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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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Interpreting Characters, Setting, Plot, and Theme - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Disaster

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Examine story development and historical disaster with your class. Learners view a video depicting the incidents surrounding The Triangle Shirtwaist Disaster. They use graphic organizers and the Internet to gather enough information to...
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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 lesson engage critical...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Applying Ahimsa to Traditional Stories

For Teachers 2nd - 8th Standards
Investigate the life of Mahatma Gandhi by researching non-violent lifestyles. Learners define the word ahimsa and discuss the personal characteristics that made Gandhi a peaceful warrior. They also create a poster about the story "The...
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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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Printables
Curated OER

Elements of Fiction

For Teachers 1st - 8th
The metaphor of a pot of soup and a series of colorful templates remind young writers of the elements that make for a rich story. Pepper the plot with carrot/character, potato/point of view, corn/conflict, tomato/theme, and season with...
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Unit Plan
British Council

Learning English through Short Stories

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Use short stories to teach English? Yes! Designed as a professional development opportunity for English language teachers, the ideas in this booklet can easily be adapted to advanced ESL/ELL classes.
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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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Organizer
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Southwest Career and Technical Academy

Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story - Compare and Contrast

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
West Side Story, the modern retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, won ten Academy Awards for its rousing depiction of the tale of star-crossed lovers. But how closely does the plot align to its source material? Compare and...
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eBook
Library of Congress

A Selection of Stories from The Æsop for Children

For Students K - 8th Standards
Read and incorporate a variety of Aesop's Fables into a fable genre study with an eBook produced by the Library of Congress. The interactive eBook contains 146 fables written by Aesop and includes colorful interactive illustrations by...
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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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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
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Curated OER

"The Story of an Hour" Lesson 1: Teacher's Guide and Notes

For Teachers 8th Standards
Attitudes toward women have changed radically in the last hundred years. The first lesson in a six-part unit that uses Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour" as an anchor text begins with a shared reading of "The Role of Women...
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PPT
Curated OER

Story Elements

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Middle schoolers in particular will benefit from this simple presentation. Forty slides cover story elements like the protagonist, antagonist, and setting, and literary devices are also included. Some examples are given, but for the most...
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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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Organizer
Curated OER

Story Web

For Teachers 3rd - 11th
Use a graphic organizer or story web to show the relationship between plot and character. They note the setting, characters, title, author, conflict, and solution regarding short story or novel they have read.
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Visions for Students: A Study of British Ghost Stories

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
Ghost stories are the hook suggested in this proposed unit to engage reluctant readers. 
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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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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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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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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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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Brown Bagging with Short Stories

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students participate in a study of short story elements, applying their knowledge and understanding to a selection of short stories.  In this short stories lesson, students read five short story selections, identifying conflict, plot,...
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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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