Curated OER
Short Story Framework
The class gets creative after listening to a short story containing a definitive structure. They are required to think about character, relationship, and setting, while attempting to show rather than tell, in their writing. Dialogue,...
Curated OER
Egg Carton Stories
Students create stories with better structure when they are able to focus on its characters, setting, and plot. Teacher creates settings, character, and problem cartons with information written on strips of paper.
Curated OER
BioPoem Multicultural Activity For A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Students write a biopoem. In this literature and poetry writing lesson, students write a biopoem about the characters in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry following a specific given format. Examples and format are included.
Curated OER
Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting
Learners 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
Map It Out
Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...
Curated OER
Creating Interesting Characters
What makes a story interesting? Complex characters! As part of a series of worksheets that prepares middle schoolers to write their own novel, the exercises included explain the role of the protagonist, the antagonist, and the supporting...
Curated OER
Fifteen Seconds of Fame
A reading of Panic in Paris launches a review of the elements of narrative writing. Class members work in groups to find narrative devices in the book and record their findings on a provided worksheet. Using the completed pages,...
Curated OER
Daughters Come of Age in Women's Fiction
Introduce your young readers to fiction written by women authors. For each story, they explore the way these daughters discover and claim their own identities. Individually, class members use the literature to examine their role in their...
Curated OER
Tortoise and Hare Races
Practice basic map skills with the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. After listening to the story, class members create a map that indicates the starting line, the path the animals took, where they stopped to rest, and the finish line....
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
Curated OER
Pablita Indian Legends
Scholars are introduced to the characteristics of a legend. They read and discuss Old Father Story Teller by Pablita Velarde. Then, in groups, they write and illustrate a poem based on one of the legends from the book. This lesson plan...
Curated OER
Story vs. Plot
Students, after reading and discussing the two texts by Flannery O'Connor, "Good Country People" and "Greenleaf," analyze the plot, tone, characters, themes and setting in each story. They write their own short stories dealing with a...
Curated OER
Speak What We Feel, Not What We Ought to Say
Young scholars examine and create their own interpretation of a particular character from the play, King Lear. They read the speeches, write a paragraph about their character, and present a short performance of their scene.
Curated OER
Creating a Book Review Using a Multimedia Stack
Third graders identify the title, character, setting and plot of a story they have read. They state their opinions of the story read and provide information about themselves as a reviewer, using Multimedia Software.
Curated OER
Using Story Structure to Enhance Comprehension
In these story structure worksheets, students review story structure and learn how to use story maps to help with their reading comprehension. Students review an example story map and then study three different graphic organizer versions...
Curated OER
Analyzing Character Conflict Caused by the Plot
How do we know how a character was affected by the conflicts they encounter in a story? We use evidence from the text to make assertions about the characters we read about. Third graders practice finding and using evidence in a...
Curated OER
Roll-A-Story
Students combine the use of geographical information and writing. They write a story and create a visual aid to be used when presenting to the class. They move to different stations deciding which topic they want to further research. ...
Curated OER
Using Inspiration Software to Explore Characters In Stories
Students identify characters, their qualities, and examples of their qualities and use Inspiration to organize them in a clear and understandable format. After a lecture/demo, students use the program on the next story by themselves.
Curated OER
Elements of a Short Story
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.
Curated OER
Elements of a Short Story
Students read a short story, The Tell-Tale Heart and create a story map identifying the elements of a short story included in the selection. Students complete an Accelerated Reader test on the selection.
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men: Chapter 3 Reading and Study Guide
Boost comprehension with an excellent reading guide for chapter 3 Of Mice and Men. Learners define four vocabulary words, note one allusion, define five literary terms, and respond to 31 short answer questions regarding the...
K20 LEARN
"The Interlopers": Are You Ready to Rumble? Conflict, Motivation, and Setting
Capulets and Montagues. Sharks and Jets. Nortenos and Surenos. Gradwitzes and Znaeyms? Hector Hugh Munro's short story "The Interlopers" invites high schoolers to consider the causes of conflicts and reflect on what it takes to resolve...
Curated OER
Literature Through Silent Movies
Students participate in an engaging, alternative assessment activity: making a silent film of an Edgar Allen Poe story. This project offers them an additional way to demonstrate their mastery of the topic.
ReadWriteThink
A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools
Paul Langan's novel The Bully is the core text in a six-session unit plan that engages high schoolers in an in-depth examination of bullying and its effects on bullies, victims, and bystanders. The richly textured and carefully...