A read-aloud anthology focuses on fables. Over three weeks, first graders listen to various stories and then participate in lessons that cover story elements, including plot, characters, setting, and personification and explore...

This 97-slide PowerPoint uses Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember, to illustrate the elements of a story. Setting, plot, characterization...

Students look at picture books and describe the story elements. In this picture book lesson, students retell a story and begin to understand the story elements of plot, setting, and characters. Students complete graphic organizers to...

Students participate in a study of short story elements, applying their knowledge and understanding to a selection of short stories.  In this short stories lesson, students read five short story selections, identifying conflict,...

ESL/ELD learners are provided extra support with the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on silly stories by this packet of activities, exercises, and practice sets.

Use short stories to teach English? Yes! Designed as a professional development opportunity for English language teachers, the ideas in this booklet can easily be adapted to advanced ESL/ELL classes.

Discover how the periodic table tells the story of its elements. Learners begin by studying the makeup of several mixtures. Their analysis leads to a discussion of elements and the periodic table. As they dig deeper, they understand the...

While music lyrics are often used to teach literary elements, the richness of this resource comes from the wealth of exercises, activities, and support materials provided in the packet.  Although designed for gifted learners, the...

Seventh graders have a golden opportunity to learn how to read poems and short stories with a unit that introduces them to the techniques writers use to craft their works. They examine poems by William Carlos Williams and Edgar Allen Poe...

A unit covering second-grade skills reviews 16 letter-sound correspondences, tricky words, and punctuation. Readers provide context for examining story elements, and pupils participate in close reading and write narratives retelling a...

Students read African folk tales to learn about story elements and writing techniques. In this writing and reading skills lesson, students listen and retell African folk tales about Anansi the spider. Students complete four lessons to...

Once upon a time are four words most children are familiar with when reading a fairy tale. But do they know that fairy tales are a great way to learn the literary elements of reading and writing? Use a thorough fairy tale unit...

Each one of the learners in your class has a story to tell, so help them learn the most efficient and organized way to tell their tale. A thorough unit on narrative writing addresses the writing process, grammar, story structure,...

How can something be true even if it didn't happen? Invite your classes to investigate the truths found in the world of magical realism as they analyze short stories, poems, informational texts, video, and art from this genre.

Put scholars in charge of their learning! Individuals read information, discuss what they learned, and put their new knowledge into practice—all in a complete and detailed resource. Activities include creating a literary terms handbook...

What makes a fairy tale a fairy tale? Use a 27-page packet to supplement your next fairy tale unit. With sequencing activities, story map worksheets, character analyses and story elements graphic organizers, and fairy tale highlight...

Provide extra support with a unit that follows a teach, blend, guided practice, and practice/apply routine to reinforce reading, grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills. Reading and writing lessons include supporting details,...

To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine...

Students use literature circles to analyze four short stories from the Realms of Gold, Volume 3. In this literature circle lesson, students are assigned a role in the literature circle to improve their critical thinking skills for...

A royal read-aloud anthology offers a look inside the life of kings and queens. Songs and stories showcase royal characteristics and story elements and boost reading comprehension skills. Discussions highlight the difference between...

A 15-page packet details three activities designed to engage scholars in Homer's The Odyssey. As they read, pupils use a graphic organizer to record examples of several literary terms found in The Odyssey and contemporary...

The activities in a curriculum guide to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein provide readers with an opportunity to explore various concepts in depth. First, groups research controversial scientists, examine their work, and decide whether or not,...

Natalie Babbitt's award winning fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, is the anchor text in a unit plan that focuses on identifying similes, metaphors, imagery, and personification in the text and analyzing how these elements effect the...

Students search into a variety of story elements in the eight lessons of this unit. The title, author, illustrator, setting, main character, problem, solution, events and the story are the components of the lessons.