonesty: Clues and Consequences
Students explore trustworthiness and dishonesty. For this character development lesson, students discuss dishonest behavior. Students develop scenarios about dishonesty and decide what consequences the person should have.
Curated OER
Math Maven's Mysteries
In these story problem worksheets, students read the story problem 'The Case of the Virtual Pet 2000' and use the information within the story to help them find which character had enough time to take the toy. Students use subtraction to...
Curated OER
"Feathers"
Students examine the character traits of kindness and responsibility using the book "Feathers" by Heather Forest. They play a "Mystery Bag" game with feathers, and answer story comprehension questions. Students then complete an acrostic...
Annenberg Foundation
Gothic Undercurrents
Terror, mystery, excitement. American writers of the 19th century, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson, used these elements to create morally ambiguous tales that challenged the prevailing belief in...
Curated OER
Think of an Ending
Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final lesson 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 each of their...
Curated OER
Harriet The Spy
Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...
Curated OER
Predicting a Mystery's Solution
Who killed Sam Westing? Model for your class members the components of a good prediction, and how to use these components to predict a mystery's solution. Class members use what they have learned to craft predictions while reading Ellen...
Curated OER
Puzzle Mystery
Learners sketch and give a title to a painting which they are given a small detail of. In this painting lesson plan, students share their titles and try to determine the theme and subject of the full painting based on these clues. At the...
Curated OER
Puzzle Mystery
Students are given a small detail of a painting, give it a title, and try to guess what the whole painting is. For this painting lesson plan, students put all of their details together to make the full painting.
Scholastic
Midnight Magic Discussion Guide
This discussion guide accompanies the fiction book Midnight Magic written by Avi, enforces story elements, inferences, and theme/plot. Have the class work on it over time, it will engage even your reluctant readers.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Burying Addie's Voice
Students explore the use of voice and title in William Faulkner's, "As I Lay Dying". They identify and discuss the use of image, symbols and narrative voice in the story.
Blake Education
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
The motto for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry warns that one should never tickle a sleeping dragon, but learners will definitely be tickled by the activities in a packet of materials designed to accompany a reading of the...
Scholastic
Dr. Seuss Extension Activities
Extend the exhilarating learning experience of Dr. Seuss with five activities designed to reinforce literacy skills—site word reading, dialogue writing, story mapping, and more! Featured stories include The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who, The...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Concluding the Novel
As I Lay Dying is a beautiful book and a wonderful vehicle for understanding, interpreting, and comparing themes. The class reads and analyzes the novel, discusses possible interpretations, and characterizations. They compare the themes...
Scholastic
Literacy Activities for Any Time
As the title suggests, this packet is loaded with activities that can be used at any time. The common element in all the exercises is that they are connected to books by Dr. Seuss.
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
An 11-page teacher's guide that focuses on Delia Owens' bestseller Where the Crawdads Sing is packed with discussion questions and activities. Text-dependent questions, activities, and writing prompts are also included. It's a valuable...
Curated OER
The Haunted Lift
Students read a poem and discuss how the poem could be made into a piece of drama.
Curated OER
A Tree of Life Activity
High schoolers solve a mystery of the identification of a unknown organism by comparing its morphological characteristics to those in a tree of life classification poster. They compare the observable characteristics of the specimen and...
Curated OER
Writing Like an Artist Paints Using "Chasing Vermeer"
Students use artistic words when writing about an object moving quickly past a character who is standing still. In this writing and art lesson plan, students read the passage Chasing Vermeer and base their writing off of it.
Curated OER
JUDY DREWDY DETECTIVE KIT CHECKLIST
In this literature learning exercise, 3rd graders work with the character Judy Drewdy. Students use the given learning exercise to create their own detective kits and respond to 7 short answer questions including a puzzle with given clues.
Curated OER
Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost
Students read and discuss poems by Robert Frost. Students collaborate in small groups to draw inferences about speakers' character and motives and to gather evidence supporting those inferences.
Curated OER
Writing in Different Viewpoints
Students read and analyze the point of view of a selected classic short story. They take notes while reading the story, select a character, and rewrite the story from a different viewpoint.