Mathalicious
On Your Mark
With many factors leading to a great athlete, does height make Usain Bolt unfairly fast? Middle schoolers conduct analysis to change the running distance of the Olympic races to be proportional to the height of the participants. They...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Narrative Text Structure, Story Pieces
An activity boosts reading comprehension by challenging scholars to answer questions about a narrative tale detailing elements—plot, characters, setting, theme, problem, and solution.
Curated OER
Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
Curated OER
Retelling Stella Louella's Runaway Book: Point of View
Stella Louella’s Runaway Book launches a study of point of view and storytelling. After reading the tale, class members retell the story from the point of view of another character. The scripted plan, developed by a teacher candidate,...
Curated OER
Drama: Learn A Lesson from the Lion
Reading is reading, whether it's for drama or English class. Boost reading fluency, accuracy, intonation, and comprehension while fostering creative acting skills. Kids read the provided tale of "The Lion and the Mouse" several times in...
Curated OER
Drafting
Students use transitions to connect the beginning, middle and end of their writing. In this lesson on drafting a story, students use a graphic organizer sandwich to put pictures back together and recognize a specific order.
Curated OER
Making a Magical Story
Fourth and fifth graders use their knowledge of developing character, dialogue, and setting to produce an original story. An excerpt from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is used as inspiration to get everyone's creative juices...
Curated OER
And the Moral of the Story is...
Students discover the parts of a story through the retelling of a fable as well as characters, plot, and setting. This instructional activity is completed using the program Pixie to create an online storybook.
Curated OER
Unit Plan: Short Stories
Tenth graders complete a unit of lessons on the story elements of Sherlock Holmes short stories. They analyze the plot elements, complete graphic organizers, read and discuss the plots, observe a person and take notes, and analyze an...
Curated OER
I'm Thinking Of A Story
In this literature lesson, students listen to folk tales and then discuss the main ideas and plot of the story. Additionally, students guess what story is being talked about when their teacher describes the main idea and plot. Good...
Curated OER
Create a Chart
Pupils create charts for story elements. They read two selections that share a common theme and discuss the story elements. They create a chart for the characters, plot, and setting and complete it while reading the selections.
Curated OER
When A Story Met A Sandwich
How is a story like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Use making a sandwich as a metaphor to remind your writers that a good, solid beginning, a rich and rewarding middle, and an ending that brings everything together spices up a...
Curated OER
Comprehension Skills: Picture, Question and Summarize Using Fiction Stories
Students build a variety of comprehension skills through the nine lessons of this unit. Picturing events, monitoring understanding during reading, forming questions, and summarizing stories form the core of the lessons being taught in...
Curated OER
Round Robin Suspense
Students, in groups, write suspense stories. At the end of a timed period, they pass the story to the next student to continue it. At the last writing session, the papers are returned to the originators and they share the stories with...
Curated OER
Mixing Colors with "Little Blue and Little Yellow"
Young scholars mix colors to make new colors. In this color mixing lesson, students listen to Leo Lionni's Petit Bleu et Petit Jaune, before retelling the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They watch as the teacher mixes food...
Curated OER
Creative Writing
Students create a story with a beginning, middle and an ending. They also read and analyze another's story.
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...
Curated OER
Humpty Dumpty: The Whole Story
Fifth graders analyze a nursery rhyme to explore the writing process. In this writing process lesson, 5th graders recite Humpty Dumpty and chart the plot of the story. Students select their own nursery rhyme and write a creative story...
Curated OER
Storytelling in the Oral Tradition
Seventh graders research Greek mythological characters. They write about problems faced by middle school-aged children and how the character would handle them. Students also create story boards to accompany their oral narratives.
Orange County Department of Education
The True Story of Abbie Burgess
First graders read a story about Abbie Burgess. They identify at least three specific actions exhibiting traits of courage and responsibility. Students explore ways children and adults become heroes by helping others out in a time of...
Curated OER
Set the Scene
Third graders read the story "A Bargain for Frances" and make predictions about the unfolding plot of the story. In this set the scene lesson, 3rd graders examine the three parts of a story; the beginning, middle, and end.
Curated OER
Retelling
Explore language arts by completing a story worksheet in class. Readers will identify the importance of plot, setting, and character while they write their own short story. They also retell their story to a classmate and participate in a...
Curated OER
Story Parts
Third graders identify the three major parts of a story. After reading the book "Stellaluna," students discuss the beginning, middle and end of the story. They write a short story depicting the events that would happen if the story...
Curated OER
Drama: The New Friends
Reader's Theater is a great way to build fluency, intonation, and dramatic flare. The class reads the theater piece, "The New Friends" paying attention to how they express emotion and feeling as they read. They discuss the use of plot,...