Foster community in your classroom and encourage learners to get up and get to know each other. Individuals each receive the classmate inventory handout included and use it to fill in information about their fellow scholars. Once they...

Film imitates life; that's what they say. Using performance theory to tie the lesson together, learners attempt to understand memory and daily rituals as seen in art, film, and life. They read two chapters from the book, watch the...

Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

Define and write proverbs! Learners define proverbs, use the Internet to find weather-related proverbs, and talk with their parents to learn other proverbs. There's a well-structured worksheet included here. 

If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...

Transform a written biography into a video biography! Introduce your learners to the biography format by reading them a few examples (some suggestions are included). Then discuss the factors that make a good biography. What information...

Give young scholars a chance to practice making inferences after reading the book Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. They confirm whether or not their conclusions are true, have a class discussion, and then independently complete an...

The design of this two-day lesson eloquently exposes learners to the topic of social justice for people with disabilities. The plan is built off the reading of Are You Alone on Purpose? by Nancy Werlin. The activity introduces...

As part of a study of  Sean Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens learners write autobiographical e-mails, hold discussions, create a collage, and compose a personal mission statement. Pupils then have a...

A getting-to-know-you activity that is perfect for the beginning of the year! Kids craft their portrait out of clay, then make a mobile by dangling ceramic representations of things they love. This project builds self-awareness, motor...

Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...

After reading and analyzing two narrative memoirs, middle schoolers engage in a variety of activities, including writing an essay, developing a story map, and creating character charts. They then compare and contrast story maps, and...

Explore women's history through films and filmmaking. An innovative research project prompts class members to create their own screenplay about a figure in women's history. After outlining their characters, settings, and plots, young...

Help your middle schoolers identify personal experience narratives in their own lives through telling stories themselves and from family members or other adults. They study personal experience narratives in Swapping Stories and compare...

In theory, at least, indentured servitude and slavery were two different practices in the American colonies. Class groups conduct a close reading of two primary source documents, one written by a slave and one by an indentured servant,...

Introduce young philosophers to the wisdom of China's most famous thinkers with a short bio. The reading comprehension passage includes an answer key.

Who was Alexander The Great? How did Abraham Lincoln’s early life influence his political life? Learners select a historical figure to use for video biography. After developing research questions and collecting information, pupils search...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Students will learn the difference between biography and autobiography with these resources. PowerPoint lessons, biographical paragraphs, and autobiographical paragraphs are provided.

[Free Registration/Login Required] What is history? And why do historical accounts differ? In this lesson, students create brief autobiographies and then reflect on the process to better understand how history is written. Exploring these...

CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...

This is a 4-day lesson on how to write an autobiography. Students also learn to take digital pictures of themselves and use them in their writing.

Contains plans for nine lessons that ask students to write autobiographies before creating multimedia presentations for them. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used in the lessons as...