Curated OER
Identifying Descriptive Language
Third graders analyze a text to find descriptive language. In this language arts lesson plan, 3rd graders read a text looking for descriptive words that describe the character.
Curated OER
Who? What? Where? When? - Story Elements
Second graders see how to identify and describe character, setting, and plot in various stories from picture books and story videos. They use picture books and story videos to practice identifying and describing the story elements.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Exploring Key Ideas and Details in Fiction and Nonfiction
Third graders participate in activities to differentiate fiction from nonfiction. In this fiction lesson, 3rd graders describe the elements of a fiction story. Students compare and contrast fiction and non fiction elements. Students...
Curated OER
Cuentos
Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....
Curated OER
Territorial Characters
Eleventh graders study the Kansas Territory. In this American History lesson, 11th graders read ten biographical cards and summarize the main ideas. Students create cards to play Who am I?
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Jr.
After listening to a story about Martin Luther King Jr., first graders answer questions about the text. They discuss the importance of the illustrations, identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and complete a writing...
La Jolla High School
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Character Sketches
Cover character development and indirect characterization in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck with a graphic organizer. Class members search through the text and fill out a box for each character. The activity provides some notes for...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Narrative Text Structure, Character Consideration
An activity work alongside a narrative text of your choice. With reading comprehension at its focus, readers complete worksheets covering character descriptions.
Curated OER
Fairy Tales
Once upon a time are four words most children are familiar with when reading a fairy tale. But do they know that fairy tales are a great way to learn the literary elements of reading and writing? Use a thorough fairy tale unit to teach...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 13: Character Development 2
Building upon prior lessons in the series, this reading and writing exercise requires pupils to look back at their own writing, track character development in the novel The Cay, and analyze how Phillip has changed. The reading focus is...
Tell City Schools
The Cay
Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...
Curated OER
Hubris Lesson Plan
Bring this lesson on hubris to your short story unit. After reading Jack London's "To Build a Fire," young readers discuss the role of hubris in the protagonist's death. The lesson has connections to other short stories, such as "The...
Curated OER
"Three Shots": Ernest Hemingway's Nick Adams
Analyze characterization in literature. Readers use "Three Shots," from The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway and complete classroom activities that require them to apply literary analysis techniques. They write their own short...
Stillwater Central School District
The Adventures… Of Alice in Wonderland
Go down the rabbit hole with a thorough novel unit for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. With a cause and effect chart, K-W-L organizer, and reading comprehension questions, the resource is a great addition to your summer assignments...
Curated OER
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Provided here is a packet of worksheets to accompany The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. To start, readers research words commonly associated with the time period. Then, a list of 30 tough vocabulary words are listed (including...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Character in Place: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” for the Common Core
How do writers use the interaction between elements like characterization and setting to create meaning? Readers of "A Worn Path" create a series of comic book-style graphics of Eudora Welty's short story and reflect on how Welty uses...
Curated OER
Presenting Ethical Dilemmas in the Classroom
Students explore the dilemma of bioethics. Students review a cast study on a bioethical topic. They research the facts, values, and stakemakers in the controversial debate. Students consider the consequences and discuss their findings...
Curated OER
Defining Character, With Help from History
In a single, soundly-designed class period, high schoolers define good character, think-pair-share about thought-provoking quotes on character (More options would enhance the discussion, worth searching online for other quotes to add.),...
La Jolla High School
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Sketching a Portrait--Character Traits
Use this handout to focus on the character traits of George and Lennie in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Readers are given a set of specific traits to search for in the first chapter. They are required to list two textual examples of...
California Education Partners
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
A three-part assessment tests scholars' reading and writing capabilities. Young readers listen to and read an excerpt from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. After drawing pictures of what is memorable, learners discuss their notes...
Curated OER
Understanding a Narrative: The True Story of Balto
Strong comprehension questions and a list of initiating events that drive the plot make this resource worth a try in your classroom. Intended for use with tools specific to the mindwing concepts reading strategy system, the outline...
Curated OER
The Rigors of Learning a New Language
Students read an autobiography of a peace corps volunteer studying Chinese. In this cultural acceptance lesson, students compare the dialects of Chinese with English dialects. Students discuss the differences in learning and teaching a...
Curated OER
An Introduction to Of Mice and Men
By collaborating on producing a product ad and slogan, learning partners demonstrate their understanding of the difference between connotative and denotative language. This week-long activity is designed to be used as an introduction to...
Curated OER
Pop Art Personalities
Students study the artwork of Pop Artist Roy Lichtenstein, and compare and contrast his art with popular comic book imagery. They create drawings in Lichtenstein's style that reflect emotions in facial expressions and thought bubbles....