The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.

Primary graders number the events in popular nursery rhymes indicating the order in which they occur.

How can a scene from a novel be different when represented on film? After creating a timeline from the plot of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, kids watch the first or last fifteen minutes of the film version, produced...

Map the most important events and turning points from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. After a group discussion from the previous lesson's homework assignment, kids create a timeline to chart the important events from the novel with...

Track the plot of Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying with a class discussion and timeline. Readers examine the ways the story has developed for Jefferson and for Grant, as well as how their stories have come together. Next, they...

New ReviewThe end. Scholars discuss how the end of the text in Flush contributes to the plot development of the story. They then write book reviews to share their thoughts about the story. After finishing their book reviews, learners share them...

Scholars use their knowledge of plot and sequencing of events to compose a narrative story using a comic strip. To begin, learners look at and listen to a comic strip then write a summary. The class brainstorms ideas for a comic strip...

Thirteen activities work alongside a narrative text of your choice. With reading comprehension at its focus, readers complete worksheets covering character descriptions, similarities, and differences between characters, the sequence of...

How do the Three Witches' interactions with Macbeth advance the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth? Learners complete a Quick Write to answer the question. They also participate in a whole-class dramatic reading of Act 4.1.

Cinderella wants to go to the ball and marry the prince. At the end of the story, she does! But how does the plot move from the exposition to the resolution? Teach language arts learners and fairy tale fans about the basics of plot...

The burning questions is at what point do readers of Fahrenheit 451 recognize the many literary devices Ray Bradbury employs in his dystopian classic that warns of  a society that uses media to indoctrinate the public and denigrates...

How many ways can you break down a classic novel? Based on the acclaimed Romantic-period novel by Emily Bronte, the Wuthering Heights activity pack includes a pre-reading exercise. Next, learners create a resume for one of the...

Are the lessons of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar still applicable today? Explore themes, characterization, and plot structure with a thorough teacher's guide to the play. The resource covers the entire text and offers rigorous activities...

 A trapped fox prefers the full mosquitoes swarming him to the hungry ones who would replace them in Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Mosquitoes.” Class members listen to an audio version of the tale before completing a graphic organizer...

Would a charcoal-burner make a good roommate? Read about the drawbacks of living with someone in the opposite profession with Aesop's "The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller." A graphic organizer prompts learners to identify the beginning,...

Practice the five W's of storytelling with a fun and practical activity. After reading or listening to a story, learners work in groups to finish sentences about characters, plot elements, and their favorite parts of the book.

Someone wanted something...but then what? Use the helpful Someone Wanted But So Then (SWBST) strategy to map out a short story or novel based on plot structure and elements of literature.

The manipulation of time is one of the most important elements in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As your language arts class participates in a jigsaw discussion activity, they work together to analyze the play's plot structure and...

Do you know the setting of The Count of Monte Cristo? What about the main characters? Explore the elements of Alexandre Dumas' novel with a reading comprehension activity. Kids toss boxes with literary elements written on each side, and...

What happens next? Work on story sequence with a lesson that prompts kids to put a story back in order. Additionally, they discuss what would happen if one event was missing from the sequence.

Your kids can identify the plot sequence of a short story, but what about an informational article? Have them examine the chronological order of events in informational texts with a lesson on the sequence of events. 

Show young readers how to put some personality and voice into their storytelling with an in-depth assignment. Kids practice saying the same thing, such as counting from one to ten, in different tones and perspectives, and then work on...