Bring the fun and whimsy of Beverly Cleary into your classroom with a teaching guide created to accompany the Ramona series. The guide offers several ideas for classroom use, including independent reading, reading aloud, and literature...

What do spiders' legs and an octopus's eyeball have to do with metaphors? The fourth lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl uses disgusting foods to teach about metaphoric writing.

Enjoy solving riddles? Perhaps Sal, a character in Walk Two Moons, is the only one capable of understanding a mysterious message left on her doorstep. On a road trip with her grandparent, Sal tries to make sense of the bizarre world...

Students discover how everyone is special in his or her own way. In this character traits lesson, students demonstrate how they are special by drawing a picture or writing. Students listen orally to the book We Are All Alike...We Are All...

Students read and demonstrate competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process via the novel "Finding Buck Henry." They recognize complex elements of plot. Students analyze devices used to develop characters in...

Fifth graders study comprehension. In this writing lesson, 5th graders remember what they read and write an introduction for a character from a novel just read including a good description of that character.

Students write descriptive words about colorful pictures and then write about a character. In this writing lesson plan, students have a character worksheet to fill out.

Students read the book Because of Winn Dixie and then create a personal decalogue, which is a list of 10 personal beliefs. In this decalogue lesson plan, students then write a decalogue of a fictional character and write a story based on...

Students assess their understanding of Twelve Angry Men. They create flashcards for vocabulary terms, summarize one of the acts, construct a diorama and complete character wheels. They choose from other activities including creating...

Learners participate in various shared reading and writing activities related to the book "The Selfish Crocodile" by Faustin Charles. They identify descriptive words from the story, and write sentences describing how the crocodile...

Middle schoolers discuss the information listed about how to make an outline for a short story or book. They then begin writing their short story and edit it and revise before turning it in to be graded.

Students recognize the difficulty of knowing who wrote a letter from the envelope. In this writing "voice" lesson plan, students understand the meaning of voice in writing and detect who the writers are in a worksheet.

Fifth graders listen as the teacher reads "Voices in the Park." They discuss the character's feelings and write vivid descriptive words to indicate how the character feels about his experience. Students select one character in the story...

Students complete a word scramble activity for vocabulary from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. In this word scramble activity, students unscramble the letters from the novel to form the name of the character or his habitat. Students write a...

Students create a calligraphy piece using Korean words. They use han'gul script and write with a brush after learning the words. They pay attention to line and space as they create their work of art.

Students study the various aspects of tall tales. They read various tall tales and discuss the characteristics and literature aspects of tall tales. Students write their own unique tall tales.

Students read and analyze the point of view of a selected classic short story. They take notes while reading the story, select a character, and rewrite the story from a different viewpoint.

Second graders listen to the book, Pigaroom carefully. They create lists of animals that may be on the farm and then write their own books about farm life. They proofread their stories using editing checklists and exchange their paper...

Eighth graders consider parallel relationships in Much Ado About Nothing and the structure of the play within an extended piece of writing.  In this point of view lesson, 8th graders examine relationships and write a discursive...

Students write a four paragraph essay that tells about two things in society that Ray Bradbury criticizes in the book, Fahrenheit 451. In this social criticism lesson, students develop a thesis based on their reading of the book and...

Set the tone for a successful school year with a list of strategies to instill respect and responsibility. With tips for classroom management and ways to get parents involved, the resource is valuable for new and veteran teachers alike.

Stereotyping and discrimination are explored in this social justice lesson.  Young scholars listen to the book Dragon of Brog, in which mythical characters experience discrimination. Then, they sculpt a magical character out of...

Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.

Ever known the feeling of being stuck between a rock and a hard place? Jody, a character in The Yearling, knows this feeling all too well. Nature forces Jody to choose between his beloved pet and his family's food supply. Readers...