US Institute of Peace
Understanding the Levels of Conflict
Conflicts can quickly get out of hand—which is why it's important to understand the four different levels of conflict. An important lesson plan lays out the definitions of personal, local, national, and international conflict before...
Curated OER
Responding to Literature: James and the Giant Peach
Fifth grade reader/writers create an alternate ending to an episode in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach in which our protagonist "loses" the chance to magically solve all his problems. Prompts students not only to write creatively...
Novelinks
The Devil’s Arithmetic: Anticipation Guide
Do you need to learn about someone's past before you can understand that person's behavior? Use an anticipation guide to think about the literary themes of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic before you begin the novel.
Brownsville Independent School District
Moral Courage
What does a morally courageous person look like? Discuss principles, peer pressure, and solving problems without violence in a worksheet about moral courage, and the ways you can be a hero to the people around you.
National Endowment for the Humanities
John Steinbeck’s "The Grapes of Wrath": The Inner Chapters
Here’s a must-have resource for anyone using The Grapes of Wrath. Everything from guiding questions to background information, from photographs to documentary films, from activities to assessments is included in a richly detailed packet...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing
Students complete activities to learn narrative writing. In this narrative writing lesson students are given writing prompts in order to better understand how to write in a narrative format.
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: Skunk
In this writing worksheet, students examine a picture prompt showing a skunk and some garden friends. Students write a story about the picture.
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: Penguins and Christmas Tree
What happens when penguins put up a Christmas tree? Only your students know for sure, since they're the ones writing the story! A picture of penguins around a Christmas tree is sure to inspire even your most reluctant writers to begin,...
Curated OER
Sequencing
Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have happened at school...
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
Safety and Managing Risk
Teenagers love to take risks to test their personal boundaries, but many risks are too dangerous to try. The set of exercises in this packet teach your class about the ways they can stay safe and protect themselves while still having fun.
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Commitment to Recovery
Recovery from substance addiction is an ongoing process. The final lesson plan in a series about painkiller abuse and addiction prompts learners to research various recovery options before writing a short story about a character who is...
National Park Service
Lesson 3: Resistance
During the time of slavery, resistance was a way of life for the men and women held in bondage. Using music as evidence of their fight against oppression, learners explore how enslaved people fought back. Writing prompts round out the...
Curated OER
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Students write a first-person narrative from the perspective of a runaway slave, or a historical character of the period, and present their story orally.
Curated OER
Narrative Writing
Are you the oldest in your family? The youngest? The middlest? How do you feel about your place in your family? After reading such stories as My Rotten, Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by...
National Park Service
How Theodore Roosevelt Became a Leader: Childhood of an American President
The beginning of the 20th century began with a shock: the assassination of President McKinley. The man who would take his place—the youngest American to ever become president—led quite a life before stepping foot in the Oval Office. An...
Curated OER
Printable Story Starter: The Missing Valentines
A writing prompt about a classroom's missing Valentines allows students to finish the story with their own endings, and to provide their own titles. The lesson comes with a picture and the beginning of the story to full prompt students...
Curated OER
Virtual Realities of War
Students outline the major events, mat??riel, and setting of a war or conflict. They develop a computer game narrative that draws on these historically accurate details.
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: St. Patrick's Day Kids
A picture of two leprechauns with a pot of gold prompts students to finish the story. Students provide the title of the story, as well as the beginning, middle, and end. The prompt includes a text box for teachers to type in preferred...
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: Kids by the Creek
Students finish the story in this picture prompt, which shows two kids fishing by a creek. The prompt lends well to creative writing, as well as autobiographical writing. A word box allows teachers to type words that they want students...
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: Squirrel
In this story starter, a picture of a squirrel surrounded by falling leaves prompts students to think of a story idea. Students can then write the story, practicing a beginning, middle, and ending. The worksheet includes a word box area...
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: Dolphin Games
Kids who love dolphins will get a kick out of this prompt, which includes a picture of two dolphins playing with a beach ball. Using the picture for inspiration, students complete the beginning, middle, and ending of the story. A text...
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: Reindeer by Cottage
Given a picture of reindeer by a snowy cottage, students begin and complete a story that is inspired by the picture prompt. Teachers can add desired words in a word box before printing.
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: Bunnies
An excellent Easter or springtime activity, this prompt includes a picture of bunnies by a meadow, inspiring students to write a story based on the picture. Teachers can includes words from a spelling or vocabulary list in the text box...
Curated OER
Picture Prompt: Bee in a Jar
Allowing students to choose the point of view of a bee or of a baby, this assignment prompts students to respond to a picture of a bee in a jar by writing a short story about it. This assignment could be used for multiple grade levels...