Curated OER
Scene Writing: Literacy and Playwriting
Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The activities...
Curated OER
Writing a Personal Letter Using the Short Story "Eleven"
Challenge your class to connect to the text of "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros with this activity, which prompts them to write a personal letter from the main character's point of view. The story, prompt, and letter template are all included...
Curated OER
Writing A Character Sketch
Middle schoolers are introduced to how a character sketch is an outline of a character that includes the character's outward appearance, family members, personality, interests, and beliefs. They then think of a character they would like...
Curated OER
The Art of Creating a Character Using a Press Conference
Students brainstorm and create list of traits of memorable fictional characters they have read about, write down ten characteristics about new character that they are going to create, discuss ways to make characters come alive, and write...
Curated OER
Modernizing a Traditional Irish Folktale
Students write their own folktales based on "Cathal O'Cruachan and the Cowherd." In discussions they examine the animal symbolism in the story, as well as the characters, events, problems, and solution. With partners, they select...
Curated OER
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Students explore the 5 themes of geography. In this cross curriculum literacy and geography lesson, students listen to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, and make a list of the needs of the people in Chewandswallow....
Curated OER
"Lawd! Lawd! Lawd!"
From British accents to Texan drawls, a character's dialect can be an important part of the reading experience. A Six-Trait writing activity guides learners through the analysis of a character's dialect (Daniel Keyes's Flowers for...
Anti-Defamation League
On-Screen Diversity: Why Visibility in Media Matters
Characters play a significant role in why we like certain shows and movies but are the characters we watch representing the diverse society in which we live? Scholars examine this question through thoughtful discussion about popular...
Curated OER
Multimedia Storytelling
Experiment with multimedia storytelling. After watching a segment of American Family, first, middle and high schoolers tell a story about their families, clarifying the setting, characters, and script. They work on setting their story in...
Curated OER
Understanding Other People's Decisions
Students analyze people's choices from different points of view. They read different scenarios and explain how they would react personally in that situation. Then they analyze what they would do in another character's position and...
Curated OER
A New Point of View
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
Curated OER
Creative Writing Lesson
It's hard to find inspiration; have your learners bring in a slew of magazines and search for inspiring pictures! They look for characters, setting, and possibly even conflict clues. They analyze the pictures they select, turn their...
Scholastic
Story Map
Simplify a short story or novel in your language arts class with a story map. The graphic organizer includes fields such as title and author, main characters, and problem and solution.
Teacherfiles
Character I.D.
Create ID cards for characters. Provide readers with a template that asks them to affix a photo, identify character traits and list evidence from the text to support this analysis. They indicate changes the character experiences at...
Sandra Effinger
Bulletin Board Project
Imagine a project that informs and entertains. Replace book reports with a bulletin board that highlights all the important elements of a novel. Readers research the author, create a timeline of events in the story, write a character...
Penguin Books
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt - Teacher's Guide
Children in foster care face a lot of uncertainty in their lives. A guide for the novel One for the Murphys introduces a main character, Carley, who is thrust into the foster care system. Chapter-by-chapter questions cover key details in...
Penguin Books
The Curriculum Guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer
The death of a parent can turn a child's world upside down. A curriculum guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy explores defining moments in the main character's life, including the loss of her mother. Chapter-by-chapter discussion...
Penguin Books
A Guide to the Works of Jacqueline Woodson
The works of Jacqueline Woodson introduce readers to diverse characters and themes. A guide covers many of the author's best-known books such as Brown Girl Dreaming and Locomotion. Dive & Discuss and Explore & Extend activities...
Curated OER
What Makes a Novel a Novel?
As your authors prepare to write a hypothetical novel, they need all the inspiration they can find! Using a book they have already read (and enjoyed), learners complete a literary analysis by filling in eight short-answer questions....
Curated OER
Twisted Tales
Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select another...
Curated OER
Literature Study Guide: Siddhartha
Though this book report form is labeled Siddhartha, the multiple-page format would work for any novel you are reading in class. Complete with a reading schedule, a summary page, a list of generic literature response questions, and a list...
Curated OER
Tall Tales and Urban Legends
In this creative writing worksheet, pupils sort through old pictures and discuss the characterization in each. Students create characters, a setting, and their own tall tale or urban legend based on the pictures.
Curated OER
Think of an Ending
Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final instructional activity in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to...
Curated OER
"Sunday in the Park" Reader's Response
After reading Bel Kaufman's "Sunday in the Park," give your class the opportunity to react to the short story through writing. First they write a brief summary paragraph, and then they react to any events or characters' actions in a...
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