Whether it's dark, delightful, or somber, set the mood with William Golding's Lord of the Flies. High-schoolers practice descriptive writing by creating the appropriate mood for an original scene, starring one of the book's main...

Mirroring Jerry Spinelli's style in Wringer, chapter 5, pupils use the "counting up/down technique" to recall an important moment in their lives. In the book, the character is being punched, and between blows he remembers details...

Are you looking for a way to bring writing into your history lesson - or history into your writing lesson? This cross-curricular activity is helpful and fun, no matter what class you're teaching! Using "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by the...

Give your young learners the chance to discover more about countries in their world community with a research project. Class members write reports on an assigned country and include such major features as geography, important historical...

Fifth graders write a paragraph titled "All About Me" in the computer lab after they have drawn graphic organizers to fill in background information about themselves and used a "10-Point Writing Checklist" to do peer editing.

Young poets focus on one character from a story they are reading, collect details, and use a biopoem template to analyze this character. The activity can be used with any text.

Students fill out a character trait graphic organizer about characters in a book that they are reading. In this characters lesson plan, students see how traits relate to character actions.

Sixth graders analyze character traits and create a life size character outline. In this character analysis lesson plan, 6th graders analyze character traits of a character using character webs and poems. Students then create a life size...

Students listen to the poem "Shapes" by Shel Silverstein in order to accurately and specifically describe shapes' rules/traits in their journals. They illustrate the poem and take turns reading during a creative shared reading session.

Students create an autobiographical poem. In this writing lesson, students write an eleven line autobiopoem after read the teacher's model. Students include their name, fears, and family in the poem.

Fifth graders reorganize comic strips to have them make sense, complete outline and organize their thoughts into outline form to explain directions, and use that outline to complete their own directions for geometry activities.

This resource on personification provides three different approaches aimed at different levels. The first, appropriate for upper elementary, provides examples of personification, followed by an exercise that requires replacing a word in...

Second graders gather information about the physical traits an animal has which help it survive in its environment. Using collected data, 2nd graders draw illustrations with adaptation features labeled.

Students imagine and create their dream house.  In this comprehension and interpretation lesson, students read The Big Orange Splot, answer comprehension questions about the story and  complete a character traits web. ...

High schoolers create a "back story" for a character from Measure for Measure.  In this Measure for Measure lesson, students read the text closely as they look for clues about where the character came from and how he or she became...

Fourth graders research and write an author report on Roald Dahl, including books written by him, birthplace, family life, and other information on his writing. Students read aloud chapters in the book. Students create a newspaper...

Students create a slogan. In this heroes instructional activity, students identify traits from hero stories that match traits of real life heroes. They discuss what lessons they can learn from heroes about courage and come up with a one...

Fourth graders complete analysis experiments for decomposers and their adaptable traits. In this decomposers lesson, 4th graders test worm behavior to light, sound, warmth, touch, and moisture. Students work in groups to analyze the...

Young scholars complete activities to differentiate between wild and domestic animals. For this animal types lesson, students bring stuffed animals to class and pictures from magazines or newspaper. Young scholars put their stuffed...

Students research the events that were taking place in the U.S. during the time period when the SS Central America sank, and explore the adventurous, innovative, and individualistic traits that often define the American spirit.

Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...

Students examine how artists express the Muses through the arts. In this art and history lesson plan, students work cooperatively to identify the Greek Muses, Graces and the Fates. Students will identify the attributes of each,...

Seventh graders modernize a fairy tale, then compare their version with he original version and determine whether or not they've changed the author's original intent.

Students examine family structures. In this family structure lesson, students discover things about their own families and those of their classmates. They make a chart as they discuss nature versus nurture, complete a worksheet about who...