Curated OER
Story Mapping Abel's Island
Middle schoolers are able to prioritize story elements using graphic organizers. They are able to evaluate character, setting and sequence in a non-print source. Students use visual and audio clues to help them evaluate the parts of a...
BBC
Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
Fairy tales seem like quick, fun children's stories, but asking compelling questions about characters, plot elements, and literary themes can transform them into rich and complex tales. Use a series of eight lessons on Hans Christian...
Curated OER
Building a Literature Pyramid
Learners create a literature pyramid. They review and discuss their assessment task and rubric and select the literature for their pyramid. They read the literary selection and complete a pyramid sheet for one of the four literary...
Curated OER
Gift of the Magi Project
Students read "The Gift of the Magi" and review the elements and theme in the story. In groups, students sketch another students' outline on butcher paper. They use the body parts to relate the characteristics of Della and Jim. ...
Curated OER
Chocolate Chaos
Second graders demonstrate the ability to examine the elements of a story (theme, plot, setting, mood) and characters, by discussing and writing about each. They have fun with chocolate related activities and enjoy reading about some...
Curated OER
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Students study paintings and use their knowledge of story elements to analyze the art. In this art analysis instructional activity, students review a novel for its elements. Students study the image At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance and...
Curated OER
Reading the Movies: Another Approach To Teaching Critical Thinking Skills And Writing
Students explore the elements of film to analyze character, action, and the themes in the movie, "Quiz Show." The lesson encourages students to make personal connections and real life applications as they view the movie, critically.
Curated OER
Create a Chart
Students create charts for story elements. They read two selections that share a common theme and discuss the story elements. They create a chart for the characters, plot, and setting and complete it while reading the selections.
Curated OER
Tales to Live By
Students explore the concept of theme. In this fairy tales lesson, students read several tales and complete hands-on activities, art projects, and dramatic play that lead to an awareness of the themes of the tales.
Curated OER
Romeo and Juliet Mix-It-Up
High schoolers identify themes in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet by analyzing the film or text. In this tolerance lesson, students create their own Elizabethan era terms related to interacting with different social groups. In groups,...
Curated OER
Problem/solution
Students examine presentations of problems and reaching solutions in literature. In this writing skills lesson plan, students read "The Three Little Pigs," and respond to several discussion questions about plot, characters, setting,...
Curated OER
Why Thank You!
Fifth graders listen to a read aloud of Patricia Polacco's, Thank You, Mr. Falker! students examine the use of voice in the book, discuss the writing and theme ideas. They write a thank you not to their hero.
Curated OER
Character Cluster
Third graders practice identifying characters and story elements by creating a character cluster in class. In this story analysis lesson, 3rd graders discuss the story Snow White and identify the characteristics of the evil witch....
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Analyzing Literary Elements in Fiction
Learners analyze the characters and events in fictional writing. In this literary elements lesson, students study the meaning of the words characterization and fiction. They listen to the story Pigsty by Mark Teague, or any other book...
Curated OER
The Literary Element of Theme
In this recognizing the theme in a story worksheet, students read and review the five main steps of how to identify the theme in a story.
Curated OER
Introducing Literary Elements in Fiction
Identify literary elements in fiction. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, learners read the book Pigsty and record literary elements onto a graphic organizer. They specifically discuss the main characters and events in...
Curated OER
Harry Potter: Study Questions
Elementary learners explore fiction storytelling through partcipating in a survey. They identify the characters, themes and plot of the Harry Potter series while discussing their opinions in class. Learners conduct a survey about their...
Curated OER
Building Two Literature Pyramids
Students create literature pyramids. They read selections of various societies, eras, and ideas. They complete two pyramid sheets for the same literary element including either plot, character, setting, or theme. They color-code their...
Curated OER
The Cause & Effect Model
Students analyze the plot of the story, "The Little Engine That Could" to provide a model for writing creatively, developing critical essays, producing themes, and making predictions.
Curated OER
Create a Story May
First graders review the terms characters, setting and events in stories. They are shown how to access the Kidspiration Map, and how to add pictures in the correct spaces on the map. Students insert pictures in the map of the story...
CPALMS
Analyzing Vonnegut's View of the Future and His Commentary on the Present in Harrison Bergeron
Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" engages adolescents with its theme about the dangers of complete societal equality. Learners complete a graphic organizer to track literary elements in the story, as well as an inference...
Curated OER
Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Young Goodman Brown"
Give your class some background information on both Nathaniel Hawthorne and his short story "Young Goodman Brown." Basic themes and characters are introduced, especially as this is an allegory with many symbolic elements. Help your...
K20 LEARN
Considering "Charles": Pictograms, Annotations, Reading Strategies, And Multimodal Responses
Shirley Jackson's short story, "Charles," provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to practice their close reading skills. Using the provided list of prompts, scholars read and reread the story, then create a multimodal response to...
Curated OER
Elements Commercials
Student teams use a digital camcorder and iMovie to create a commercial about an element. They also use the Internet and their textbook to gather the following information about their element: the name, the symbol, the atomic number, the...