Boring dialogue can run a great story into the ground; get your novelists using dialogue as a tool to move their story into deeper and more developed territory. As part of a larger writing series, this lesson has a worksheet that can...

Emerging writers identify an informational piece of writing. They are provided with examples of informational writing and view a PowerPoint on narrative writing. Then, they design their own informational writing with a brochure,...

Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

It's all about using peer resources in this writing process lesson, which includes a fantastic novel revision worksheet packet. Learners have read a partner's story draft the night before, and groups have a "lightning round of...

Students explore play writing.  For this literacy and technology lesson, students choose a familiar historical event and write a play with the corresponding setting.  Students write text and dialogue, produce sound recordings,...

Third graders analyze the importance of characters in fiction writing and performances.  In this theatre instructional activity, 3rd graders identify the important characteristics of a fictional character and how to portray a...

Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the lesson...

There is nothing more exciting than allowing learners to express themselves through a creative medium. In groups, they write narrative stories, focusing on building a strong storyline and dialogue. Next, they transform their stories into...

Prepare for an interview project with a set of worksheets about asking questions and quoting people. After completing a grammar exercise about quotation marks, kids write out the questions they want to ask their interviewee, and record...

Students identify geographical features of different regions encountered by migrants on the Oregon trail. Students research how the Oregon landscape may have affected life and 19th century westward migration. Students write a narrative...

Students gain perspective on the importance of kites by reading about and discussing how kites have been used throughout history. In this kite exploration lesson, students follow instructions to construct a kite to assist them in...

Students work in groups to create a story that will be presented to the class.  In this story writing instructional activity, students complete a project planning sheet, work together to create a story that includes a hero and at...

Students write a funny story and illustrate it in a comic strip. In this comic strip lesson, students study comic strips and determine the plot of each story. Students then write a short story and illustrate it using a comic strip...

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...

How does reading a drama differ from reading a novel? Middle schoolers become playwrights and explore these differences. After viewing the A&E movie,"The Crossing," groups create stage directions, write dialogue, and design sets and...

Students punctuate sentences containing dialogue. In this dialogue lesson students solve and create sentence puzzles which are sentences cut into individual parts.

Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scenes I and II) lacks explicit details of the murder of King Duncan, yet the author creates an atmosphere that allows us to visualize the event. Readers interpret the "Dagger Speech" by writing stage...

Eighth graders write a three part dialogue as part of an effective memoir.  In this three part dialogue lesson, 8th graders are given two parts of a dialogue and emotions that accompany the words.  Students then create the...

Students practice the proper use of Capital letters in quotes and how to use quotation marks.  In this dazzling dialogue lesson, students write a draft of a script using dialogue and capitalization.  Students complete dialogue...

Learners analyze and write their own advertisements. In this media lesson plan, students study vocabulary and make predictions as they complete worksheets and activities based on advertising.

Fifth graders chart the elements of drama. In this performing arts lesson, 5th graders discuss the role of a playwrite, practice doing some Reader's Theatre scripts, write a paragraph about a problem between two people, and perform...

Fifth graders explore mystery stories.  In this reading and writing activity, 5th graders complete a planning guide for an original mystery.  Students use the writing process to create a mystery story. 

Students investigate storytelling by creating their own dialogue. In this writing development lesson, students read the story Jeremy Thatch, Dragon Hatcher in class and discuss their own magical object they wish to write a story about....

Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...