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...

Third graders read a readers theater written by Nasreddin Hodja. In this Nasreddin Hodja lesson plan, 3rd graders learn about the philosopher and participate in one of his reader's theaters.

For this literature worksheet, learners respond to 25 short answer and essay questions about Jane Austen's Emma. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

Students complete activities using the book The Higher Power of Lucky. In this literature lesson, students read the story and identify the parts of the story. They create a wind chime like that found in the book. 

Tenth graders  analyze the role of mentors, point of view, and prejudice using the texts of To Kill a Mockingbird and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders review Scout's...

Students read novels, completing a weekly assignment as they read. They meet weekly with another student to discuss the readings and assignments.

Fourth graders are assigned an unique theme, symbol, or character in Great Expectations. They becomes the class expert on that facet of the novel while learning the basic skills needed to write a research paper.

Learners give their book reports as oral "Meet the Press" type interviews. They team up with another student "reporter" and answer questions about main idea, details, and the point of view.

Students participate in an oral story telling activity designed to show how story embellishments occur. They read "Beowulf" and identify incongruities that suggest additions and embellishments over the years.

In this opera movie soundtrack worksheet, students read a 1 paragraph description of opera seria and then use the dialogue from the film Speed to help them determine what music is appropriate to add to the film based on the style of the...

Students analyze Jack London's use of anthropomorphism to identify the importance of adaptability in life. In this literature lesson, students use the novel The Call of the Wild to identify key elements in survival. Students...

Tenth graders use the novel To Kill a Mockingbird to analyze relationships in society. In this literature analysis instructional activity, 10th graders participate in a shoe activity where they bring in one shoe belonging to someone they...

Students explore the main idea and stories behind paintings. In this art lesson plan, students discuss how paintings tell stories and take tests based on details of paintings. The tests are embedded in the plan. Links that students...

Here is a worksheet presenting many ways to create topics and start sentences. The writing prompts are best used for young writers who are creating reading response journals or literature logs. Sometimes, all a writer needs is a good...

Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...

A comprehensive presentation on narrative writing, this should be shown to a class before the writing process begins. There are not activities listed, so pupils can take notes on the elements of narrative writing and figurative language....

Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...

Students investigate writing scenarios that can be performed. They examine the parts and levels of scenarios that can actually be performed.

Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....

If you would like a concise overview of MLA formatting, this two-page handout provides it. It addresses page layout, parenthetical citations, and works cited (including when and how to use ellipses to indicate an omission), but it does...

Write dear old Peter Rabbit a letter with this lesson. First, youngsters listen to the story Peter Rabbit and analyze the story elements. Then they complete a story map graphic organizer in order to write a letter to Peter...

How do you write an interesting beginning, middle, and end of a story? With this instructional activity, young writers look to other stories as examples. Then, they use some of the attached graphic organizers to help them create their...

Readers write a formal letter to an author offering an alternative ending to a story the author has written. First, the class reads a story or novel. Upon finishing the reading, they are introduced to the format of a formal letter. They...

Students use writing processes effectively to adapt and retell stories. They reread a favorite fairy tale, then adapt and retell in a PowerPoint or other multimedia presentation. They present their rewritten and edited presentations to...