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Introduce: Prediction
What will happen next? Leave readers at a cliffhanger as they practice prediction strategies while listening to a story. Pupils start by making guesses based on the book's cover and title, discussing the techniques they use to make these...
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Elements of Drama: Vocabulary
Introduce your young thespians to the elements of drama! Key vocabulary helps them through their first week of class. The presentation outlines parts of a script, stage direction, and strategies for reading a script. Tip: The strategies...
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Lesson Plan 6: Introducing the Elements of Plot-Part Two
November is National Novel Writing Month, so if your young authors are embarking on this journey, be sure they understand plot elements. This collaborative lesson fits into the context of the larger NaNoWriMo project; however, the ideas...
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Color My World Grey and Blue
Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...
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What Makes a Novel a Novel?
They always say to write what you know. This approach is used to get middle schoolers prepared to write novels of their own. Using a favorite book as a model, potential novelists respond to prompts that ask about characters, plot, main...
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Compare and Contrast Two Settings in One Text
Look for the signal words! Scholars get both instruction and practice comparing and contrasting. Although it is completely scripted, it can also serve as a detailed outline. Demonstrate this as you read a passage (included) and search...
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Ordering Stories
What happened first? Learners examine four sets of images to sequence events using ordinal numbers. There is an example to get them started, and the first two have three pictures to organize. The final story is more challenging with four...
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Analyzing a Plot Conflict
Sixth graders analyze plot conflict with science fiction and TV programs. After discussing the conflict, they identify solutions for the programs selected. They examine Only You Can Save Mankind for conflict, and consider ways the...
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The Effects of Character Decisions
Learners explore characters' decisions. They play a card game in which they match a decision card with a direct effect card. Then they examine characters from The Wizard of Oz, record important decisions that they make on index cards,...
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Lesson Plan 5: Creating a Supporting Character
As a class, young writers learn how to develop a strong supporting character. They think and discuss a good friend they know, they use that friend as a basis for a potential supporting character. They create a supporting character as a...
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Understanding the Complexities of Setting with Where the Lilies Bloom
After reading Where the Lilies Bloom and researching the wildflowers and herbs mentioned in the novel, class members create a mural that reflects the setting of the novel. Groups design the background, the houses of the characters, the...
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A Picture Says a Thousand Words
Use photographs to trigger memories. Writers use a personal photograph as a starting point for an autobiographical writing exercise. They complete brainstorming activities that have them study their photograph before actually putting pen...
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Lesson 8: Settings that Reinforce Characters
The best way to be a good writer is to read good writing. Learners read and discuss an excerpt from a book that will help them comprehend the relationship between setting and character. They will use what they've gleaned from discussion...
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Fifteen Seconds of Fame
A reading of Panic in Paris launches a review of the elements of narrative writing. Class members work in groups to find narrative devices in the book and record their findings on a provided worksheet. Using the completed pages,...
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Retelling Stella Louella's Runaway Book: Point of View
Stella Louella’s Runaway Book launches a study of point of view and storytelling. After reading the tale, class members retell the story from the point of view of another character. The scripted plan, developed by a teacher candidate,...
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Frame Story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
Mark Twain's frame story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" provides an opportunity for a study of this story-within-a-story pattern. Using an illustrated template, class members record a plot summary of the frame story...
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Thinking About Theme
Writers use the literary element of conflict to develop their theme. Use the conflict between the Johnny and the ScreeWees in Terry Pratchett’s Only You Can Save Mankind to model how a major theme is revealed. The conflict between the...
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Which Story Matches the Given Theme?
Model for young learners how to determine the theme of a story. Read aloud Aesop’s The Fox and the Stork. Chart the plot and the main idea of the fable, showing class members how these elements support the theme. Fable titles for...
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Come Fly with Me . . . Open a Book: Travels through Literature
This detailed overview of a curriculum unit suggests using travel literature to engage and stimulate your third graders’ interest in reading. The suggested reading list includes fiction and non-fiction materials and offers urban children...
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Story Elements that Support the Theme
Three great graphic organizers guide readers to see how the elements of plot and main idea can be charted to reveal the theme of a story. Model the process on the provided Direct Teaching Teacher Graphic Organizer using Aesop’s The...
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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Use this handy presentation to prepare your class before reading the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Segregation, the stock market, and the sociopolitical climate of the times is covered. This will really help build a...
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Non-Fiction Text Features
Distinguish between textual features of non-fiction in the book The Lewis and Clark Expedition and in the non-fiction story "Ta-Na-e-Ka." Third graders create posters and participate in group discussions to show their...
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Tortoise and Hare Races
Practice basic map skills with the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. After listening to the story, class members create a map that indicates the starting line, the path the animals took, where they stopped to rest, and the finish line....
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The Time Machine
Challenge your class with this lesson plan! Learners read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, discuss context clues, identify main ideas and details, and analyze story elements. Discussion questions and activities are broken down for each...