A great article concerning writing children's literature, especially in the area of fantasy or science fiction. The author provides information concerning how to develop characters, creating literary elements, and discusses some pitfalls...

This is an online study guide/notes for the non-fiction book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer including author information, literary elements, chapter-by-chapter summaries/notes, study questions, and analysis. The book retraces the steps of...

Come and check out this incredible resource from the University of Oregon. This site features links to creative-writing for poetry and fiction, as well as other teacher resources.

This is an online study guide/notes for the non-fiction book Hiroshima by John Hersey including author information, literary elements, chapter-by-chapter summaries/notes, study questions, and analysis. The book tells the stories of six...

This online book presents an overview of American literature chronologically. Eras and movements are explained and biographies of significant authors are provided. This is a good way to understand the background and influences of...

For this lesson students create digital stories in cooperative groups using multimedia tools to demonstrate comprehension of the elements of grammar, literature, and technology introduced in the lesson. Students become actively involved...

A series of 24 instructional videos, each about 30 minutes in length, designed to teach literary analysis. Topics include Responding to Literature, The Elements of Short Fiction, Tone and Style in Short fiction, The Elements of Poetry,...

This is a complete online study guide/notes for the short story collection Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury including author information, literary elements, chapter-by-chapter summaries/notes, study questions, and analysis.

This site provides a brief biography of author, Gary Soto, and includes links to his current works.

In addition to thoroughly exploring the purposes and functions of an analytical essay, this resource provides students with step-by-step instructions for reading and analyzing poetry, prose-fiction, and fiction. The site also offers...

After observing and naming elements of an animal's habitat, and reading The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer, students write fictional stories about finding and caring for a wild animal. A printable graphic organizer, a teacher example, and...

[Free Registration/Login Required] A series of three lesson plans designed to teach students to identify problems and solutions in fiction text and to retell a story's problem and solution in sequence. Students learn to identify the plot...

[Free Registration/Login Required] This fiction piece shares the story of a camper who receives a mysterious note. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes...

NewsFeed Defenders is a challenging game designed to sharpen students' news literacy skills. Students will join a fictional social media site focused on news and information. They will learn elements of high-quality journalism to be able...

[Free Registration/Login Required] A series of four lesson plans designed to teach students to predict problems and solutions in fiction text and to identify the relationship between problems and character conflicts within a story....

This is an online study guide/notes for the play Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee including author information, literary elements, chapter-by-chapter summaries/notes, study questions, and analysis. The play is a...

This lesson focuses on the elements that makes a book popular and provides links to lists of Goodreads popular books and NPR's "Your Favorites: 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels."

In this online book from the International Children's Digital Library, a sad and lonely little girl dreams of seeing her mother again as she watches the clouds in the sky.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart reviews the five main elements of a fiction story using the example of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin tells the intimate coming-of-age story of the Portland, Oregon, housewife and mother of three who forever transformed American literature by bringing science fiction and fantasy into the literary mainstream....

The highly-respected Reading Rockets program offers both teachers and students a toolkit of ways to connect more actively with the materials they read. Some of these techniques are specifically for fiction-reading, others are designed...

This is the sixth in a series of articles designed to help the new writer with their novel. This article focuses on conflict and how it effects the characters and the plot of the story. W.11-12.3a Narratives

This is the seventh installment of a series giving advice to the author who is new to writing novels. This article focuses on how to take your characters and use them and their conflicts to develop the plot of your story. W.9-10.3b...

This site is a personal site from Caro Clarke. The third installment in this series looks at the four major mistakes made by beginning authors. The main idea of this article is that the author needs to be able to combine dialogue with...