Prepare for a wild ride on the plot roller coaster! Budding authors outline their novel plots through this set of visual and entertaining worksheets. They follow the story of Boris the Unicorn, which demonstrates the various stages of a...

Use narrative writing techniques to understand idea development and voice. The class reads Marshfield Dreams by Ralph Fletcher, and then practices authentic writing for standardized tests by writing a personal narrative.

The villain is sometimes the best character in a book. They are usually troubled, dynamic, and will do anything to stop the main character. Have your class better understand villainous antagonists by creating one in class. They work...

What would your super power be? After a discussion on superheroes and how they help their fictional communities, young writers write stories and comic strips about themselves as superheroes with the power to help others.

Does it matter where medication is stored in your home? Absolutely. The best way to identify proper and improper storage of medications is to participate in different role-play scenarios. A lesson models safe storage of medications in...

How do you think the parrot in "The Ghost" chapter of Matilda feels in the chimney? Put a class member in the hot seat and have the class ask questions relating to how they might have felt if they were the parrot in the chimney. Then,...

Inspire scholars to volunteer their time to make a positive change in their community. With help from research, a public speaker, and reflection, learners define and asses what it takes to be a volunteer in a business, non-profit,...

Spark interest in young writers with a three-box comic strip template including speech bubbles. Learners draw and write a sequential comic with boxes that are stacked on top of each other. Using this format or the other templates...

The written word has a magical way of evoking the most descriptive images in one's mind. Encourage scholars to write descriptively with a worksheet that challenges young writers to show, not tell, what traits make up a character. 

Accompany narrative writing or reading with a graphic organizer designed to study a male character. Scholars examine the character traits, actions, sayings, appearance, and development that best describes a male character's personality.

Accompany the narrative reading or writing process with a female character examination. Scholars look deeply into a specific character's traits including their appearance, sayings, actions, and the way she transforms throughout the story. 

During the eighth lesson plan in a historical fiction unit, pupils practice thoughtfully transitioning their ideas in sequential order. After the teacher models how to add these transitions by using the wheelwright draft created in a...

By the tenth lesson plan in a language arts unit, young writers have written, revised, and peer-edited their historical fiction narratives. Fourth graders finally pull all of their revision notes together to create a second draft. The...

Young writers examine dialogue conventions, including indentation, quotation marks, and the display of thoughts and feelings through a fictional text. By noticing where and when an author uses dialogue, they decide how to...

Dive into animation creation using Dreamworks® animated films. Compare and contrast characters, wonder and ponder why the plot is so important, and think of background and themes as your creativity unrolls onto paper.

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.

Punctuating dialogue properly can be tricky, but your pupils can become punctuation masters with practice. This resource includes an explanatory page that describes the rules of writing dialogue and provides examples. On the second page,...

Explore the concepts of community and point of view with these activities complementing the children's book Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Following a class reading of the story, ask students to either draw a map of the...

For many children around the world, food scarcity is a painful reality of daily life. Help young scholars understand the seriousness of this global issue with with a reading of the book The Good Garden. After discussing food security and...

What better way to conclude a reading of George Washington's Socks than by writing original historical fiction narratives. After choosing interesting events from the past, young writers perform research to gather key facts to include in...

Dialogue really brings a story to life and can reveal a lot about its characters, plot, and setting. Explore how this literary technique is used to engage an audience as young writers begin drafting their narrative response to The Story...

Stories are much more interesting to read when they involve realistic characters. The sixth lesson of this writing series helps learners add details to enhance the characters in their personal narratives. This revision process involves...

Teach your charges how to become responsible digital citizens with superheroes! Start out with a brief class discussion about what acting safely, responsibly, and respectfully looks like. Next, have each pupil create their own digital...