Students write about a Christmas Day Celebration they have experienced. In this personal narrative lesson plan, students use descriptive words to tell a story about their own family's Christmas. Students organize plot and develop the...

Fifth graders re-read the story "The Highwayman" understanding the term "narrative verse". As a paired activity, they predict who or what might be the audience and provide feedback.

Learners analyze William Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying' and his use of multiple voices. In this William Faulkner lesson plan, students analyze Faulkner's use of multiple voices in narration. Learners examine the Bundren family through the...

Learners research one aspect of the life of Faulkner and the culture of the South.  In this As I Lay Dying instructional activity, learners explore a webpage on Faulkner and write a summary.  Learners analyze the images...

Students analyze narrative passages in order to improve their writing skills. In this narrative writing lesson students use the same style of writing that they have analyzed in their own narrative passage.

A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...

Use photographs to trigger memories. Writers use a personal photograph as a starting point for an autobiographical writing exercise. They complete brainstorming activities that have them study their photograph before actually putting pen...

After listening to a story about Martin Luther King Jr., first graders answer questions about the text. They discuss the importance of the illustrations, identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and complete a writing...

How do the narrative and play versions of the myth "Pyramus and Thisbe" affect meaning? Scholars reread Act 5, Scene 1 from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and compare its structure to "Pyramus and Thisbe." Next, they use a...

Young scholars conduct research on a German anti-Nazi group named "Die Weisse Rose", the White Rose, that eventually lost their lives for their resistance to Nazi rule. They view films, access the Internet, prepare responsive narratives...

Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...

As part of their reading of The Hobbit, readers create a biopoem for one of Tolkien's characters.

Tenth graders review the structural elements of a literary paragraph and organizational paragraph formats. They author a paragraph examining and reviewing a piece of literature currently being read in class. Students peer-review the...

Ninth graders take note of the ways in which word choice, rhythm, language and narrative voice, as well as point of view in a poem can be used to evoke a time and place. They use their insights to create a poem of their own.

Students explore individual differences. In this literacy and self-esteem lesson, students listen to the story Elmo by David McKee, then describe what characteristics make Elmo special. Students complete a T chart showing how Elmo looked...

Sixth graders identify personal strengths and the importance of highlighting their talents when writing a resume. They write a reflection narrative on "Cool Stuff I Can Do." They generate the information for the narrative from class...

Young thinkers view two narrative art tapestries and study the images included that tell a story about the Roman Emperor Constantine. As they examine the details of the tapestries, pupils use a Venn Diagram to record the similarities and...

Fourth graders explore language arts by reciting a famous nursery rhyme to their classroom. In this oral storytelling lesson, 4th graders read the story "The Three Little Pigs" and identify the characters, setting and story. Students...

Students read "The Sound and the Fury" and consider the changing narrative structure and voice throughout the novel. They trace the decline of the Compson family.

In this pronouns and perspectives worksheet, students the case and point of view of bolded pronouns in sentences.

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. 

It's time to start journaling. Scholars look at examples of science field journals. They work in pairs to examine and complete a note catcher about a field journal. They then add to an anchor chart by discussing the different features...

The documentary, The Legendary King of San Miguel Island, introduces the fascinating tale of Herb Lester, his family, and their life on San Miguel Island. Viewers have an opportunity to expand their study of the island and of...

Help your seventh graders relate the ELA Common Core standards to their own learning with these "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been translated into a statement that pupils can understand and placed on its own page for...