Third graders make an accordion-fold book, review the vocabulary of visual art and are introduced to calligraphy. They plan a story using a sequence of words and sentences.

Learners view the PBS presentation of Leo Tolstoy's, "Anna Karenina." Prior and after each episode, they discuss plot and characterization and in one lesson plan, use adjectives to describe each of the main characters. Then, students...

High schoolers transform literature into musical productions. In this integrated arts lesson, students discuss how musicals are written and produced. High schoolers then select literature they are familiar with to adapt into musical...

Students participate in cross-curricular activities and readings to become familiar with the works of Brian Jacques. In this heroes lesson, students discuss the character traits of legends and how their characters develop through events...

The Quapaw Indians of Arkansas are the focus of this American history lesson. Learners discover many aspects of the Quapaw culture, such as their dwellings, social organization, food, and how the tribe was eventually driven out of...

From Mr. Merdle to Mr. Madoff? A viewing of the PBS adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Little Dorrit” launches an examination of greedy characters in literature and a study of greed, unfairness, and economic hardship today. The richly...

Pupils participate in various shared reading and writing activities related to the classic fairytale "The Princess and the Pea." They identify the story elements, write an opening sentence for the beginning of the story, and discuss the...

Students explore American folktales. They review the elements of folktales. Students read the folktale of Johnny Appleseed together. They discuss the vocabulary words from the story. Students discuss the differences between the real...

Students compose a story and tell it to the class.  In this storytelling lesson, students work in small groups to create an illustrated story.  Students are given a checklist of elements to include in the...

Students explore elements of American folktales and tall tales. In this literature lesson, students read examples of American folktales and tall tales and prepare a monologue or news report to present to the class based on their readings.

Young scholars analyze the conventions used in Noh plays and write an introduction to a Noh play of their own. In this Noh play lesson, students identify the conventions of the Noh form and analyze the realizations the main character...

Students complete activities about the story "Diary of a Worm", by Doreen Cronin. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students make predictions and apply prior knowledge about the topic of the story. They actively...

Students read American folktales. They explore and discuss the characteristics of a folktale. Students construct a Venn Diagram to compare/contrast Lupine Lady and Johnny Appleseed. Class diagrams will be displayed.

Drama and movement are wonderful ways to cover story elements such as setting, character, and descriptive writing. Little ones listen to a poem about imaginary creatures. As they listen, they shape their bodies into what they think the...

Identifying an author’s choice, especially choices that concern craft and literary devices, is a difficult skill to teach. Here's an activity that will make your job easier. The resource breaks down how to teach the skill to novice,...

Whether you're using it to tell stories, explore the letter b, or during a life science lesson, these butterfly puppets will be a hit. Youngsters use crayons, tissue paper, and paper bags to create butterfly puppets.

Fourth graders explore ballet. In this dance and music humanities instructional activity, 4th graders practice ballet positions and play a card game using French ballet vocabulary. Students count beats in rhythm patterns and listen to...

Read The Napping House and describe the visual characteristics of the illustrations.  In this perspective activity, learners identify color elements.  They recognize that the text is repetitive and find patterns in the...

Teach your class the basics of narrative writing! The resource first describes the Common Core standard for narrative writing in-depth, and then moves into how to apply the standard. Show your class the example essay and quiz them...

Fourth graders create their own stories with a life instructional activity and illustrate them.

Students engage in activities that extend Eric Carle's story The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In this The Very Hungry Caterpillar lesson plan, students use felt boards, dramatic play, calendars and egg carton creations, to expand on the...

Collaborative writing projects can be a lot of fun for students. They use a Scholastic Story Starter and the class blog to write a creative story containing basic story elements. The web link to Scholastic is included but non of the...

Students discover how setting, props, and character-action communicate information about the characters and the story. Access to videos and a video camera are important to make this lesson plan a success.