Teaching Tolerance
Puppet Show
It's a play, it's a story, it's a puppet show! A lively resource provides academics with a creative outlet to express their views on diversity and social justice. Scholars are responsible for writing, creating, and performing a puppet...
Curated OER
Magical Creatures Land
The opening of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit provides a model of how to use rich details to create a setting. After reading the description of Bilbo Baggins’ abode, young writers create their own magical home for a fantasy creature. The...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Nonfiction Texts
Explore nonfiction writing by comparing and contrasting two different texts. After reading two nonfiction books, articles, or magazines, students utilize a graphic organizer to record their similarities and differences. They answer study...
Curated OER
Writing Fiction: Using Older Characters
Out with the old and in with the new? Not so in this lesson plan, which explores the idea of writing older characters in fiction. Students learn the value of varying their characters, exploring different perspectives, and avoiding...
Curated OER
The Importance Setting and Mood in Fiction
Seventh graders examine the setting in pieces of fiction. In this story analysis lesson, 7th graders investigate the setting in fictional stories and the importance it has. Students discover new vocabulary terms applying to storytelling.
Curated OER
Reading Fiction: Analyzing Sentences
Students investigate sentence construction in fiction. In this sentence construction lesson, students examine examples of fiction work and discover why sentences are a certain length. Students create their own passages playing with...
Curated OER
Bug's Eye View
Pupils explore biology by writing fictitious stories in class. In this insect life lesson, students identify many different types of insects in the animal kingdom and the classifications they fall into. Pupils collect insects on a field...
Curated OER
Writing a Fantasy Story - Time Travel
Students write a fantasy story about time traveling back to the time of the Oregon Trail. In this Oregon trail lesson students gather information from their Social Studies textbook about life during the time of the Oregon Trail.
Curated OER
Elements of Fiction
Learners investigate themes and settings in their favorite fiction stories. In this creative writing lesson plan, students discuss the reasons a fictional story works well and discuss ways to create their own. Learners create their own...
Curated OER
Understanding Fantasy Fiction
Students investigate storytelling elements by writing their own fiction stories. In this creative writing lesson, students listen as the teacher reads a fictional story. Students analyze the lack of rules in the story and create their...
Curated OER
Learning to Analyze Characters
Learners discover writing strategies authors use to enhance characters. In this character writing instructional activity, students are read the Knuffle Bunny books by Mo Willems and analyze the story, characters and settings as they...
Curated OER
Writing Fiction
In this story-writing worksheet, students complete 20 blanks in two different graphic organizers. Each graphic organizer guides students through creating interesting story characters.
Curated OER
Fact or Fantasy Writing
First graders see that some written text is for pleasure and enjoyment while some is for relaying information. They get to experience both types during the lesson. They brainstorm ideas for a story about a new kid in school to write about.
Other
Barbara Greenwood's Guide to Writing for Children [Pdf]
Barbara Greenwood, a Canadian author of numerous historical fiction books for children, has written this thirty-page writing guide where she explains the process she goes through in constructing a story. She covers such key topics as...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Blending Fiction and Nonfiction
Contains plans for four class periods that ask students to blend narrative and expository writing after reading fiction and nonfiction selections. In addition to student objectives and standards, these instructional plans contains links...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Leading to Great Places in the Classroom
We all know that the most effective way to teach reading is to start with reading. This lesson uses that approach with writing story leads.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Cinderella Stories From Around the World
In this lesson plan, 5th graders will compare and contrast different versions of the fairy tale "Cinderella." Students will use a compare and contrast chart chart. After the shared readings, students will use all the elements of a fairy...
Department of Defense
Do Dea: Story, Identity, Unity
Delve into the art of storytelling in this self-guided unit. Multiple topics are covered such as literary genres, the 7 elements of fiction, figurative language, theme, characterization, etc. At the end of the unit, write your own flash...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Create a Book (Grade 3 6)
Young scholars will illustrate and write their own story.
NWT Literacy Council
Nwt Literacy Council: How to Kit: Writing and Publishing Children's Books! [Pdf]
Instructions on how to create and publish a children's book in the classroom or as a community literacy endeavour are provided. The NWT Literacy Council offers bursaries for these projects. It tells of a Grade 3 professionally published...
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
Purdue University Owl: Fiction Writing Basics
This resource discusses some terms and techniques that are useful to the beginning and intermediate fiction writer, and to instructors who are teaching fiction at these levels. W.11-12.3a Narratives
University of Oregon
Pizzaz, Creative Writing & Storytelling: Creative Writing via Basket Stories
This PIZZAZ (People Interested in Zippy and ZAny Zcribbling) lesson plan will engage young scholars in creative writing about items found in a basket. Examples of creative writing are provided. Examples of springboard ideas are included.
University of Oregon
Pizzaz, Creative Writing & Storytelling: Chain Stories
This PIZZAZ (People Interested in Zippy and ZAny Zcribbling) lesson plan will engage students in writing chain stories. A variation of the lesson is provided as an extension during the publishing phase of writing.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Adventurous Magic
This writing activity is inspired by Bruce Coville's Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, and students will be asked to write about an original magical object that they have discovered in the "Elives' Magic Supplies," just as Jeremy does in...