Are you working on an autobiographical or narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson to your class, as it takes young writers through the process of drafting and sequencing an autobiography. After observing and demonstrating steps of the...

What would you be willing to do to save an animal from extinction? After re-viewing a video about the restoration of the Island Fox on Santa Cruz Island, individuals adopt the point of view of one of the key players in the...

November is National Novel Writing Month, so if your young authors are embarking on this journey, be sure they understand plot elements. This collaborative lesson fits into the context of the larger NaNoWriMo project; however, the ideas...

Visualize a plot rollercoaster using this graphic organizer for budding authors. Don't think you're getting the typical five-part plot structure here, though; there are nine spaces for writers to fill in plot elements, assuring they...

Plot, setting, characters, and conflict are common to both drama and narrative stories. Kids create narrated tableaus that show their understanding of the plot, setting, and conflict of a story they've recently read. The lesson...

Explore language arts by reading two similar stories in order to compare and contrast them in class. Young readers read two Aunt Isabel books, by Kate Duke, and discuss the main characters, plot, and setting. They complete a graphic...

Learners, who are talented and gifted, create tower structure according to the given specifications that is able to support a tennis ball for 75 seconds but costs the least to build. They each design a tower in their journal but work in...

Here's a fresh approach to the dreaded personal narrative required by most college applications. The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the anchor text for a unit that, through modeling and guided practice exercises, encourages the...

As part of a study of narrative writing, class members analyze how Leslie Marmon Silko structures the beginning and orients and engages readers in her narrative, "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit."

The final instructional activity in this narrative writing unit asks class members to craft a multi-paragraph essay reflecting on the structural elements Leslie Marmon Silko employs in her "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit."

Readers use the provided worksheet to analyze the narrative techniques Haley uses in chapter 6 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X to continue the development of the central ideas of racial identity and systemic oppression.

Welcome scholars back from spring break with a prewriting activity that challenges them to draft a narrative account of one event that took place over the long holiday.

Chapter 3 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X discusses how central ideas are developed in a narrative. Readers use the provided annotated bookmark to record evidence of ideas such as racial identity, integration/separation, and systemic...

To prepare for drafting their Common Application narrative, class members return to the opening pages of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and examine how Haley engages and orients readers, establishes his narrator and point of view, and...

Chapter 12 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X discusses Haley's narrative techniques, mainly how he uses point of view and foreshadowing to build interest and suspense. Class members read and annotate chapter 13 of the text as homework...

As a mid-unit assessment, individuals craft an in-class, formal essay response to a prompt that asks them to use textual evidence to identify Haley's purpose, as well as analyze how the structure, style, and content contribute to the...

Integration versus separation. Readers of chapter 14 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X examine Malcolm X's views on other Civil Rights leaders and their integration ideas. Class members also return to the narrative essay strand of the...

Using their annotations and questions developed as homework, class members discuss chapter 16 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the narrative techniques Haley uses to heighten the tension and power of the events at this turning point...

Working in pairs, class members use the provided narrative writing rubric to assess the effectiveness of dialogue, pacing, and description in two model paragraphs with similar content. Writers then use the insights they have gained from...

As an end-of-unit assessment, class members complete the final drafts of their Common Application narrative essay and then meet in pairs to discuss the independent reading selection.

Time for more team work! Class members work in a team once again to complete Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Excerpt 5 Analysis note catcher. Before beginning, teams review the Group Work anchor chart and roles....

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

Using their notes developed throughout the unit, class members prepare for the end of the unit assessment by writing a formal essay in which they "analyze how the author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X provides a conclusion that...

This isn't your traditional Robin Hood tale! Explore a Middle English ballad with your young historians, and examine the underlying structure and purpose of historical texts.