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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Bringing Back the Sun: The Story of Jaguar Inspiring Student Stories

For Teachers K - 5th
What on earth is that jar for? It was an ancient incense burner used by the Maya, that was inspired by the myth of the sun god. Young analysts hear the story of the Mayan sun god, analyze the story through the artistry in the jar, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: All in the Family

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Who was the Radcliffe family? Young learners find out about the life and times of a family from long ago. They analyze the family portrait, write a story about the family, and then use their story to create thought or word bubbles which...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

What Happened Next? (Grades K-4)

For Teachers K - 4th Standards
Explore the structure of narrative writing with this fun, collaborative lesson. Start by reading aloud a short story, asking small groups of learners to fill in key events on a large story board prepared on the class whiteboard....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: While You Were Sleeping....

For Teachers K - 5th
Imagine you are a bug living on a leaf in the painting, Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase by Maria van Oosterwyck. This is what you'll tell your class as they analyze the lovely image. They list details in the painting, find two insects in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Possible Perspectives

For Teachers K - 5th
Visual art is the inspiration for a creative writing activity focused on having learners write from different perspectives. They analyze the image Yellow Rain Jacket, picking out details to help their storytelling. They use the details...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creative Writing Lesson Plan: Combination Creature

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Learners 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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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Tell Us a Tale: Teaching Students to Be Storytellers

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Encourage scholars to retell their favorite short story or folktale, adding personal details to make it their own. After reading their book of choice several times, story tellers retell a tale verbally to their classmates. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rest of the Story

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders make predictions about the story "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" based on background knowledge. They read the story, stopping to verify or reject predictions. They write their own opinionated fairytales.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adventures in Toyland

For Teachers K - 5th
There are many ways to tell a story; Richard Patterson's three-dimensional painting If serves as the inspiration for some creative storytelling for elementary school writers. They watch a clip from Toy Story (you'll need to bring this),...
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Printables
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Suspense Writing Prompts

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
"I don't know what to write about!" How often have you heard that lament? Here's a list of 10 prompts that provide a starting place for suspense stories.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Strip-Teasers: A Collaborative Writing activity

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Young writers engage in a fun writing activity. They write three different sentences on three strips of paper. Then they get into groups of three, and take a look at all nine sentences that have been written. Their task is to write a...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Creative Writing Story

For Students 3rd - 5th
In this creative writing worksheet, students consider the stories they are writing as they respond to 6 short answer questions designed to help them shape their stories.
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Activity
NWT Literacy Council

How to Kit: Readers Theatre

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Immerse your class in a good story with an extensive resource featuring reader's theater techniques. The worksheets are designed for both teacher and student, and carefully explain how to organize, write, and perform stories in a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing Mythological Narratives

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students compose a creative writing piece based on a painting of a mythological scene. In this creative writing lesson,  students write about the scene in the painting and tie in  their original stories into tales from the life of the...
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Activity
Poetry4kids

Writing Riddles

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
What's got 60 eyes, 150 fingers, and an endless number of ideas? Your language arts class! Challenge young writers to come up with clever riddles with an online poetry lesson.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Analyzing Story Elements

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Lesson ideas to teach students how to analyze story elements through visual representation.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Integrate Reading and Writing this Valentine's Day

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Spend Valentine's Day reading, writing, or creating gifts with your students.
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write a Funny Epitaph Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
What can happen if you eat too much cafeteria food? Or wear dirty clothes every day? Or talk back to your mother? Use a lesson on humorous poems as a way for students to practice silly rhymes as fictional epitaphs.
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Lesson Plan
Roald Dahl

The Twits - Muggle-Wump Has an Idea

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
If a bar of chocolate was on the floor, would you try to pick it up? What if it was covered with glue? The eighth lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has scholars imagine crazy scenarios. The lesson...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comic and Film Strip Writing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students write a funny story and illustrate it in a comic strip. In this comic strip instructional activity, students study comic strips and determine the plot of each story. Students then write a short story and illustrate it using a...
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Printables
Teacherfiles

Medieval Stationery

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Two different knights grace this stationery. There are lines provided for writing a story or summary and a box where pupils can mark down a title.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

ELD with Dr. Seuss Will Turn Their Creativity Loose!

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Use the timeless story of Green Eggs and Ham to excite learners of all ages and proficiency levels.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Crazy Critters Creative Writing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students brainstorm animals with unusual characteristics such as a giraffe with a short neck or a zebra without stripes. They write paragraphs about their animals and work in peer editing groups to refine their stories.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Pirate Adventure: Story Starter

For Students 2nd - 3rd
In this creative writing worksheet, students first read a short story starter about a pirate adventure. Students finish the story on the lines provided.