National Endowment for the Humanities
Frederick Douglass’s Narrative: Myth of the Happy Slave
The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...
Curated OER
Digital Storytelling
Scholars of all ages can use the various tools of technology to construct and illustrate a story. Utilizing this resource, learners work with a partner to brainstorm and draft a story based on personal experience. They use computer...
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Take A Bus Ride!
Use this “Take a Bus Ride” worksheet as a prompt for class members to draw themselves and their family on a real or imagined bus ride. An outline of the front of a bus is drawn with space for children to draw people in the window. When...
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 13 multiple choice questions about Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
Creative Writing Lesson Plan: Combination Creature
Students navigate through an online interactive virtual zoo to create imaginary animals by combining different parts of real animals. They write a short story about their combination creature.
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Diary of a Dinosaur: Making Writing Lessons Meaningful
Writing about dinosaurs unleashed one student's desire to keep a journal, and led to an exploration of a variety of subjects.
Annenberg Foundation
Exploring Borderlands
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
Curated OER
Sequencing
Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson plan to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have happened at...
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
Curated OER
Build Your Dream Science Lab
Would your ideal science lab be filled with bubbling beakers and zapping Tesla coils? Or would it contain state-of-the-art computer technology and data analysis? Dream big with an innovative lesson that connects math and language arts...
Curated OER
Compound Words ESL 1 Beginners
Bring vocabulary to life with this SMARTboard activity! With a list of (linked) compound words, learners combine each part of the word to complete the compound word. They then read a narrative and identify the compound words. The last...
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Fiction Stories
Students complete writing activities for fiction. In this fiction writing lesson, students complete four sets of activities in a writer's workshop format to practice reading and writing in a fiction style. Students develop plot outlines,...
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The Pearl: Problematic Situation
Is money the root of all evil, or the answer to everyone's dreams? Analyze the role of money in John Steinbeck's The Pearl with a writing prompt where kids imagine that they have won the lottery, and must think about the ways it will...
Curated OER
Photography Narratives
Students write a narrative corresponding to a photo. They create a background story based on the person in their picture and share it with the class.
Curated OER
Art Analysis and Creative Writing
Students write an acrostic poem and analyze a work of art. In this art lesson plan, students look at a picture and answer questions about it, write a poem, write about the setting in the painting they saw, and answer short questions...
Curated OER
Write a Story Based on the Picture
In this creative writing worksheet, learners look at a picture and write a creative story based on what they imagine is happening.
Curated OER
Test Your Creative Writing Skills
In this creative writing worksheet, students use the given picture to write a creative story. Students use the details provided about the character and setting of the story and incorporate them into their writing.
Curated OER
Time's Up
How was your year? Create an individual timeline that document learners' personal history from the previous year. After reading an article about celebrating New Year's in Japan, pairs interview each other to gather information about...
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The Perilous Fight: WWII - Up Close and Personal
Students research World War II primary source documents and write first person historical point of view stories.
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Narrative Writing
Students complete activities to learn narrative writing. In this narrative writing lesson students are given writing prompts in order to better understand how to write in a narrative format.
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Autobiographical Writing
In this unique instructional activity on autobiographical writing, students compare and contrast three types of writing: narrative, poetry and newspaper. Students prepare to produce a short autobiographical writing based on the framework...
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Narrative Prompt
Second graders are introduced to the style of a narrative writing. After being read a story, they use a graphic organizer to plan their writing. With a partner, they share their ideas and decide on one topic to write about. To end the...
Curated OER
Narrative Prompt
Second graders practice their writing skills on a daily basis. Using a prompt, they write about a time they surprised themselves or someone else. They use a graphic organizer to gather their thoughts before writing the first draft. ...
Curated OER
Family Stories
Learners use dance to better understand the writing process. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students use their critical thinking skills to connect dance with writing. Learners use thinking maps to follow the writing process, write a...