The Whole Story

Sometimes a whole story can change based on the perspective of the person telling it. Practice identifying and analyzing point of view in various reading passages and writing assignments with a language arts packet, complete with Common...

“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce’s short story, is used to model how structural moves, the decisions an author makes about setting, point of view, time order, etc., can be examined to reveal an author’s purpose. Groups...

Examine culture and the relationship it has to identity with a reading of Amy Tan's "Fish Cheeks." Class members read the story and then respond to a series of text-based and discussion questions.

Use O. Henry's short story "A Retrieved Reformation" as a way to discuss identity and if a person can change his or her identity. Learners read the story and respond to text-based questions as well as questions that are referred to as...

"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.

Argh! Flash Gordon, Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, Valmiki's The Ramayana. Stories of heroes and villains fascinate. And although the tales are reinterpreted over time, and as they...

Close up your unit on Edgar Allan Poe by allowing time for reflection. First, small groups discuss themes of Poe's work. Next, the whole class discusses the characteristics of a great writer and connects this topic to Poe. Finally, class...

Ease young writers into the process of writing a story with a colorful presentation on story maps. Viewers use the provided sentence frames to craft a sample story as guided practice. They then draft their own stories to share with the...

Narrative writing should flow in a natural and logical way. The video provides a model of how to revise a draft to include transition words and phrases. The narrator focuses in on a short passage in her response to "A Pair of Silk...

Explore how photographs can represent a whole story to a viewer. Middle schoolers work on narrative writing techniques in this instructional activity, focusing on photographs from the New York Times to write first-person descriptive...