Read Works
Read Works: If
[Free Registration/Login Required] A poem called "If" by Rudyard Kipling. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Tom Richey
Slide Share: Finding Themes in Literature
A slide show with forty slides with explanations, examples, and information on how to determine the theme of a text. RL.9-10.2 and RL.11-12.2 Analyzing Theme.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Characters
Learn about the different types of characters in Cinderella, and determine which traits belong to the hero and villain. Click on the "Character" button.
Read Works
Read Works: Fifth Grade: Five Lesson Unit: Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems
[Free Registration/Login Required] A five lesson plan poetry unit focusing on main idea, tone, theme, author's purpose, and figurative language in poetry. Texts must be provided by the teacher, but handouts that go along with the lesson...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Eating Together
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story, article or poem is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Little Toy Friend Poems
For this lesson students will create a poem from the viewpoint of a lost toy.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Training for the Presidency [Pdf]
"Training for the Presidency" is a one-page, fictional, reading passage about Abraham Lincoln as a child. He does chores for a farmer because the book he had borrowed from him had gotten wet when rain came through the cabin walls. It is...
ArtsNow
Arts Now Learning: Personal Storytelling With Accordion Books [Pdf]
In this lesson, students use the structure of an accordion book to identify parts of an essay: introduction, three supporting details, and conclusion. They then compose a personal story using events from the past school year and plan the...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Florida Center for Reading Research: Check a Trait
A lesson plan in which students read a narrative text and complete a graphic organizer to describe the characters in the story. Materials are included. [PDF]
CommonLit
Common Lit: Themes: Comedy & Tragedy: What Can We Learn From Comedy?
This is a collection of Grade-Leveled texts (3-12) to address the question, "What can we learn from comedy?" Select a grade level and a collection of on grade-level reading passages on the topic comes up. [Free account registration...
Other
Jefferson County Schools: Print a Prompt
Check out this resourceful site featuring "Print a prompt." Students can choose from several different titles and prompts and they are provided with a printed copy.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Clerihew Poetry
Cooperative poetry writing assignment. Students will write and share poetry using the Clerihew style. Students will also give a group presentation of their poems.
British Library
British Library: 20th Century: Creative Activities
Channel your creativity with these writing activities.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts: Grade 5: Wonderstruck
Fifth graders learn about the importance of language, education, and communication. By determining how characters respond to challenges of language barriers and ineffective communication, 5th graders learn how language and stories can...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Math + Arts: Stage Props, Blocking, and Graphs
In this lesson, students will block a scene on a graph and act out the scene. Media resources and teacher materials are included.
Capital Community College Foundation
Guide to Grammar and Writing: The Narrative Essay
Need help picking out the elements of a narrative? Check this site out from Capital Community College, and you'll see some background information, a sample essay, and directed questions to ask yourself about a text. W.9-10.3 Narrative,...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Simple Formula Poem: Dueling Acrostic Poems
Students use an interactive topic generator to select a topic for writing dueling acrostic poems; two acrostic poems with opposite words.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Color Game
Click the buttons to get a unique starter for a descriptive piece of writing. You can make up a story, a poem, anything you like.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: A 6 Trait Writing Lesson: Emotional Recipe Write Ups
The writer studies the format of well-written recipes, paying particular attention to the type of verbs used in the paragraph of instructions which always follow the list of needed ingredients. Next, the writer thinks up a story or...
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: Web Lessons: Get the Main Idea
This resource provides practice finding the main idea by having students read a paragraph and choose the main idea. Then it asks students to take what they have learned and apply it to a book of their choice, and then write a paragraph...
PBS
Pbs Kids: Fern's Poetry Club
An excellent site for children about the definition, examples, and types of poetry. Students can click nodes such as "What's a Poem?", "Read More Poems," or even "Write a Poem."
Curated OER
Ccss Literacy E Handbook: Literature: Summarize
An explanation of summarizing a selection along with a link to a model summarizing activity.
Other
Critical reading.com: Drama
Discusses what the literary form of drama consists of in relation to its content, language, and structure.
FableVision
Fable Vision: Peter Reynolds: The North Star: Writing Activity
Be inspired to write your own simple story or poem by choosing a picture from this collection of child-centered illustrations.