Getting the Story

If you're working on a unit about When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago, use these notes to guide your instruction. It lists the key characters, prominent literary themes, chain of events in the plot, and other elements from the...

Get your kids to explore a story and its elements with this learning exercise. Designed to be used with any story, it provides an opportunity for learners to look at plot, characters, setting, theme, and point of view. 

How should pupils read short stories? Set them up for this unit with an introductory lesson that goes over the main characteristics of a short story and starts learners off reading their first short story of the unit. In order to get a...

"It was a dark and stormy night . . " Here's a great way to get kids started on their who-done-its—a whole packet of story starters awaits young mystery writers.

Send this "About Me" PowerPoint template home with your students to bring and present to class during the first week of school. Step-by-step instructions to create a simple autobiography is laid out withing six slides. Tip: If you would...

Introduce your class to Glogster with this literary analysis lesson. At the end of your short story unit, they choose one literary element to apply to three short stories and make an online poster using Glogster. Samples are included. If...

Students compare two paintings, depicting urban life in America in the 1940's, answering a series of questions, then create a short story about the paintings' characters. They compare 'Nighthawks' and 'Nightlife.'

Practice story analysis in a narrative writing activity. Elementary and middle schoolers analyze a movie's characters, setting, dialogue, and theme. They use these elements and analysis to create a new story about the characters. A great...

Introduce your class to Edgar Allan Poe with a series of mostly self-guided tasks and assignments. Class members follow the list of tasks, starting by watching a video with background information and ending with a compare-and-contrast...

Do your class members complain they don’t know what to write about? Give them disposable cameras and ask them to take pictures of 12 things that make them happy. After the pictures are developed, they are pasted on a poster board and...