What factors help people achieve goals? What factors prevent people from achieving goals? What are the elements that need to be in place to make a team function well? Using Damien Lewis’ Desert Claw and John Francome’s Winner Takes All,...

Here's a fun way to incorporate technology into your curriculum. E-mail each of your class members a picture and 10 questions about the photo. Individuals then imagine the story behind the image and e-mail back their responses. Although...

Students create a greeting card from one character to another after finishing a novel. Individually, they use their imagination to write the paragraph using the text to support their ideas. They share their greeting card with the class...

Fifth graders explore the theme of a story by identifying the effects of a character's decision. In this theme study instructional activity, 5th graders refer to the events in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Students discuss as a...

Students examine the ways a character changes throughout the course of a story.  In this literary analysis lesson, students discuss a story that spans three years in a young girl's life.  Students analyze the changes the girl...

Students examine literary elements in non-fiction literature. In this problem solving instructional activity, students read Rosa Parks, My Story and Beyond the Limits. Students make oral presentations based on the causes and effects,...

Students read and demonstrate competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process via the novel "Finding Buck Henry." They recognize complex elements of plot. Students analyze devices used to develop characters in...

Fifth graders take part in a mini-lesson on characterization, discuss roles for Literary Circles and meet for the first true session of their Literary Circles.

Students use wordless picture books to examine elements regarding a story, the plot, and characters. In this wordless picture books lesson plan, students select a book to creatively discuss. Students then listen to the teacher read the...

Young scholars write a diary entry or a letter from the viewpoint of a character in a myth.  In this Aztec myths lesson, students define myths and read "The Heart of Copil" and "The Eagle of Tenochtitlan" and find the land of...

Students read and analyze the classic Greek tale of "Jason and the Golden Fleece." They compare/contrast the story with modern works of literature and films, answer discussion questions, and retell the story in a modern-day setting.

Second graders identify the universal theme in the Cinderella story. In this fairy tale activity, 2nd graders develop their vocabularies as they read a variation of Cinderella.

Students recognize the elements needed to create a comic strip. In this comic strip lesson, student understand that comic strips need words and pictures. Students find differences and similarities in comic strips. Students describe how...

Students explore the concept of mysteries.  In this mystery genre activity, students identify the common characteristics of mystery books and use a story map to identify these characteristics in a given book.  Students also...

Students consider the structure of folktales. For this writing skills lesson, students list the attributes of folktales that they read in class. Students then complete handouts based on the elements of the tales as well as types of tales...

Students study world cultures with an emphasis on languages and cultures. For this world cultures lesson, students study the countries of Spain, China, Italy, and the United States. Students read the story Everybody Cooks Rice and move...

Students gain insight into the unusual, solitary world of Beatrix Potter's Victorian childhood and can compare/contrast it with their own world to explain why Potter wrote such simple stories and why she wrote about animals rather than...

In this literature circle role descriptions worksheet, students identify the role they play in the literature circle. The different roles include: summarizer, vocabulary finder, questions writer, story mapper. Each role has three to...

Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...

Young scholars read a number of books by a given author and input information into a database. They e-mail information about their favorite author to other students. They focus on story elements and ask questions or make suggestions for...

Look for the signal words! Scholars get both instruction and practice comparing and contrasting. Although it is completely scripted, it can also serve as a detailed outline. Demonstrate this as you read a passage (included) and search...

Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...

Learn all about the book Pudd'nhead Wilson with this analysis of the text. You can plan your unit with the useful teacher information provided here and use the project ideas to enrich instruction.

Go down the rabbit hole with a thorough novel unit for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. With a cause and effect chart, K-W-L organizer, and reading comprehension questions, the resource is a great addition to your summer...