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Lesson Plan 4: Creating Main Characters
Creating a good main character is a must when writing a creative narrative or novel. Elementary aged writers create main characters for the novel they are writing. They first use themselves as a models, then create a character as a...
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Close Reading of Waiting for the Biblioburro: Finding the Main Message and Taking Notes
Expose your class to Waiting for the Biblioburro, narrative nonfiction that will act as the bridge between ficiton and informational texts to come. Class members do a close reading of the text, looking at excerpts instead of the whole...
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Lesson Plan 7: The Elements of Story
Budding novelists work on character development by relating to the characters in their stories. They imagine their own hopes and dreams and recall those of characters from books they've read. Learners also consider struggles the...
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Because of Winn-Dixie
Readers analyze an excerpt from Kate DiCamillo's novel Because of Winn-Dixie. They read silently, and then hear it read aloud. Definitions for underlined vocabulary words are in the margin, and other potentially difficult words are in...
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Write a Story
Here is a great way to explore narrative writing! Learners review a previously constructed story map and identify the characters, setting, and main events in the book Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock retold by Eric A. Kimmel. They...
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Because of Winn-Dixie Scrapbook
Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use...
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What A Pair! A Cross Grade Writing Activity
What a pair! Older pupils interview younger ones and use what they learn to write a short, illustrated storybook that features the youngster as the main character. The youngster responds with a thank-you note in which they identify their...
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Comprehending the Comics
Learners discuss and examine the comic strip section in newspapers. They compare and contrast themselves and others with the comic strip characters. With partners, they select a comic strip and complete a student activity sheet.
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Counteracting Media Stereotyping
Discuss media stereotypes with your emerging consumers. They view a television program to identify gender bias. After discussing the clip as a class, each learner writes a story showing more equitable roles. Or consider having them...
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The Main Man
Students explore visualizing stories by completing a graphic organizer. In this reading strategy lesson, students read the story Pecos Bill by Steven Kellog and identify the setting, main characters and their interpretations. Students...
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Close Reading of Nasreen's Secret School: How Do People Access Books in Afghanistan?
Third graders continue to practice the close reading skills of capturing the gist and reading again for important details in the sixth lesson in a larger unit. This is a great beginning-of-the-year unit for establishing visible thinking...
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
In this story structure lesson, students read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.
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Pay it Forward
Students explore the basic concept of micro-financing. For this economics/literacy lesson, students listen to One Hen by Katie Smith, in which a small loan changes the life of the main character. Students employ comprehension strategies...
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Character Attributes in Writing
Third graders analyze the importance of characters in fiction writing and performances. In this theatre lesson, 3rd graders identify the important characteristics of a fictional character and how to portray a character through many...
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Let's Retell a Story
In this retelling a story worksheet, students review and discuss all the components involved in retelling a familiar story. Students choose a favorite story/book and fill out a graphic organizer retelling it in their own words. Students...
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The English Roses
Students explore psychology by reading a children's book in class. In this bullying lesson, students read the story The English Roses and discuss the main characters, story and setting. Students identify the moments when the main...
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Bug's Eye View
Learners explore biology by writing fictitious stories in class. In this insect life lesson, students identify many different types of insects in the animal kingdom and the classifications they fall into. Learners collect insects on a...
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Freckle Juice
Students analyze a chapter from the assigned book they are reading. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read chapter four from Freckle Juice by Judy Blume, and discuss the main character, Andrew. Students complete a...
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Fairy Tale Press
Students create the front page of a newspaper by writing news stories about the main characters and plots of fairy tales.
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My Book Report
In this literacy/writing worksheet, students compose a book report. Students identify the following literary elements: main characters, setting, beginning, problem and solution. Students then compose paragraphs for each of these story...
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King Arthur
Learners explore literary classics by reading The Legend of King Arthur. For this legendary story lesson, students read the story The Legend of King Arthur and identify the main characters and how they will reenact the story. Learners...
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Find an Animal! Find a Book!
Students identify the themes of different books by classifying their genre. In this genre lesson plan, students examine a specific animal by reading both a nonfiction and fiction book about the species. Students compare the different...
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Focus Story: The Mitten
Students explore language arts by analyzing a story with their classmates. In this poetry identification lesson, students read the book The Mittens and identify the characters, plot and settings in the story. Students recite poems about...
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Writing Is Rough
Learners identify the main idea in a story and discuss their own writing. They examine the sources of conflict in the story or the piece they are writing. They make portfolios of their best writing samples.