Curated OER
Around the Room Short Story
Collective story writing is a great way to reinforce the concept of story elements and collaborative learning. Young writers discuss story elements such as, setting, character, action, climax, conclusion, foreshadowing, dialogue, and...
Curated OER
Story Summaries; The Three Little Pigs
Learners explore language arts by completing a graphic organizer in class. In this story structure instructional activity, students read the classic tale "The Three Little Pigs" and discuss the main characters, conflict and setting....
Curated OER
Analyzing Story Structure
Students explore language arts by completing a graphic organizer in class. In this story structure lesson plan, students read the poem "Sick" by Shel Silverstein and discuss the different elements in the piece which make it an effective...
Curated OER
Scrambled Stories II
Review story elements with your class. They will use examples from a story to develop critical-thinking questions. Then they use a graphic organizer to describe the setting, character, and plot of the story, focusing on how they...
Curated OER
Retelling Stella Louella's Runaway Book: Point of View
Stella Louella’s Runaway Book launches a study of point of view and storytelling. After reading the tale, class members retell the story from the point of view of another character. The scripted plan, developed by a teacher candidate,...
Curated OER
Jeffrey and Sloth: Six Traits of Writing
Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...
Curated OER
Retell the "Tail" of the Tale
Students explore story structure. In this multicultural literacy lesson plan, students discuss common elements of folk tales and then listen to the story Tiger and the Big Wind: A Tale from Africa. Students identify the problem and...
Curated OER
Harry Potter: Study Questions
Elementary learners explore fiction storytelling through partcipating in a survey. They identify the characters, themes and plot of the Harry Potter series while discussing their opinions in class. Learners conduct a survey about their...
Curated OER
Telling Our Stories of Giving - Writing to Persuade
After identifying the parts of a persuasive piece of writing, young writers explore different prewriting activities for the persuasive essay. They have the option to write a news article, personal narrative, or persuasive essay to...
Nosapo
What Is in a Sentence, Paragraph, and Story?
Language arts is made up of many parts. Learners review the parts of a sentence, as well as how to make a simple sentence into a complex sentence, before examining full paragraphs and identifying the topic, body, and concluding sentence...
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...
Curated OER
Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...
Curated OER
Writing the Essay
Relate the structure of the essay to the structure of a building. The class compares an essay to a building, with the writer being the architect, the introduction being the foundation, and so on. They use the visual representation of a...
Curated OER
Episodic Writing Using Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...
Curated OER
Beginning, Middle, Ending (2)
In this story structure learning exercise, learners use a story map and write down the beginning, middle, and ending of a story they know.
Curated OER
Story Writing
Students examine story writing. In this writing activity, students discuss the structure of a story and create a story using suspense and character description with dialogue.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan C32: Story Starts
Students write story starters to begin the writing process. For this creative writing lesson, students examine story starters and review the structure of paragraphs. Students create their own story starters that engage readers by setting...
Curated OER
Story Framing Legends
Students review, examine and study the seven stages to a traditional legend or modern story in legend form. They locate two traditional legend stories and see if they fit into the two categories listed for them in two boxes. Each student...
Curated OER
Varied Beginnings: Research Process / Narrative Writing Techniques
What's the best way to start a story? Learners write a memoir using effective openings. They research the process and work through a list of hooks to use in their writing. They use at least two hooks to begin their personal memoir. A...
Curated OER
Common and Proper Nouns
Identify nouns in speech and writing. Learners find all the nouns in a read-aloud story. Then, they complete a worksheet that reviews the use of nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, and interjections. A list of...
Scholastic
Narrative Writing
If you're looking to start a unit based around narrative writing, make sure to consider this resource while you're planning. This book covers five topics: writing personal narratives, writing narratives about others, writing narratives...
App State
Brainstorming
Get your young writers outside of the traditional essay writing mode with Free Write Friday. Free Write Friday encourages your class to use personal experiences or knowledge to write more creative pieces. Young writers could experiment...
Curated OER
BioPoem Multicultural Activity For A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Students write a biopoem. In this literature and poetry writing lesson, students write a biopoem about the characters in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry following a specific given format. Examples and format are included.
Curated OER
Acid Rain
Create a simulation of acid rain in your classroom with lemon juice and bean plants to help kids study the effects of pollution on plants. In addition, learners will listen to a story and write responses based on guiding questions.