Curated OER
Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting
Students examine plot and setting of Cinderella, and how it changes as it is translated into different cultures, discuss universal literary elements of the Cinderella story, and write narratives with original settings and plots...
Curated OER
Setting Worksheet
Set your class up for success with writing descriptive settings with these two graphic organizers. On the first page, writers note specifc details about their chosen setting and comment on how each character views the setting. The second...
Curated OER
The Stuff of Stories: Using Museums to Inspire Student Writing
Middle schoolers write descriptions, narratives, and dialogues based on objects of art and time periods in a museum. They base several writing assignments on art objects and paintings, including a literal description and an emotional...
Curated OER
Walk Two Moons: Hook and Concept of a Frame Story
As an introduction to Sharon Creexh's Walk Two Moons, a volunteer dons a pair of boots and walks about the classroom.Observers then ponder the axiom, Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his...
EngageNY
Creating Division Stories
Create your own adventure story ... well, not really. The fifth activity in a 21-part series has pairs create story contexts for division problems. The activity presents a step-by-step process for pupils to follow in writing such stories.
Teachit
Keeping a Reader's Journal
A reader's journal can help pupils comprehend, connect to, and remember a text. Have them follow the prompts here to write journal entries for any literary text.
Curated OER
A P Literary Terms
Is a list of literary terms found frequently on AP English exams of value to test takers? Now there's a rhetorical question. Here's a list that provides definitions for everything from allegory to vernacular. To say the list is...
EngageNY
How Does the Author Convey Themes in Bud, Not Buddy?
After reading up to chapter 12 of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars read chapter 13 and take part in a grand conversation about the author's writing techniques. Pupils discuss how his writing conveyed literary themes...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Metamorphoses and Later Works of Art: A Comparison of Mythic Imagery
In a lesson on The Metamorphoses, scholars compare how graphic artists use mythic imagery to represent Ovid's tales. Each group selects a work of art paired with Ovid's version of a myth and compares how both present the story.
Project B.A.S.I.C. Child Development Specialist and Child Care Consultation
Better Attitudes and Skills in Children
Little kids often have very big feelings, and need help expressing them. A set of social emotional lessons provide tangible ways for young elementary learners to visualize their emotions, focus on clear communication, and channel their...
Reed Novel Studies
There's a Boy In The Girls' Bathroom: Novel Study
People travel to Washington, DC from all over the world to take a tour of the White House or catch a glimpse of the Washington Monument. Using the novel study for There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar, scholars research an...
Curated OER
The Setting of Any Fairy Tale
Focus on setting using this instructional activity. Learners read a fairy tale and identify the setting for the story. They also list adjectives to describe it. In addition, they draw a picture describing the setting.
Curated OER
Compare and Chart the Stories
Elementary schoolers engage in a literature study. They make comparisons of two different versions of a story using a graphic organizer. Using the text and pictures elementary schoolers investigate three elements from the story. Then,...
Curated OER
Snapshots of a Short Story
First graders will be creating and filling in a graphic organizer using Kidspiration, as a pre-writing activity for their short story piece. They then use their graphic organizers to write their entire short story. Once written, the...
Curated OER
Aim for Your Goal
Young scholars write a story about their achievements in a sport, or their dreams for success in other areas. They create original works of art depicting their goals or anticipated achievements. They then display their stories and art.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 8: Setting and Mood
What mood does this story evoke? How are setting and mood linked? Young novelists explore the different emotions brought about by writing, starting by journaling things that inspire their own feelings. Examine the word mood, looking into...
Curated OER
Implicit Setting
Students draw the setting of a story. In this setting and context clues lesson, students learn how to use textual clues to determine and visualize the setting of stories. Students discuss the context clues they use to...
Curated OER
Setting's Effect on a Character's Actions
Do the actions of a character in a story change based on the setting the writer provides? Learners explore the concept of character action in relation to story setting by investigating the setting and events in the story Science...
Curated OER
Retell the Story
Learners identify bias in books. In this character education lesson, students read a text and discuss any gender or racial bias which may be present. Learners retell and rewrite the story in a fair way.
Curated OER
Comprehension: Identify Story Grammar
This fully scripted activity could be a big help for someone new to teaching Kindergarten. It outlines what you should do and say as you teach grammar and literary elements such as, main character, setting, and events through reading....
Curated OER
Setting the Story: Techniques for Creating a Realistic Setting
“It was a dark and stormy night.” Thus begins the 1830's novel Paul Clifford and, of course, all of Snoopy’s novels! Encourage young writers to craft settings for their stories that go beyond Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s often-mocked phrase...
Have Fun Teaching
Story Starters
Starting at the very beginning may be a very good place to start, but it can also be very difficult for emergent writers. Help them get started by providing them with a setting, a main character, and a basic plot.
5280 Math
Stories That Formulas Tell
Learn the stories a formula holds. An interesting lesson takes a unique approach to teach how to use formulas. Beginning with a formula, learners predict what the variables stand for and then use the formula to make calculations and tell...
Federal Reserve Bank
Beatrice’s Goat: A Lesson on Savings Goals
Youngsters learn the meaning of saving and how to reach savings goals by first reading a story of a young Ugandan girl who is gifted a goat, and then discovering the opportunity costs of savings decisions made by her and her family.