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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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Lesson Plan
PBS

Using Video to Create Setting and Mood

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Writers have long used words, the sound of words, and the images created by their words to describe the setting and establish the mood of their stories. To gain a more in depth understanding of how settings can be used to develop a...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Hemingway's Short Stories - Essay Questions

For Students 8th - 12th
Ernest Hemingway is one of America's great writers. After reading one (or several) of his short stories, visit this list of 24 questions relating to at least 10 of his short stories. Some of the questions are basic recall questions, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduce Vocabulary: Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride (Priceman)

For Teachers K - 3rd
What a fun way to explore new vocabulary words! Marjorie Priceman's book Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride offers plenty of new words for scholars to learn in context: amateur, assembled, demonstration,...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Three Skeleton Key: Elements of Literature

For Students 6th - 8th
Rats! How are they described in "Three Skeleton Key," and what happens to the characters in the story? Study the vocabulary and the story with these worksheets. Learners complete pre-reading activities, study vocabulary, complete...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Museum of Disability

Ian’s Walk and Apples for Cheyenne

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd Standards
Help young learners understand friendship and empathy with two reading comprehension lessons. Each lesson focuses on a story about a child with autism, and encourages readers to compare and contrast the characters to each other and to...
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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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Activity
PBS

Primary Source Set: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What did Jo write her stories with? How did the March sisters dress? A primary source set designed for Louisa May Alcott's Little Women prompts learners to look over images of household items and clothes from the 1860s before engaging in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tortoise and Hare Races

For Teachers K
Practice basic map skills with the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. After listening to the story, class members create a map that indicates the starting line, the path the animals took, where they stopped to rest, and the finish line....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Beginning, The Middle, & The End

For Teachers K - 2nd
Cut magazine pictures into three sections, having your youngsters piece the pictures back together. With this fun activity, they discover the importance of sequencing a story. Then they use a fun template (shaped like a burger) to write...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Rikki-tikki-tavi"

For Teachers 7th - 8th
“Rikki-tikki-tavi” provides an opportunity to model for readers how to use background information to enrich understanding of a story. Class members observe animal behavior, listen to biographical background on Rudyard Kipling, study...
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Study Guide
Reed Novel Studies

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader: Novel Study

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
A painting is worth a thousand words—in a different world! Lucy and Edmund sail away into Narnia using a picture of a ship at sea. The story tells of their adventures and the islands they visit. Scholars work through activities about the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Phineas Gage: “This I Believe” Venn Diagrams After Reading Strategy

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Difficulties with brain injuries still continue today. After reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science, class members read a series of modern personal essays about brain injuries and choose an essay to compare...
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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
Weebly

Author Study: Eric Carle

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Dive into an author study of one of the most beloved children’s book authors, Eric Carle. After reading some of his stories, including Papa Get me the Moon, A House for Hermit Crab, The Grouchy Ladybug, and The Very Busy Spider, readers...
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PPT
Curated OER

Academic Vocabulary

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Arm your writers with an arsenal of literary terms. With definitions of everything from plot structure and figurative language to point-of-view and types of irony, learners will gain an understanding of elements in stories and be able to...
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Activity
Weebly

Cereal Box Book Report

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
What is is about cereal boxes that draws consumers in? Tap into the effective marketing of cereal boxes and apply those elements to a book report. Pupils cover cereal boxes with information about their chosen books. they must create a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Daniel's Story Study Guide

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore the plight of Jews during the Holocaust. In this World War II lesson, students read Daniel's Story by Carol Matas and complete the provided comprehension, characterization, and vocabulary activities.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thinking About Money

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students evaluate various approaches to spending money.In this spending money literacy lesson, students broaden their financial goals by reading "Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday" and "A Chair for My Mother."Students use a Venn...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Story Dissection

For Students 7th - 8th
In this story dissection learning exercise, students list the main characters and tell about them, describe the setting, define the conflict and discuss the message of the story.
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Activity
College Board

The Departure

For Teachers 8th Standards
Scholars learn about the Hero's Journey as they read Ray Bradbury's "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." They analyze the story's structure and narrative techniques. Finally, they write summaries of the text's central idea and use their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

PowerPoint Short Story Report

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students make a Microsoft PowerPoint report from a short story read in class. They summarize and paraphrase a short story identifying the six story elements: characters, setting, plot, conflict, solution, tone/mood.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Combining Geography and Literature by Mapping a Story

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students listen to or read a story on their own. Using the text, they describe the relative locations of the main events. In groups, they develop two and three dimensional maps of the story. They create a key and a title for their map.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Mixing Fact and Fiction

For Students 3rd - 9th Standards
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members explore...