Students read the short story "The Problem of Cell 13" and examine the plot devices that build suspense. In this lesson students create their own short story using the same locked room setting.

Learners explore different viewpoints through short stories. In this literature lesson, students read a classic short story.  Learners then write a short story from a different point of view.

Character development, setting, and plot? Sounds like the makings of a good narrative story. Young authors read and analyze several narrative examples, and then they use what they know to pen an original composition. They work both in...

Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final lesson in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to each of their...

Students write a persuasive letter to the government of an African country that has elephants as a resource. Students research and debate the pros and cons of ivory use. Students identify the value of ivory products versus the lives of...

Designed to support a visit to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery exhibition “Picturing Hemingway: A Writer in His Time,” which ran from June 18, 1999 through January 2, 2000, the approach detailed and the activities included in...

Explore the short story "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. First, read the short story and take notes on specific uses of the elements of writing such as characters, setting, plot, similes, personification, metaphors,...

Students practice writing surprise endings to their short stories. After listening to the beginning of a short story, students make predictions about the story's surprise ending. They write their own short story with a surprise ending...

Young scholars are introduced to how a character sketch is an outline of a character that includes the character's outward appearance, family members, personality, interests, and beliefs. They then think of a character they would like to...

Seventh graders practice sequencing the events in a story they have read. After reading a short story, 7th graders sequence the events of the story using a timeline. Their timeline is used to create a summary paragraph of the story...

Middle schoolers differentiate between fiction and non-fiction, discuss historical fiction, which combines both genres, choose historical novel from list and read independently, and write original short stories that combine elements of...

Fourth graders study Chaucer as a master of details. Then, they create a short story linking unrelated details into a logical plot with a clear setting and established characters. This lesson plan has some excellent worksheets attached!

Students write a short description similar to "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," describing their own favorite food, and what kind of weather it would be in the story. they continue to observe the weather outside of our classroom.

Dr. Seuss and Walter Dean Myers team up to cover the topic of prejudice. Using The Sneeches (about the culture clash between star-bellied and bare-bellied Sneetches) and The Glory Fields (about a boy coming to America on a slave ship),...

Demonstrate gift giving as an act of caring about someone versus gifts for show (or gifts from the purse). Elementary learners practice giving gifts from the heart by creating a poem for someone special to them.

Invite your young writers to take the reins with writing dialogue. Using two characters of their own creation, kids work with partners and then individually to write short conversations.

Difficulties with brain injuries still continue today. After reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science, class members read a series of modern personal essays about brain injuries and choose an essay to compare...

What would the characters of Pride and Prejudice say to each other in a letter? Draft unsent correspondence between characters from Jane Austen's novel. A great way to explore characterization and plot structure in a creative...

Six tasks make up a lesson plan designed to reinforce comprehension and language skills using the poem "The Pied Piper" by Robert Browing. Scholars discuss and define unknown words, identify adjectives and onomatopoeia, review...

High schoolers evaluate several works by Edgar Allen Poe based on the criteria in his essay, "The Philosophy of Composotion" Their analysis is documented using a graphic organizer. Learners begin the pre-writing process for their own...

Students explore storytelling by participating in an image analysis activity. In this story structure activity, students read the book Cookie's Week by Tomie dePaola and retell the story to their teacher in sequential order. Students...

Kids create leaf people out of sticks, glue, and leaves. They use their imagination to construct leaf people and then glue them onto construction paper. Tip: Extend this craft by incorporating writing. Have learners write a short story...

Young scholars experience and practice their writing skills during the holiday season. They express themselves in a variety of ways including writing about a favorite part about the holiday break, what's the best gift you've ever gotten...

Students explore the elements of a narrative for its purpose, type of audience, mood, main character, minor characters, setting, and conflicts in the story. A story outline is developed and a five paragraph essay composed in this lesson.