Curated OER
Exploring Contrasting Story Elements Through Tapestry and Poetry
Young thinkers view two narrative art tapestries and study the images included that tell a story about the Roman Emperor Constantine. As they examine the details of the tapestries, pupils use a Venn Diagram to record the similarities and...
Curated OER
Fruit Writing
Students who have recently learned about similes and metaphors practice putting them in their writing. They get a better understanding of how similes and metaphors can be used by practicing the usage of them in their own personal...
Prestwick House
The House on Mango Street Activity Pack
Enrich a unit on The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros with a selection of related activities. The packet contains nine activities that go from pre-reading through wrapping up the novel. Young readers work on studying author's...
Reed Novel Studies
Third Grade Angels: Novel Study
A million things to do, a ton of homework ... hyperbole sure does help get the point across! With the novel study for Jerry Spinelli's Third Grade Angels, scholars practice writing their own exaggerated sentences. Additionally, they...
T. Smith Publishing
Your Five Senses
Using the five senses is a creative way to write descriptively. Learners read 25 words, both nouns and verbs, and place them into the category labeled with the correct sense.
National Park Service
Lesson 5: Coded Spirituals, Metaphor in African Spirituals
If a picture is worth a thousand words, song lyrics also can communicate many meanings. Using the lyrics of spirituals, young historians analyze them for coded messages about freedom. Resources include a chart to help individuals track...
Curated OER
Anonymous Poetry
Anonymous poetry can be a way for students to express emotion and ideas without trepidation.
Curated OER
Lesson Ideas for Halloween Writing
Halloween writing activities provide a way to make descriptive language a part of a student's literary repertoire.
Curated OER
Reading and Writing About the Solar System
Utilizing the classic Magic School Bus series, young scientists explore the solar system. Some excellent worksheets are included in this plan, such as Planet Roll Call and Solar System in Motion. This is an ambitious 5-day unit that...
Curated OER
Ending a Famous Fairy Tale
Altering the ending of a famous fairy tale is a really fun way for kids to experience creative writing. The lesson plan here has them do just that! Learners listen to the famous fairy tale, "The Twelve Brothers," and change the ending of...
Curated OER
Ideas for Teaching Creative Poetry
Students read and write a variety of forms of poetry and create an original page for a class "I Spy" book. They read and discuss the form of poetry used in the "I Spy" books, and conduct Internet research on how the "I Spy" books are...
Curated OER
Oceans: A Sensory Haiku
Students create an ocean haiku. In this haiku lesson, students use their five senses to write a haiku. Students watch videos about the ocean, make a sensory portrait, and create a class haiku.
Curated OER
Trot Out the Creativity with Turkey-Themed Art Activities
Take the traditional handprint turkey to the next level with art activities that integrate writing, color, poetry, and family involvement
Curated OER
Personification Poems
Personification poems can get students writing and thinking poetically.
Curated OER
I Am Me and Nobody Else!
Fourth graders explore writing as a way to communicate. In this writing instructional activity, 4th graders articulate how they feel about an issue in their lives. Students share their works.
Curated OER
Rhythm & Improv: Jazz & Poetry
Students analyze the elements of poetry and jazz. In this critical thinking skills lesson, students take a closer look at the rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, form, free verse, lyricism, and imagery that exist is jazz as well as poetry.
Curated OER
Symbolic Poem
High schoolers read and analyze several highly symbolic poems. They create their own symbolic poem, read it to the class, and discuss whether they can guess any hidden meanings.
Curated OER
Poetry in Motion
Middle schoolers create individual poems containing varied line lengths, punctuation, and rhythm, and explain how each contributes to overall effect of the poem.
Curated OER
Anne Carson
Students read poetry and a biography of poet Anne Carson as part of a creative writing instructional activity. In this poetry analysis instructional activity, students read about the poet, read her poetry, and analyze a photograph to...
Poetry4kids
Five Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block
Every writer knows how terrible writer's block can feel. Use these five writer's block-busting techniques to help young writers get out of their rut and into a better state of mind.
Novelinks
The Dark Is Rising: Biopoem
How well do your learners really know the characters in Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising? A biopoem activity prompts readers to investigate the characters and their traits. Line by line, writers add the characters' relatives,...
Art Institute of Chicago
Lesson Plan: A Writer’s Odyssey
Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby Historical Background Using Multi-Genre Research Project
Before beginning F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, create a historical context of the Roaring 20s with this lesson. Set up a gallery walk with the provided PowerPoint, which features 10 topics related to the 1920s. Then begin a...
PBS
Dear Pen Pal
Explore cultures from around the world with an engaging pen pal resource. Through a series of classroom activities and written correspondence, children learn about the favoritec pastimes, schooling, geography, and weather that is...