This lesson engages students in describing the main character from Patricia Palacco's book, My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother. Students will analyze a picture of the main character and the teacher will write all of the students'...

This series of 12 downloadable activities teach students some basics of story writing, using books or videos from the PBS "Arthur" series as a springboard. Activities include creating story maps, asking questions about characters and...

In this lesson, writing partners work together to develop a plot and characters. The lesson emphasizes the use of dialogue to develop the characters and plot of the story.

In this lesson, learners create a unique character and develop a descriptive paragraph utilizing strong word choice.

[Free Registration/Login Required] With this lesson plan, 3rd graders can learn to identify descriptive language. Focused on the book "Mr. George Baker."

In this online lesson and activity, students actually "become" a character from a novel in their analysis of characterization. The lesson uses the Scarlet Letter, but any novel can be used. RL.9-10.3 Analyzing Characters, RL.11-12.3 Auth...

Online lesson which allows for students to create an electronic "Home page," for a specific character when reading a class novel. Students research and create web pages, then present findings to the class.

The writer will first create an original imaginary friend, inspired by Ted from Tony DiTerlizzi's wonderful picture book. The writer will then think of an ordinary activity done on a daily basis, like feeding the family dog. The writer...

Barbara Greenwood, a Canadian author of numerous historical fiction books for children, has written this thirty-page writing guide where she explains the process she goes through in constructing a story. She covers such key topics as...

This lesson explains how characters develop in fiction writing. W.11-12.3d Sensory/precise lang narratives

In this lesson, students will write a descriptive paragraph regarding an animal and its habitat, or a character in a particular setting. Great cross-curricular usage of vocabulary.

Young scholars will read chapter four of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, noting both the time traveler's descriptions of the new world of 800,000 ACE, and the conclusions the main character draws as a 19th century man. Students will...

Excellent classroom activities for building students' character. This activity encourages students to use their knowledge and experiences, mathematical skills, and higher-order thinking skills.

After sharing chapter 19 of Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls as an example of emotion-evoking writing, the students will write their own detailed and emotional paragraphs. Students can draw from background knowledge of a real...

After hearing and discussing an excerpt from Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, young scholars will plan to create a unique description of a character that uses memorable actions that "show" a person's character. They will brainstorm verbs...

In this lesson,writers will examine and discuss techniques that writers use to link moods to setting descriptions (Lord of the Flies by William Golding). Next, they will choose a mood and an interesting setting, and they will imagine a...

After reading Grandpa's Teeth by Rod Clement, the writer will plan a scene from a story where a character confronts another character about something that has been stolen. Descriptive details need to take precedence in this scene, as...

A great resource outlining four major ways to make settings appear more real and genuine in fiction. Deals with themes such as motion, experience, mood, and the senses. W.11-12.3d Sensory/precise lang narratives

In this lesson plan, SuperHero ABC, a book written by Bob McLeod, and Meanwhile, a book by Jules Feiffer, are used as mentor texts. Students will work in groups and create lists of unique superhero powers that start with different...

This collection of trading cards was created by 5th and 6th graders at Shutesbury Elementary School in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, as part of a choice-based fictional reading project. Each student selected a fiction book that he or she...

For this resource, students will practice identifying and describing the actions of a character. Teachers will model these skills through the use of text and pictures from the story No, David! by David Shannon. Students will then draw a...

This article is the fifth in a series that is designed to help new authors with their new novels. This lesson focuses on your main character and what happens when that character lacks character flaws.

This is the tenth in a series of articles designed to help the new novel author. This article focuses on how to develop characters through their actions instead of simply relying on dialogue and description of thoughts. W.11-12.3d...

This site is a personal site from Caro Clarke. The third installment in this series looks at the four major mistakes made by beginning authors. The main idea of this article is that the author needs to be able to combine dialogue with...