A Chicana Tells Her Story

Creating story quilts is a great way to combine art, social studies and literature. Kids select a story, a published one or one of their own, to illustrate, paint on a canvas square, embellish, and mount on a felt backing.

In this ESL storytelling instructional activity, students read ten questions about a story and invent their own answers. Students write the story and then complete 2 pages of questions about what they have written.

Emmulate some of Faith Ringgolds famous painted story quilts in your classroom. Have your class choose a story or you choose one for the whole class to portray. They will select their favorite scene to paint onto their story quilt. What...

Use "The Tell-Tale Heart" to approach point of view and the impact of a narrator. Pupils find specific textual examples of the narrator's derangement and form a personality before discussing a passage to determine some plot points. Class...

There is nothing more real for some children than being torn between mom and dad and the world of divorce. Learners read a touching story about a girl between families, they analyze how the author used descriptive language to show rather...

A secret game of chess kicks off a story of three very good friends. Critical analysis of a humorous piece is the catalyst for a wonderful writing challenge where the class takes on the task of writing with purpose, vivid language, and...

Every family has a funny story or two that needs to be told. After reading and analyzing a story written with the home spun humor of Mark Twain, learners work to develop their humours voice. The story is extremely funny and is a good...

Through a series of activities, learners are exposed to how artists use symbolic imagery to create the narrative of a subject’s life. They study The Birth of Alexander and some manuscripts kept at J. Paul Getty Museum. They then draft...

Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking instructional activity focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate  the relationship between word choice, mood, and...

Students define and interpret the elements found in a short story. Then they identify the elements of plot found in a short story. Students also apply knowledge of plot to an original work of fiction. Finally, they identify the...