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Language Arts: Character Comparison
Fourth graders, using Kidspiration, compare and contrast the two main characters from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. They use a teacher-created template to describe their characters. Students then create their own character analysis.
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Elements of Short Stories Vocabulary
In this literature activity, students match the correct word from the first column to the best definition found in the second column. There are twenty words and definitions to match.
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Hop Into A Story
Students listen to the story "Tuesday," and discuss all of the elements that made this story. In this language lesson, students tell the story of "Tuesday," (which is all pictures, no words), as the teacher turns the pages of the book....
Prestwick House
Star Wars and the Hero's Journey
Is Luke Skywalker the archetype of a literary hero? Follow the path of the Hero's Journey with an engaging instructional activity that details the plot structure, applies it to Star Wars: A New Hope, and invites class members to choose...
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The Outsiders Project Guide
Hand out these project ideas when working with The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Pupils can choose from six different options or propose their own. The idea is that they will complete more than one project to meet the point requirement. The...
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Making Magical Creatures Talk
Invite your young writers to take the reins with writing dialogue. Using two characters of their own creation, kids work with partners and then individually to write short conversations.
Lesson Plansos
Guided Reading Activities with Pizzazz
Get the most out of your guided reading lessons with this collection of literacy materials. Offering a system for using color-coded tags to mark pages while reading books, as well as an assortment of comprehension and grammar worksheets,...
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Gulliver's Travels Discussion Questions
Good discussion questions are hard to find and even harder to craft. If you're looking for questions that will stimulate in-depth discussions for all four books in of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, check out this resource.
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Reading Comprehension: Jamaica Louise James
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students cut out 5 bookmarks. Each bookmark focuses on a story element in the book Jamaica Louise James by Amy Hest. Students answer the questions on the bookmarks. Included are: making...
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Story Blender
Fifth graders write a story with many paragraphs that include a plot, setting, and ending. In this writing lesson plan, 5th graders create stories as a class.
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Revising Your Mystery Story
Students edit and improve their short stories by examining character description, dialogue, and plot elements. In peer editing groups they correct gramatical and spelling errors. they read aloud their new story drafts.
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Storytelling in the Oral Tradition
Seventh graders research Greek mythological characters. They write about problems faced by middle school-aged children and how the character would handle them. Students also create story boards to accompany their oral narratives.
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Creating Characters
Students examine the methods of effective characterization. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss how emotions, dialogue, actions, and physical descriptions build believable characters. Students then use the methods of...
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Classroom Guide for the Redwall Series
Students participate in cross-curricular activities and readings to become familiar with the works of Brian Jacques. In this heroes lesson, students discuss the character traits of legends and how their characters develop through events...
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Comprehension-Characters/characterization
Fifth graders discuss characterization as well as to define antagonist and protagonist. In this language arts lesson plan, 5th graders write questions for an interview of a character in the book "The Three Little Pigs" and then answer...
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Tales from Arabia
Students read about Scheherazade and Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp. In this literature/writing lesson, students understand the excitement of foreign places as the setting for a story. Students rewrite their own version of Scheherazade.
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Plot/Story Problem/Resolution
Students analyze the plot, problem, and resolution of a story. For this story analysis lesson, students read stories and fill out graphic organizers about the plot, story problems, and resolution.
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Identifying Themes in Children's Literature
Identifying themes in literature is the focus of the language arts lesson plan presented here. Learners read short pieces of fiction and practice the skill of identifying the themes present in each one. The bulk of the lesson consists of...
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A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools
Bully, bullied, or bystander? Paul Langan's The Bully is the anchor text in a unit that examines bullying and violence. After a close reading of the text, readers imagine themselves as the characters and consider how they would react in...
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Bunnicula
Learners create a dictionary of vocabulary after reading a story. Individually, they create a story web making sure to include all of the basic story elements. They also create a timeline and write a book report of all important events.
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Investigating Fables
Time for a story! Learners of all ages enjoy listening to stories, so read them some common fables and have them work cooperatively to create a fable. Differentiate for varying ability levels by providing sentence frames, graphic...
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Celebrating Halloween through Language and Literature
Use the theme of Halloween to spice up campfire stories, journal writing, and presentations in your classroom.
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Pandora Puppy's Caring Circle
Students are introduced to the concept of compassion. As a class, they read a story together about Pandora Puppy's caring circles and identify the main points. They complete a worksheet and take a test to review how compassion is...
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Pansy Pig's Patience Pit
Students are introduced to the concepts of patience and anger. As a class, they are read a story about a patience pit and discover how anger can be controlled. They complete a worksheet and take a test to review how to control their...