Explore legends and storytelling with your learners. After listening to some legends, pupils work collaboratively and then individually to come up with original legends about animals.

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...

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...

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...

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...

In this grammar activity, students read a selection on word sequence and circle 8 sequence words in a paragraph. Students use the sequences words to put 5 sentences in order and then write a story using as many sequence words as they can.

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.

After reviewing a comic of a dog and his bone, learners draw their own pictures on the top and write what they think happens next in the story. This activity is a good transition into longer story writing, as well as a good practice in...

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.

In this developing a story plan worksheet, students describe each of the three parts of their story.  Students create an opening, sequence of events, and a closing.

Second graders complete story maps in order to retell stories to the class.

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.

Third graders write, type, and print imaginative stories about any phase of winter.

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.

Students 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...

Students complete activities to analyze points of view in different texts. In this point of view lesson, students read Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Circle and discuss the points of view. Students choose a character from the story and...