Encourage your students to interact with the text as they read. While reading "Three Skeleton Key," class members note predictions, define words and study their meanings, take notes on how the suspense builds, and jot down ideas...

People often save money, but what are the benefits and drawbacks of that action? Youngsters learn about saving, savings, and opportunity cost through the lens of a short book, called Something Special for Me.

Reading scary stories on Halloween is frightfully good fun! As elementary learners read several stories for the holiday, they choose a favorite and create a decorative garland representing the characters and setting elements found...

High schoolers are asked to consider the connections between food, culture, and identity. They read articles and share what they learned in a jigsaw activity, read a short story, and make a claim about the story's theme, backing up their...

It's possible to promote inclusion and empathy on the Internet—it just takes effort! Scholars read and discuss a short story about being a friend online. Then, pupils role-play appropriate ways to respond to hate within a digital...

Have you ever wanted to tell a character what you really thought of him or her? Use a lesson based on Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter to encourage learners to write a letter in response to a character's actions. 

Positive and negative numbers are all around us. Groups read short story contexts and identify a rational number that represents the values in the context. They order the rational numbers and interpret statements of inequality.

Writers create an original mystery and have a chance to put it into movie format. The classic elements of a mystery must be present: the crime, the suspects, the motive, the solution and clues. Use iPhoto and Quicktime Movie to integrate...

Why is literary analysis so important? Readers explore writing a literary analysis by reviewing literary elements such as character, metaphor, plot, setting, simile, personification, and style. They read "Young Goodman Brown" by...

Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...

Two stories by Roald Dahl, "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Landlady" provide readers an opportunity to compare stories by the same author. After a close reading of the stories, teams select a character from one of the tales, craft...

Does the fastest one always win the race? Look deeper into The Tortoise and the Hare with a set of discussion questions for before, during, and after reading the story.

Primo Levi wrote a collection of short stories comparing his life from Italy to Auschwitz to elements in the periodic table. Pupils read an excerpt from his book and research the characteristics of various elements. Then, they make a...

Houses come in all shapes and sizes, but not all houses are safe from Mr. and Mrs. Twit. The 10th instructional activity in a unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl turns learners into architects. While designing houses for...

Fourth graders look at the importance of setting in a story. In this setting activity, 4th graders see how the setting of a story affects the actions of the characters and how you can predict these actions based on the setting. They read...

Students analyze graphical forms of Eudora Welty and interpret the shorts stories in the representations. In this graphical representations lesson, students analyze the short story genre in comic strips. Students then create their own...

Sixth graders use several pieces of literature to identify specific story elements. In this story elements lesson, 6th graders analyze the story element of character, character traits, and setting for the example stories. Students work...

Students explore global relationships by reading stories of children in villages. In this foreign aide instructional activity, students discuss the story Jojo's Story which describes the trials and tribulations of a ten year old boy...

Young scholars read a short story and then map out the elements of a short story using "Inspiration" software. They read 'Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allen Poe.

Young scholars read and compare excerpts from The Odyssey and The Adventures of Telemachus. They create an original story based on a secondary character from The Odyssey as well as a sketch of one of the pivotal scenes from the story.

In this language arts worksheet, students discover the importance of logical sequence in stories. Students read 5 short stories or letters and put them in the correct order. This is a cut and paste page.

Young historians discover African stories associated with a royal altar tusk from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, read myths illustrated on the tusk, and write a story about the life of an oba using figures depicted on the tusk.

A fun and delicious lesson can help your kids learn about plural nouns and story sequencing. After reading The Magic Apple by Rob Cleveland, kids match pictures to story segments and add s to nouns to make them plural....

What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...