How did the tiger get its stripes? Kindergartners read a Vietnamese folk tale, "How the Tiger Got His Stripes," retold by Rob Cleveland, and work through several reading comprehension and literary analysis activities.

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...

Middle schoolers complete a writing assessment task to demonstrate their ability to craft a narrative based on a variety of informational texts. They view West of the West's documentary Magic Isle, read three print resources about...

Create a class anthology with your young writers. In this personal narrative instructional activity, each writer reflects on actions and events from their own lives and chronicles them in a three-part written sequence. They create a...

Whether your first graders can read or not, they will enjoy this comprehension activity. They read or listen to an excerpt from a Winnie-the-Pooh story, they predict what will happen next, then draw Pooh Bear's favorite food. A compare...

After going over the five steps of the writing process, pupils fill out "Getting to Know You" worksheets. They trade papers with each other, and have the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about the person whose worksheet they...

Focus on vocabulary, comprehension, and analysis while reading A Weave of Woods, a colorful picture book by Robert D. San Souci. Young learners use worksheets to preview, predict, practice paraphrasing, and make comparisons. The...

Third graders are introduced to the concept of sequence of events. They work in groups to properly sequence The Three Little Pigs, then work individually to write their own stories about their individuality.

Writers create an original mystery and have a chance to put it into movie format. The classic elements of a mystery must be present: the crime, the suspects, the motive, the solution and clues. Use iPhoto and Quicktime Movie to integrate...

Second graders read the story The Broken Bed and then sequence the story in their own words. In this sequencing lesson plan, 2nd graders also write narrative with a specific beginning, middle, and end.

Students listen to the story of Peter and the Wolf and answer comprehension questions. They then will name the beginning, middle, and end of the story using a graphic organizer. Students then individually illustrate each part of the...

Second graders identify story elements in familiar stories from their lives. In this story elements lesson, 2nd graders act out familiar activities  by following directions. Students read a story and discuss the story elements....

Eighth graders examine different pieces of literature from specific isolated Pacific islands. In this Geography lesson, 8th graders read and interpret a written selection. Students construct a map of the stories setting.

Fourth graders arrange five major events from the story Isla in correct order on a quiz. They represent the sequence of at least five story events through a story map based on the book, Isla.

Students discuss the use of connectors and sequence words. They discuss common story endings and beginnings. Students brainstorm ideas for a creative story and compose a story for the rest of the class.

In this retelling a story instructional activity, students record the title and author, and retell the story in the sequence the events happened. Students write six short answers.

In this sequencing worksheet, students answer multiple choice questions about the sequence of events in 2 stories they read. Students complete 10 questions total.

Students listen to and discuss various fables, and identify the moral and central themes. They write their own personal fables and create illustrations to go with them.

Students brainstorm animals with unusual characteristics such as a giraffe with a short neck or a zebra without stripes. They write paragraphs about their animals and work in peer editing groups to refine their stories.

Learners practice recognizing the elements needed to produce a piece of creative writing and become aware of those elements in their own original pieces of writings. In groups, they creatively write a new story utilizing all the major...

Students improve their creative writing skills. In this writing skills lesson, students learn about picture captions, story writing, critiques, poems, reports, letter writing, creative writing, and a rap poem.

Students demonstrate how to retell a story in sequential order. In this reading comprehension lesson, students listen to a suggested read aloud, such as Little Boy Blue. Additionally, students practice retelling the story by using...

Students read books by the same author and compare what they find.  In this Dr. Seuss lesson, students learn about Dr. Seuss' writing style, listen for the rhyme scheme in his stories, and create a KWL chart on Dr. Seuss. ...

Students read Diary of a Worm by Foreen Cronin. In this journal writing instructional activity, students research an animal and write a diary by their animal. Students apply the research they've completed in their writings. Students...