As a mid-unit assessment, individuals craft an in-class, formal essay response to a prompt that asks them to use textual evidence to identify Haley's purpose, as well as analyze how the structure, style, and content contribute to the...

Check in on the development of your fifth graders' reading and writing skills with this Common Core-designed assessment. Given a series of six reading passages ranging from narrative stories to informational texts, young...

Bring a time machine into your classroom with this writing instructional activity, in which young writers project themselves back in time and have a variety of choices from that point forward. They either write a conversation with a...

Working in pairs, class members use the provided narrative writing rubric to assess the effectiveness of dialogue, pacing, and description in two model paragraphs with similar content. Writers then use the insights they have gained from...

As an end-of-unit assessment, class members complete the final drafts of their Common Application narrative essay and then meet in pairs to discuss the independent reading selection.

Growing up within a culture leaves a lot of ideas and values unspoken. Take a closer look at the cultures in which your learners live with a discussion activity that addresses cultural identity and traits of those living within the...

Fourth graders have likely heard the expression to cry wolf, but they may not know the saying's origin. A short reading passage tells the story and includes four comprehension questions for pupils to demonstrate their...

Going to your first concert is an unforgettable experience. Read about two sisters making plans to attend their first concert with a reading passage and multiple-choice questions.

Follow in Jules Verne's footsteps and take a journey to the center of the earth! Middle schoolers work together to design a trip inside the earth using their knowledge from the previous lessons in the unit.

Teach your young readers how to summarize a text using a strategy called Somebody Wanted But So. Kids identify the character (Somebody), the motivation (Wanted), the conflict (But), and the resolution (So). The resource comes with...

Binoculars are used as a metaphor for good descriptive writing. Class members first view a small picture and then an enlarged view of the same image in which the details come into focus. Next, learners examine a paragraph lacking sensory...

Readers of Solomon Northup's brutally frank slave narrative Twelve Years a Slave examine passages that support the argument that slavery "undermined and corrupted" the institution of marriage. Background information is...

Katherine Paterson’s young adult novel Lyddie is the foundation of a differentiated instruction unit that not only explores the rise of industrialization and labor but women’s rights issues as well. After learners read the novel, they...

Class members take a break from discussing The Autobiography of Malcolm X to focus on their personal narrative essays. Before working on their drafts, they review what they have learned from their study of Haley's narrative about...

As teachers, it is our job to encourage learners to stand up for what they believe in and help them learn lessons from life's events. A set of practice questions designed for the ELA MCAS assessment features passages that teach positive...

The released 2003 AP® exam asks scholars to read and respond to two poems about the love god Eros. They also analyze the characterization and narrative in The Other Paris. A final essay question requires pupils to choose a novel or play...

Nothing is more relaxing than a nice, sunny day at the beach. Make sure your visit to the beach remains relaxing with a list of summer safety tips for the beach, including using sunscreen with a high SPF, handling jellyfish and stingray...

Entrance essays are the ultimate sales pitch! Show your seniors how to market themselves in the first of six college and career readiness lesson plans. Pupils discover the do's and don'ts of writing personal statements through research,...

Scholars showcase their narrative writing skills with a science fiction writing assignment. Six pages present writers with a question to answer accompanied by a detailed picture to draw. All together, pages create a space-travel guide.

Help make children's vacations a little more meaningful with this collection of writing materials. Offering numerous writing paper templates, writing prompts, and coloring pages, this resource engages children in creating a written...

A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...

Young scholars use examples of narrative and expository text to analyze and compare the two styles. Students read articles on life in Lesotho and Madagascar and use graphic organizers and discussion to compare them. Young scholars write...

Use photographs to trigger memories. Writers use a personal photograph as a starting point for an autobiographical writing exercise. They complete brainstorming activities that have them study their photograph before actually putting pen...

As part of a study of narrative writing, class members analyze how Leslie Marmon Silko structures the beginning and orients and engages readers in her narrative, "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit."