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Short Stories and Sitcoms
Middle schoolers compare 19th Century short stories to 20th Century sitcoms. They address seven questions as the watch a sitcom for homework and create a web to use for further comparison.
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Writing A Thanksgiving Day Story
Students write a Thanksgiving Day Story using some or all of the words included in the worksheet. These stories can be fiction or non-fiction (Personal Essays). They are graded on sentence structure, paragraph structure, grammar,...
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Storytelling
Students compose a story and tell it to the class. In this storytelling lesson, students work in small groups to create an illustrated story. Students are given a checklist of elements to include in the assignment. Students then create...
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Peer Editing
Sudents read and critique three of their fellow classmates' science fiction short stories on three consecutive days for mechanics, short story elements, style, and informational elements.
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Design a Book Cover
Class members take on the role of graphic designer and craft a cover for a book they are reading. Individuals formulate a proposal outlining the images they will use to not only grab the interest of readers, but hint at the mood and...
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Focus On Figurative Language in Prose
Students examine the use of literary prose in the story, "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed." In this literary prose lesson, students investigate the use of imagery, metaphor, and simile in the story. They tell how author's purpose is...
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Nature’s Fury—Myths and Drama
Fifth graders explore the elements of theatre. In this dramatic performances lesson, 5th graders discuss the structural elements of theatre and dramatize "The Origins of the Season," an explanation myth.
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ABBA - Lesson 4
Students discover a connection between the genres of popular music and musical theater. They find and discuss musicals written in many different musical styles.
Orange County Department of Education
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Fifth graders read Dear Mr. Henshaw and identify the character trait of self-respect as exhibited by Leigh throughout the story. They evaluate the author's use of letters to tell the story and discuss how the story would be different if...
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Symbol Beneath the Surface in "The Life You Save May Be Your Own"
Pupils identify the value of symbols in shorts stories and analyze Flannery O'Connor's use of symbolism. In this symbolism lesson, students complete a worksheet about symbols for cars. Pupils answer questions about Flannery O'Connor's...
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Let's Watch a Story
Fourth graders watch a silent movie and identify the elements of a story. They complete a worksheet attached to the lesson and discuss their answers.
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Let's Roll Robots!
Students write a story about robots. In this creative writing lesson, students read a story about robots, make their own robot, and write a story about their robot. In addition, the lesson plan suggests taking photos of the robots to add...
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Across Five Aprils/Civil War
Eighth graders study the Civil War novel, Across Five Aprils, by Irene Hunt. They review vocabulary and literary elements and write a "Brother Against Brother" essay about coming face to face with a brother in one of the battles of the...
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Making a Case for Beginning Wigh Suprasegmental Features in Pronunciation
Students explore the ways in which voice quality and intonation can convey meaning.
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Fairy Tales
Young scholars write and draw fairy tales based on modern themes and/or their own experiences. The class is divided into groups and are assigned a fairy tale. The groups develop a modern story based on this fairy tale through group...
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Comic Book or Comic Strip Design
Students design an original cartoon character. They explain the creative process and development of a cartoon from brainstorming to final draft and study different types of cartooning. Use the correct terminology associated with cartooning
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Just "Who" are the Three Little Pigs?
Fourth graders use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast various versions of the story The Three Little Pigs. They write a Cinquain, and then act out their version of the Three Little Pigs in a skit.
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Art as Storyteller
Students examine how paintings tell stories. They read biographies about artists, analyze paintings, research and write the art history of a painting, write a creative story based on the painting, and create a painting in the artist's...
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Narrative Literature Response Letters
Third graders write endings to a story that has already been written. They offer alternative endings in their version. The lesson includes a rubric that is to be given to the students in order that they know the requirements.
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Protest Art in Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Students study the social class conflicts that existed during the Russian Revolution by reading the short stories of Anton Chekov and Leo Tolstoy. They analyze the stories to find criticisms of pre-Revolutionary Russia before designing...
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Identifying Science Fiction
High schoolers discuss works of science fiction that they read, highlight aspects that made each a part of science fiction genre, identify formal literary elements, and discuss ways each can be developed through science fiction.
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Independent Reading Responses
Students participate in independent reading activities by reading a book at their independent reading level and selecting activities to complete after reading. Activities are broken up into C Level, B Level, and A Level activities.
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Reading and Study Guide: Julius Caesar Act I
In this reading and study guide students define vocabulary and literary terms from Act I of Julius Caesar. Students give examples of literary terms found in the reading and answer comprehension questions.
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Emma - Essay Questions
In this literature worksheet, students respond to 25 short answer and essay questions about Jane Austen's Emma. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.