Imagine using narrative essays to encourage change. This multi-week unit plan does just that. After reading a series of articles from Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, class members examine the...

What is the difference between a news story and a personal narrative? This plan has learners write a personal narrative using the topic of service projects in their community. Consider completing a cross-curricular extension by bringing...

High school readers examine George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" for examples of symbolism, metaphor, connotation, and irony. They analyze how these literary tools convey the writer's main point and contribute to the persuasive...

Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...

Fourth graders are taught how to outline a fictional narrative essay. They review the definition and structure of narrative essays. Students use the activity to brainstorm specific ideas for narrative essays. They are given a...

What is it that makes people keep going when they face challenges in life? Ask your class to consider this question in relation to their own experiences and as they read material from The New York Times. Using personal experiences...

Review the narrative writing process with your emerging story writers. They read a sample narrative and identify five vague verbs that could be replaced with a more exact, exciting verb. Then they write a personal narrative making sure...

Sixth graders experience the stages of process writing, work cooperatively, to critique and to incorporate software tools to enhance writing and problem solving skills.

A reading of vignettes written by Peace Corps Volunteers serving in Lesotho and Madagascar launches a study of the difference between narrative and expository texts. As final products, young writers craft both a narrative and an...

Students explore the elements of a narrative for its purpose, type of audience, mood, main character, minor characters, setting, and conflicts in the story. A story outline is developed and a five paragraph essay composed in this lesson.

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...

Are you teaching a high school language arts class and stumped for writing topics? Five pages of writing prompts for all kinds of writing should help you out. Many of these prompts refer to texts that are not included in this resource,...

Young scholars use examples of narrative and expository text to analyze and compare the two styles. Students read articles on life in Lesotho and Madagascar and use graphic organizers and discussion to compare them. Young scholars write...

Students compare and contrast the experience of the migrant worker as depicted in The Grapes of Wrath with the experiences of migrant children as depicted in the narratives and poems provided.

Pupils complete essay writing activities. In this essay writing instructional activity, students use an outline activity to learn about the advantages and disadvantages for various essay writing types. Pupils also break down the...

Students improve their essay writing skills using the subject of voting as a topic. In this writing essays lesson, students write expository essays to increase the weight of their vote in the 'Cast Your Vote Poll' for the Trans-Amazon...

Students read an essay titled, "Unforgettable Personalities" to study the influence of character's traits on the resolution of conflict in a narrative. They discuss and complete a worksheet that compares their own personality traits to...

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.

Fourth graders write about the forced Potawatomi migration. In this primary source lesson students are read journal entries from an emigrating party of Potawatomi Indians. Students reflect on the items the Indians might have taken with...

Third graders read and discuss the selection "Paul Revere's Ride" (included with the lesson). Students imagine they live in one of the villages that Paul Revere stopped. They are awakened by his knock on the door. Students write an essay...

Sixth graders choose from a list of researchable inquiry questions. They engage in all phases of inquiry/research process.

Students study paintings and use their knowledge of story elements to analyze the art. For this art analysis lesson, students review a novel for its elements. Students study the image At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance and discuss the story...

Fifth graders write a narrative essay describing what happened in the classroom after a nystery person has visited.

In these English lesson plans, young scholars use video, the Internet and non-fiction essays to research the history of the English language. They write a short research paper and design a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their findings.