Pennsylvania Department of Education
Analyzing Literary Elements in Literary Nonfiction
Fourth graders identify the literary elements of a nonfiction text. In this literary elements lesson plan, 4th graders read the text Piano Starts Here--The Young Art Tatum and fill in a chart that includes the events from the book....
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Comparing Characters Across Two Short Stories
Ninth graders listen to a read aloud of two short stories focusing on literary devices. The write about the settings and realism of the stories, and decide each main character handles the conflict he faces with nature.
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Characterization
Students read the book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. In this character traits lesson, students read the book and identify character traits. Students draw pictures of a character from the book and describe the character traits.
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Fairy Tales
Students explore fairy tales. In this fairy tales lesson, students analyze the main idea of a fairy tale and interpret it. Students then re-write the story from the point of view of another character or object in the story.
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Draw a Map
Students draw a map. In this map drawing lesson students draw a map to show where a character is from and where they are going in the story. Students are writing an odyssey.
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Literature Analysis
Young scholars examine the attributes of stories. In this literary elements instructional activity, students discuss the characters, plots, and settings of books they read in class.
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Lively Read of the Tale of Despereaux
Students create a character map of the main characters in The Tale of Despereaux. After reading the text, students create a character chart based on information they gleaned from the story. They use this information to write a letter...
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The Cask of Amontillado
Students examine the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado." In this character lesson, students discuss and analyze the characters in the story. Students make personal connections to the characters and create a brochure...
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Interpreting Dramatic Works
Action! Delve into character development in the play Fences by August Wilson, setting the stage for learners to analyze character nuances. Thespians choose a scene from the script, responding with a written account of the...
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Charging Redchief
Read and analyze the novel, Ransom of Redchief. They identify the elements of character development, and participate in a mock trial, creating the witnesses through the use of character development.
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Literary Analysis - Young Goodman Brown
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...
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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,...
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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.
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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.
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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...
Shoop English
Literature Terms Activity
Designed to be used with an independent reading book, this activity provides practice with identifying and explaining literary terms. While they read, individuals find instances of literary devices and elements in use in their books....
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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"The False Gems" by Guy de Maupassant
Readers must go beyond the surface level of Guy de Maupassant's story, "The False Gems," to answer the questions on this worksheet. They must draw inferences, evaluate character's actions, and analyze how irony and symbolism give depth...
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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....
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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...
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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...