Getting the Story

Guide learners through a discussion about Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting with a helpful graphic organizer. As they read through the novel, individuals note their reactions to statements about the book's themes, and fill out a chart...

Prejudice? Religious intolerance? Political sedition? Class distinction? Plight of women? Voltaire satire, anyone? A literary newspaper offers an opportunity for readers of Candide to make text-to-self and text-to-world connections as...

What makes a good New Year's resolution? Practice goal-setting and reading comprehension with a set of language arts activities. English learners work on cloze passages, synonym matches, interviewing exercises, and comprehension...

Students create an advertisement promoting good behavior. This character-development lesson plan from Boys Town High School involves students studying the history of the Got Milk?advertising campaign. After a discussion of marketing...

The ambiguity in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre makes the novel a perfect choice for a shared inquiry discussion. Readers respond to open-ended questions with evidence drawn directly from the text. 

Review myths and the characters therein, connecting them to vocabulary words in the English language today. Begin by searching online for myths and character names. With at least ten names that are familiar English words, students use...

No wonder the ship was called the Titanic. An investigation of Norse, Roman, and Greek Mythology provides insight into mythological characters and corresponding words in the English language. A close look at roots, prefixes, and suffixes...

Combining descriptive and expository writing skills, middle schoolers create a character sketch about someone they know well. They use a graphic organizer to help them discuss a model character sketch and organize/write one of their own....

Guide your readers to explore character traits. As a class, discuss and record the traits of a commonly-known fairy tale character. Then do the same with the main character in the class novel. Finally, have learners use magazines and...

Read two stories and compare and contrast two characters using the Venn diagram included. The activities focus on identifying the characters' actions, emotions, and motives. Then the class discusses the characters' similarities and...