Students use an object to tell an interesting story from their lives. They write and present a short story about an interesting episode from their life and gather objects in a story bag, which illustrates their story to the class.

Students work in small groups and prepare an analysis of a short story to be presented to their peers. They research the story and create a handout or a visual aid that cites sources of information and summarizes the main points of the...

As this short story unit comes to a close, provide a day for a full examination of theme and allow some time in class for individuals to work on their various assessments. This final lesson before presenting iMovies and portfolios is the...

James Hurst's short story "The Scarlet Ibis" provides eighth graders with an opportunity to sharpen their literary analysis skills. After a close reading of the text, class members highlight and annotate parts of the dialogue and...

Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...

Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to hone their close reading and literary analysis skills. After annotating their copy of the story, writer's craft an essay in which they analyze...

It's hard to find inspiration; have your learners bring in a slew of magazines and search for inspiring pictures! They look for characters, setting, and possibly even conflict clues. They analyze the pictures they select, turn their...

Students read short stories that are related to adolescent issues and behaviors. In groups, they review the elements of a short story and vocabulary they might need while reading. To end the lesson, they read "Sir Tatton Sykes"...

Students write equations if they change the data of the population to find patterns. They look for patterns in the data regarding male to female ratio (using the lowest possible). Students write a short story for the data that changes...

Young writers engage in a fun writing activity. They write three different sentences on three strips of paper. Then they get into groups of three, and take a look at all nine sentences that have been written. Their task is to write a...

Students analyze the narrative arc and complete short story exercises. In this short story analysis lesson, students examine a narrative arc and complete a short story writing skills worksheet that defines point of view.

Students write a short story set in a selected period of history. They conduct research on a selected period of history, write and edit a rough draft of their short story, and submit a final draft of their story that includes details...

Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers. 

There are many ways to tell a story; Richard Patterson's three-dimensional painting If serves as the inspiration for some creative storytelling for elementary school writers. They watch a clip from Toy Story (you'll need to...

Who was the Radcliffe family? Young learners find out about the life and times of a family from long ago. They analyze the family portrait, write a story about the family, and then use their story to create thought or word bubbles which...

Visual art is the inspiration for a creative writing activity focused on having learners write from different perspectives. They analyze the image Yellow Rain Jacket, picking out details to help their storytelling. They use the details...

Dazai Osamu’s short story, “A Sound of Hammering” is the focus of a three-day investigation of modern Japanese literature and life in post-World War II Japan. The events in Osamu’s story mirror those in his own life, and give a...

Imagine you are a bug living on a leaf in the painting, Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase by Maria van Oosterwyck. This is what you'll tell your class as they analyze the lovely image. They list details in the painting, find two insects...

True! Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" makes readers nervous. But how? Young scholars create a drawing while listening to a reading of Poe's eerie tale to understand how writers create the mood of their stories and what their writing style...

Students navigate through an online interactive virtual zoo to create imaginary animals by combining different parts of real animals. They write a short story about their combination creature.

Students interpret and analyze a work of art and write a narrative for the piece of art. For this narrative art lesson, students analyze a work of art and then write a short story 500-700 words long to narrate the art.

We often see other countries depicted in movies, but getting a close look at a typical day in the life of a young person from another country isn't as common. Give your pupils such a look with a resource that helps class members...

Sometimes short lesson outlines are enough to give you a great idea. Young writers draw any object inside an image of a jar, that doesn't belong in a jar. They can draw a tree, truck, or dinosaur. Tip: Have kids write a short story...

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...