Curated OER
Drama/Theatre
Students discover how setting, props, and character-action communicate information about the characters and the story. Access to videos and a video camera are important to make this lesson a success.
Curated OER
Adopted Dog Goes Home
Young scholars examine the pet victims of Hurricane Katrina. After reading a story about one dog who was misplaced, they write about the situation and their reactions to it. They share their reactions to the class and discuss other...
Curated OER
Writing by Committee
Pupils write short stories of three paragraphs. They focus on the story elements of introduction, body, and conclusion. They exchange papers so that three different students author the stories.
Curated OER
The Minister's Black Veil
High schoolers explore writing a short story. In this literature lesson, students are introduced to "The Minister's Black Veil." After reading, high schoolers write their own story with a main character who exhibits some of the...
Curated OER
Understanding Flashback
Young scholars are introduced to the definition of "flashback" in that writers use it when they want to reveal to readers something that happened in the past.
Then Students write a short story using a flashback scene and then move back...
Curated OER
Animaters and Lego Mania!
Students use various technology elements to storyboard and create an animal animation story based on a nonfiction story they've read. In this animation story instructional activity, students work in groups and read nonfiction animal...
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Third graders listen to a short story entitled, "Phil's Adventures" from a book called Animal Stories. They stop at each obstacle in the story and do a quick write about how they would overcome the obstacle and draw a picture to...
Curated OER
Legends of the Navajo People
Second graders are read a story in which they begin to examine Native American legends. Using different legends, they discuss how they affected the future people of native peoples. They write a short story on the information they gathered.
Curated OER
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Students, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of ideas...
Curated OER
Comparing Fiction and Nonfiction
Fifth graders compare and contrast an informational article with a fictional story. They read the story "The Contest" as a class, and discuss the different types of literature genres. Next, they complete a vocabulary worksheet and a...
Curated OER
"Me and My Family Tree"
Students explore genealogy by reading a family history book in class. In this family tree lesson, students read the story Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney and discuss their own family history. Students identify what the term...
Curated OER
Teaching Selected Poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems
Students explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry lesson plan, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.
Curated OER
Encounter with an Interviewer
Students read the Mark Twain short story, Encounter with an Interviewer. They study "the interview" and discuss the role of the interviewer and the person being interviewed. They conduct mock interviews, constructing questions and...
Curated OER
Literature: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Character Analysis
Seventh graders read the story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and analyze one of its characters. After completing a story element worksheet, they identify their favorite character. In several sentences students give reasons for their choices with...
Curated OER
Read a Transportation Story
Eighth graders research the career of Arctic transportation. In this arctic transportation instructional activity, 8th graders read a book about Arctic truck travel and review the historical aspects of transporting goods in the Arctic....
Minnesota Literacy Council
Grapes of Wrath and Pronouns
Many regard John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as the great American novel. The lesson plan combines a variety of strategies, including partner work, independent practice, creative writing, grammar instruction, and small group...
Curated OER
Extreme Poetry Vocabulary
Challenge your class with this comprehensive list of literary vocabulary words. Learners take a pre-test, look up definitions, come up with an example, and then take a post-test. You might use this prior to a unit about poetic devices in...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Curated OER
Splendid China: Chinese Folktales
Students investigate Chinese culture by reading their folk tales. In this creative writing lesson, students practice identifying the different elements in a folk tale and examine the related vocabulary. Students organize thoughts for a...
Curated OER
Literature: Esperanza Rising
Young scholars read and discuss the book, Esperanza Rising. After analyzing and identifying the novel's structural elements, they examine working conditions for migrant workers in the 1930s. As part of the lesson, students in groups...
Curated OER
Legends Old and New
Students listen to a Native American legend and discuss the basic elements of story. In small groups they read and analyze more legends from books and Websites. Then they compose and present an original legend.
Curated OER
Creating Comic Strips
Students recognize the elements needed to create a comic strip. In this comic strip lesson, student understand that comic strips need words and pictures. Students find differences and similarities in comic strips. Students describe how...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Folklore in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
Learners define folklore, folk groups, tradition, and oral narrative. They identify traditional elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God Analyze and understand the role of traditional folkways and folk speech in the overall literary...
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men: Viewing Guide
In this Of Mice and Men viewing guide worksheet, students study movie terminology as they read brief descriptions and respond to 26 short answer questions as the watch the film based on Steinbeck's novel.