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Worksheet
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Curated OER

Illustrating the Elements of a Story

For Students 6th - 8th
Explore the elements of a story with this two-page graphic organizer. Readers write and draw descriptions of each element, including setting, plot, conflict, rising action, climax, dialogue, and narration.
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Interactive
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PBS

Setting in To Kill a Mockingbird

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Can you understand more about how a person acts by learning about how that person lives? An interactive resource explores the setting of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird with several slides discussing the location, social conditions,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The News Behind the Story

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What a fun way to analyze plot, setting, and character. Learners review story elements, read a short fictional story, then turn the events of that story into a headlining news paper article. Not only does this instructional activity...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shizuko’s Daughter: Story Impression

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Craft your own fairy tale based on Momotaro, a Japanese story referenced in Kyoko Mori's Shuzuko's Daughter. A list of nouns guide learners in writing their own story, and predicting what might happen in the novel.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Setting Details in Of Mice and Men

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
After completing John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, groups are assigned a chapter to reread. Members list major conflicts and events and quote setting details. They then make observations about how the setting prepares the reader for the...
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Unit Plan
Louisiana Department of Education

How to Write a Memoir

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Who are we and what shapes our identities? Seventh graders work to answer this question as they learn how to write a memoir. Full of non-print resources and supplemental texts that range from fiction to non-fiction, scholars write their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Walk Two Moons: Hook and Concept of a Frame Story

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
As an introduction to Sharon Creexh's Walk Two Moons, a volunteer dons a pair of boots and walks about the classroom.Observers then ponder the axiom, Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins. Their collaborative...
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Lesson Plan
Digital Public Library of America

Teaching Guide: Exploring Little Women

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...
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Writing
Curated OER

Story Impressions-Gary Paulsen's Canyons

For Students 6th - 8th
What is a story impression? Learn about the strategy with the first page of this two-page resource. Before reaching chapters 21-24 in Canyons, readers use a list of words (taken from these chapters) to predict what is going to happen....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write a Round-Robin Story

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Learners discover the elements of a story (introduction, plot, climax, resolution, denouement). In groups of five, one student writes an introduction and passes it to the next person, who writes the plot and passes it to the next person,...
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Activity
Curated OER

Pudd'nhead Wilson: Writing Strategy

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Assign this narrative essay after finishing Puddn'head Wilson. Learners write about their own experiences with overcoming obstacles. A five-step process is laid out on this assignment page.
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Activity
Curated OER

Peter and the Starcatchers: Multi-Genre Writing Assignment

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Conclude your unit on Peter and the Starcatchers with an involved final writing project that requires learners to write persuasive pieces, compose short stories, create brochures about the setting of the novel, and choose from a list of...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

I Need A (Super)Hero: Literary Elements And Narrative Writing

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Need a hero? Super! Groups create their modern-day marvel and craft a narrative with all the elements required in such a tale.
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Unit Plan
ReadWriteThink

Beyond the Story: A Dickens of a Party

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It's time to party like it's 1899! Incorporate a research-based celebration of the Victorian Era into your unit on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After learners read the novella or view a production of the play, they craft a...
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Printables
Freeology

Annotations Bookmark

For Teachers 5th - 10th
In general, pupils are not allowed to write in school-issued books; however, they can write on a bookmark that you provide! Kids can take notes on the setting, characters, themes, and connections as they read a short story or novel.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mystery Lessons

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

What Makes a Novel a Novel?

For Students 4th - 8th
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....
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Book Report--Mystery

For Students 5th - 7th
Use this mystery novel activity to have learners answer several specific questions about details in the book, the atmosphere of the book, and the main characters in the book. This impressive, four-page activity will serve as an excellent...
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Activity
Novelinks

Walk Two Moons: Unsent Letter

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Take a journey with your class as they explore the different settings from Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. Middle schoolers write postcards in first person as if they were the characters of the story.  
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Lesson Plan
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Roald Dahl

Matilda - Throwing the Hammer

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Full truth, or an exaggeration? How can you tell when a storyteller is exaggerating a story? Readers analyze a story told by Hortensia, and identify the exaggerative language she uses. Then, learners write their own narrative story using...
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Organizer
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Writing Educators Symposium

Asking the Right Questions

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
It can be difficult to find the theme of a book or story if you don't know the questions to ask. Teach your kids to discern the universal theme in works of literature with a set of activities that promote critical thinking and active...
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Activity
Novelinks

Words by Heart: Guided Imagery

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Sad, depressed, miserable, inconsolable, forlorn: so many synonyms have a lot of variety with their connotations. Through the guided imagery activity, writers explore the use of connotation and its influence on imagery and description by...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Importance Setting and Mood in Fiction

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine the setting in pieces of fiction.  In this story analysis lesson, 7th graders investigate the setting in fictional stories and the importance it has.  Students discover new vocabulary terms applying to storytelling.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Knot" the Whole Truth: Writing a Modern-Day Story with a Tall Tale's Voice

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee  and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write their own...