Students examine how geography can have an impact on change in a region. They discuss what their local area might be like in 50 years, and in pairs, select a situation and write a short story to describe how it changed from one thing to...

Students examine and discuss animal adaptation. They read an article about snakes, conduct research on ways animals adapt, develop a diagram, and write a short story written from the perspective of the animal they researched.

Students explore "The Minister's Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this short story lesson, students read a summary of the short story and answer prediction questions.  Students then read the story and write a short story of their own.

Bloom's Taxonomy is a great way to address the many levels of comprehension. With explanations and examples of each level, you can create questions that focus on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

What is historical fiction? After explaining the difference to your learners, it's time to give each learner a try! With your support, encourage them to research, plan, and write their own historical fiction story. Don't forget to have a...

Young scholars complete a Web Quest on How to Write a Mystery. They listen to or read a short mystery story and discuss its elements. They write an outline of a mystery story using all of the elements.

Students examine the characteristics of an adventure story. Students write an adventure story of their own based on a true personal experience. After drafting their story, students use a word processor to write, edit, and revise their work.

Young scholars listen to a story, "My Mama Had A Dancing Heart." They discuss the feeling they had after reading the story and define "mood." Students brainstorm a list of moods and discuss the mood of each character. Afterward, they...

Ninth graders identify story elements utilizing a plot summary organizer. In this plot summary lesson, 9th graders discuss the elements of a good story and listen to the story of the three little pigs. Students complete a group plot...

Ninth graders write a letter to someone who is deserving of thanks. Peer and self-editing takes place. After the writing process is completed and a copy is made for the portfolio, envelopes are distributed, addressed, sealed, and mailed.

After reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (and possibly shedding a few tears), middle schoolers work on their own sixteen-word poems with a Six Trait writing activity. They focus on word choice in this activity to capture an...

Given the two-sentence skeleton of a news story about a car theft/joy ride, budding writers create their own version of the story varying diction and sentence structure to heighten interest and complexity in their writing. Resource...

Albert Bierstadt's painting Wind River Country shows viewers how a reader progresses through a story. Your class studies the light and dark areas, how the eye moves across the painting, and what attracts the audience to the work, and...

If a bar of chocolate was on the floor, would you try to pick it up? What if it was covered with glue? The eighth lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has scholars imagine crazy scenarios. The...

Bingo! Combine the thrill of bingo with Lois Lowry's The Giver in a fun vocabulary lesson plan. Kids write selected vocabulary words from the novel onto a bingo chart, and then listen for the correct definitions in order to mark off...

As a journalist, would you publish everything you heard or saw? Discuss the ethics of journalism with a instructional activity from PBS. Young reporters imagine themselves to be the editor of their school's newspaper, and as they read...

Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson that models...

Students explore short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In this literature lesson, students read one of his short stories listed and then summarize the story in a written piece.

Students watch a portion of a familiar film and write responses to a series of questions. They apply their observations to short stories.

Tenth graders read short story, "The Storyteller" by Saki, and expand on concept of stories for students by reading and evaluating several popular students's stories as well as writing their own original students's stories.

Second graders write a short story based on train track safety and make a train-shaped class book.

Eighth graders create an original scene or short one-act play within specified guidelines. Assessment is based upon the performance of student-created scenes during class time. Rubrics for assessment and connection to state standards...

Tenth graders recognize and define vocabulary words.  In this Military families lesson, 10th graders participate in a shoot n spell game.  Students write the vocabulary in sentences, read words in text, and complete a graphic...

Students use a variety of creative writing tools within this assignment: poems on particular organ systems, write a short story and/or create a word graph. They are involved in a demonstration of lactic build up in the muscles, a...