Mark Twain's frame story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" provides an opportunity for a study of this story-within-a-story pattern. Using an illustrated template, class members record a plot summary of the frame story...

This scripted lesson suggests using the journalist’s five W’s (who, what, when, where, why) to teach readers how to summarize a story and to how to distinguish between significant and supporting details. A template and rubric are...

History comes to life with the play The Best of Enemie. Scholars learn literary elements as well explore racial issues in American history. The play is based on a true story and addresses the universal truth that people are capable of...

Students create a canteen and binoculars before reading, Going on a Lion Hunt.  In this reading lesson, students reenact the story they have just heard by using the props they have created.   

You can use these basic instructions to create a book using the accordion fold. This project can be used alongside nearly any other lesson. Have kids fold a book to create a science journal, chapter-by-chapter book summary, to house a...

What could be better than a play within a play? A study guide for "The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of 'A Christmas Carol'" has theater-goers share their thoughts on the comedic...

Integrate art, math, life science, music, and fun in this beginning addition and subtraction activity. Children kinesthetically represent adding and subtracting numbers to 10; they stand up one at a time as you count forward and sit down...

Students take a closer look at Cinderella stories. In this literature activity, students discuss the attributes of Cinderella stories from around the world and conduct research to find where the "Aschenputtel" story originated. Students...

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...

In this wonderful cross-curricular lesson, your youngsters will learn about Pueblo Indian storyteller dolls by creating their own! They discuss the tradition of story telling, especially in reference to Native Americans. Consider ending...

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.

What do your students see when they look outside the window? This project lets their imagination go wild, and lets you see what kind of daydreaming they do best. They each draw, paint, and color an image of what they imagine as they are...

What do writing and dance have in common? They both have a six-trait rubric for assessment. Just like a good story, a good dance must have a hook, beginning, middle, end,  logical sequence, and a climax. Learners use a...

Lights, Camera, Action! Pupils read Little Women and create, act, and direct a melodrama that Jo March and her sisters would enjoy. The lesson plan comes complete with resources for the educator on melodrama as well as examples...

Get out the glue and those oil pastels its time for an art project. The class explores shape, art, and color as they draw fish with glue, let them dry, and then color them as they wish. This project would be wonderful after discussing...

Grotesques or gargoyles are wonderful subjects for stories or art projects. Here is a simple "how to" for creating a lesson about sculpting clay gargoyles. Tip: Have learners research gargoyles throughout history.

Places everyone! Action! Imagine an entire cinematography course, already designed, that includes everything you need to launch your own film studio, in one tidy 66-page packet.

Students look at the role of characters in a story. In this character lesson, students discuss how different types of characters change the plot of the story. They see how storytellers use their body, face, and voice to tell stories. 

Third graders explore language arts by answering study questions about a book they read. In this reading summary lesson, 3rd graders read the book Verdi by Janell Cannon and identify the plot, characters and sequence of the story....

Young scholars write original plays based on supernatural explanations of existence. In this cultural creation myths lesson, students listen to five different stories about supernatural creation. Young scholars record similarities and...

Students read slave narratives and retell the stories to the class, identifying sensory details. For this slavery lesson, students discuss the importance of sensory details, then read the slave narratives looking for specific examples. ...

Students research the Legend of King Arthur. For this King Arthur lesson, students explore him as he is presented in stories, poems, and art. Students compare and contrast the real life of King Arthur versus the man in...

Students create stories using only pictures.  In this visual storytelling lesson, students read Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie de Paola and analyze the wordless story.  Students create new text for the book by writing on...

Learners examine literary arts. In this Greek mythology lessons, students read Greek myths and select characters from the myths to study. Learners create watercolor illustrations of the characters, write short stories about the...