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...

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.

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.

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...

Third graders explore language arts by analyzing a children's story in class. In this story structure lesson, 3rd graders read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and write a brief summary. Students identify the beginning,...

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.

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...

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...

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.

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,...

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...

Second graders practice retelling events from a fiction book. In this reading comprehension activity, 2nd graders read Harry and the Lady Next Door and retell the main events of the story to a partner.

Students analyze photographs, then create their own photo essays by using photos, magazine pictures or drawings to illustrate their stories.

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,...

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...

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.

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.

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

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...

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...

Youngsters listen to the story, "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." After discussing the story, going over new vocabulary, and repeating the rhymes in the story, they study the parts of a fly. They finish by creating a fly on...

Help your class see the connection between events in Alex Haley's story "My Furthest-Back Person" with this awesome graphic organizer. Individuals write a brief description of 10 major plot events in a series of boxes. The first and last...

Scholars experience Shakespeare's, Twelfth Night, with an engaging interactive. After watching the story, six activities extend the learning experience. Topics include characters, vocabulary, a sequence of events, comprehension, and...

What comes first? Practice order of events with this sequencing activity. Learners examine two sets of pictures and write 1st, 2nd, and 3rd beneath the corresponding pictures. Encourage them to explain their reasoning, as there may be...