Curated OER
Story Elements
Third graders identify story elements. In this story elements lesson, 3rd graders look at main idea, characters, point of view, theme and setting. They create a five paneled comic strip from a book.
Curated OER
Six Trait Writing with Jonathan Swift and Washington Irving
Fourth graders demonstrate and evaluate the six traits of writing. They read and identify good writing and bad writing, utilize a rubric to self-evaluate their own writing, participate in a Reader's Theater, and publish a class book.
Curated OER
A Weave of Woods
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...
Curated OER
Making a Magical Story
Fourth and fifth graders use their knowledge of developing character, dialogue, and setting to produce an original story. An excerpt from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is used as inspiration to get everyone's...
Scholastic
So That's the Reason!
Make sure your pupils can hit the target when analyzing cause and effect by practicing with this worksheet. On each arrow, pupils write a cause of an event in a story, and on each bullseye, they write the effect.
Curated OER
"The Three Billy Goats Gruff:" Retelling the Story
Youngsters retell the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They write a sentence for speech bubbles for a character in the story, identify the phrases that can be used for retelling a story, and in small groups write a sentence for the...
Curated OER
Writing A Storybook
Students create a storybook using vocabulary from the topic "urban and rural life". They write about past events in a children's story. They present their story to the class at an author's tea.
Curated OER
Sequencing in Reading
Third graders explore language arts by analyzing a children's story in class. In this story structure instructional activity, 3rd graders read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and write a brief summary. Students identify...
Curated OER
The Hole Story
In this filling in the blanks and sequencing learning exercise, learners use words from the word box to complete the sentences and number the pictures to show the order of events in the short story. Learners write 8 answers.
Curated OER
Narrative Writing vs. Explanatory Writing
The class discusses the different purposes an author has for writing. The focus of the discussion is on writing to tell a true story and writing to give information about a specific topic. There are writing purpose sorting cards embedded...
Curated OER
Scumbelina
This cute and new imagining of the old tale of Cinderella comes complete with a beginning, middle, and end, audio, and comprehension questions. Learners will read along as you progress through each slide, then answer several questions at...
Student Handouts
Process Steps
A straightforward graphic organizer is a great way to outline steps for any subject. Kids fill out 10 steps to describe a process or brainstorm writing, with small arrows indicating that one step leads to the next.
Virginia Department of Education
Persuasive Writing
Grab a debatable (or controversial) moment from your current reading, and use this task to progress the persuasive writing skills of your high school scholars. Divide your learners into four small groups and let them collaborate, debate,...
Louisiana Department of Education
Out of the Dust
The Grapes of Wrath may be the most famous novel set during the Dust Bowl, but what other stories cover the same time? The unit focuses on the Karen Hesse novel Out of the Dust. Learners keep a timeline of the Dust Bowl, maintain a...
Curated OER
Retelling Main Event in Sequence
Second graders practice retelling events from a fiction book. In this reading comprehension lesson plan, 2nd graders read Harry and the Lady Next Door and retell the main events of the story to a partner.
Curated OER
A Photo Essay
Students analyze photographs, then create their own photo essays by using photos, magazine pictures or drawings to illustrate their stories.
Live Oak Media
Activity Guide: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Enhance a reading of the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this collection of learning activities. Starting with general background information about the book and author,...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing
Imagine a day in the life of a child who has to work 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week. After viewing images and reading stories of child laborers, class members select an image and write a richly detailed narrative about a typical...
Curated OER
Using Dreams in Writing
C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength provides the model for using dreams in narrative writing. After a discussion of the purpose of dreams in Lewis’s tale, class members craft a story in which their dreams play an essential role.
Louisiana Department of Education
The Metamorphosis
How can something be true even if it didn't happen? Invite your classes to investigate the truths found in the world of magical realism as they analyze short stories, poems, informational texts, video, and art from this genre.
Curated OER
Mr. Granger Exercises: Order of Events
In this story sequence activity, learners read a passage about a man who begins an exercise regimen. Students place 8 events in the correct sequence by using the numbers 1-8.
Curated OER
Story Sequence
In this retelling a story learning exercise, students record the title and author, and retell the story in the sequence the events happened. Students write six short answers.
Curated OER
Different Strokes For Different Folktales
Young readers use graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and story maps, to analyze a variety of folktales and the elements of a story. They use writing, sequencing activities, and creative art to identify the morals learned from a...
Curated OER
The Beginning, The Middle, & The End
Cut magazine pictures into three sections, having your youngsters piece the pictures back together. With this fun activity, they discover the importance of sequencing a story. Then they use a fun template (shaped like a burger) to write...