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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hanging Out with Stories

For Teachers K - 2nd
Help your class listen and respond to a fictional story by creating a story structure mobile illustrating the main characters, setting, plot, problem, story events, and solution. Using a coat hanger, they will create an artistic element...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a Playbill!

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders explore the various elements found in the advertisement of a dramatic experience. Playbills are created that reflect the plot without revealing the climax of the play. Costumes, set construction, and character description...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The News Behind the Story

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What a fun way to analyze plot, setting, and character. Learners review story elements, read a short fictional story, then turn the events of that story into a headlining news paper article. Not only does this lesson engage critical...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hollywood Magic-The Dream Factory Recreates the Novel

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The Great Gatsby, The Jungle and study HRC's Teaching the American Twenties-The Dream Factory are the focus of this lesson, Your students will rewrite a small scene from the novel into a dramatic film scene and then create a modern movie...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Favorite Story

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students discuss their favorite book. For this book discussion lesson, students name the title and tell what makes the book special. Students also review the setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Students make a book that tells all of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Story Stew

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students identify the elements of a story. In this reading and writing lesson, pupils read the book, Tyrone the Horrible by Hans Wihelm and then identify the characters, setting, and plot of the story.This lesson includes adaptations and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Makes a Novel a Novel?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
They always say to write what you know. This approach is used to get middle schoolers prepared to write novels of their own. Using a favorite book as a model, potential novelists respond to prompts that ask about characters, plot, main...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduce: Prediction

For Teachers K - 3rd
What will happen next? Leave readers at a cliffhanger as they practice prediction strategies while listening to a story. Pupils start by making guesses based on the book's cover and title, discussing the techniques they use to make these...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Scene Plotting Worksheet

For Students 7th - 12th
Think about literary elements, characters, and point-of-view. Then click on this link to have your class answer 14 questions intended to solidify, test, or review their understanding.
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Worksheet
PB Works

The Cay by Theodore Taylor

For Students 5th - 7th
Record the plot elements of The Cay on this activity. Pupils note basic information about the book and answer questions about the introduction, point of view, character, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One...

For Teachers K - 2nd
Explore language arts by reading two similar stories in order to compare and contrast them in class. Young readers read two Aunt Isabel books, by Kate Duke, and discuss the main characters, plot, and setting. They complete a graphic...
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Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

Scripting a Crime Drama

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Develop novice script-writers. Small groups sift through a sample script, noting any script-writing conventions to share with the whole class. Using these conventions and plot structures, these groups compose a script for a 10-minute...
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Organizer
Curated OER

Cause & Effect Chart: "My Furthest-Back Person" by Alex Haley

For Students 5th - 9th
Help your class see the connection between events in Alex Haley's story "My Furthest-Back Person" with this awesome graphic organizer. Individuals write a brief description of 10 major plot events in a series of boxes. The first and last...
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PPT
Prezi

Song of the Trees by Mildred Taylor

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Explore the literary elements of Mildred Taylor's Song of the Trees with this beautiful Prezi presentation. Focusing on the story's characters, setting, and major plot points, young readers are provided with a complete summary of this...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Story Elements that Support the Theme

For Teachers 2nd - 4th Standards
Three great graphic organizers guide readers to see how the elements of plot and main idea can be charted to reveal the theme of a story. Model the process on the provided Direct Teaching Teacher Graphic Organizer using Aesop’s The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Which Story Matches the Given Theme?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Model for young learners how to determine the theme of a story. Read aloud Aesop’s The Fox and the Stork. Chart the plot and the main idea of the fable, showing class members how these elements support the theme. Fable titles for guided...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide Part II

For Students 8th - 9th
Focus your class's reading of To Kill a Mockingbird with this resource. Eighty-three questions are provided for chapters 12-31, the majority of which focus on plot recall. Since this is a word document, you can consider adding questions...
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Worksheet
Springfield Public Schools District 186

The Crucible Quiz

For Students 8th - 12th
Check that your class is keeping up with and understanding the reading with this straightforward reading check quiz for Act I of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. There are 25 questions total, which cover characters, plot recall, and...
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Printables
Curated OER

Parts of a Narrative Poster Series

For Teachers K - 5th
Your classroom won't be complete without a set of posters that can help learners hone in on the parts of a narrative story. Each of the six printable images is in full color and come with a definition and images that learners can use to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plot Summary for Story Elements

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders identify story elements utilizing a plot summary organizer. In this plot summary instructional activity, 9th graders discuss the elements of a good story and listen to the story of the three little pigs. Students complete a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plot Structure

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders review the parts of a plot sequence for a short story. They think of a famous Disney movie and plot the events of the movie in the correct plot sequence. They do the same for a comic strip, labeling the exposition, rising...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plot with More Than One Problem

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Every good story has a plot, and every good plot contains a conflict or problem. Third graders familiarize themselves and identify how problems in a story are connected. First as a class and then in small groups or individually, learners...
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Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

Star Wars and the Hero's Journey

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Is Luke Skywalker the archetype of a literary hero? Follow the path of the Hero's Journey with an engaging lesson that details the plot structure, applies it to Star Wars: A New Hope, and invites class members to choose their own example...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparing Themes and Plots: "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil"

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students read two stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne and write an essay comparing plots and themes. In this Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories activity, students read "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil." After a class...