Curated OER
Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Short Adventure Stories
Inspired by the interactive plot ideas here, writers will create an original three-paragraph adventure story. First, each writer will create an original adventurer. Next, each writer will place the adventurer in a brief, organized...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: A Magical Animal Encounter
This writing lesson is fashioned after Harry Potter's encounter with a communicative boa constrictor at the zoo. Inspired by Rowling's original idea, students will be asked to create a three-part story about an original magical animal...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Unique Imaginary Friends
The writer will first create an original imaginary friend, inspired by Ted from Tony DiTerlizzi's wonderful picture book. The writer will then think of an ordinary activity done on a daily basis, like feeding the family dog. The writer...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Scheming Against an Adversary
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson makes readers think seriously about this question: "What if I had to spend an entire day with someone with whom I had a conflict?" This question presents young writers with a great launching pad for developing...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Nature's Fury: Performance Task Continued
In this lesson, 5th graders develop narratives by describing characters and creating a logical event sequence. This is part of a larger unit but can be taught separately.
SMART Technologies
Smart: Developing Characters and Settings
In this activity provided by SMART, students will give reasons why they feel characters are important in a story. Students will explore how to create effective characters and settings in their own writing by using a character web.