Immerse your class in the Middle Ages with a thorough history lesson. After viewing examples of illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, they discuss how these were the mode of keeping and storing information...

What's the best way to start a story? Learners write a memoir using effective openings. They research the process and work through a list of hooks to use in their writing. They use at least two hooks to begin their personal memoir. A...

How can you interest your reader? Here is a great lesson on reading and discussing the characteristics of a narrative. Elementary schoolers explore writing techniques to hook the reader. They identify their hook and share their...

Students create a narrative cartoon. In this narrative lesson, students use a Peace Corp website to collect information and photographs that they add captions to and use to create their own narrative cartoons.

Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...

Every hopeful in your class has gone through some kind of life change, from parents' divorce to a death in the family to moving up into another grade. Encourage them to discuss these changes, the skills they used and acquired...

Students view photographs from the Civil Rights Movement and write an essay from the point of view of someone in the photograph. They artistically represent various aspects of the Movement.

Eighth graders take photographs for a photo essay contest. Using primary source documents, they review various types of artwork and discuss how some of the images have become commonplace. They use the internet to view examples of...

Students practice persuasive writing by creating a travel brochure.  In this creative writing lesson, students research a popular tourist destination they would like to visit and create a brochure enticing readers to come....

Students read and write an analysis of The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn and write a paper on another Twain literary piece. In this Mark Twain lesson, students select a Mark Twain literary piece to write an analysis paper for the work....

If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...

Learners create brochures about the humor of Mark Twain. In this literature-analysis lesson plan, students read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and other short stories by Twain. Learners write analytical paragraphs and...

Young scholars act as historians by, first, reading and analyzing oral histories of professional baseball players to become familiar with baseball figures. Then, they proceed to interview family members, relatives, or neighbors who have...

Eighth graders explore manners by writing short stories. In this chivalry code lesson, 8th graders identify the traits of chivalry and explore the history of chivalry in England. Students complete a chivalry worksheet and write a...

Students research information about their neighborhoods. Uncovering facts about geology and Native Americans, they examine how the neighborhood has evolved over time. They work together to create a timeline of specific events.

Students explore the growing trade and tourist relationship between Greece and Turkey. They then research key event in Greco-Turkish history from each sides perspective to create political cartoons and a time line for classroom display.