Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this instructional activity to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have...

Alliterative adjective nicknames generate stories inspired by Rosemary Wells' book Noisy Nora (also a thematic complement to any class with children who make a ruckus to get attention). Class members explore basic story elements --...

Students listen to a read aloud of Kevin Henkes, Owen, while listening for the beginning, middle, and end. They listen as the teacher describes the need for story organization and write down the story sequence. Finally, they create a...

A comprehensive and immersive series of lessons that examines various aspects of story development leads learners into writing a narrative of their own. Writers develop an understanding of the writing process as they use the learning...

Students explore storytelling by participating in an image analysis activity. In this story structure lesson, students read the book Cookie's Week by Tomie dePaola and retell the story to their teacher in sequential order. Students...

Compare two versions of "The Three Little Pigs" (traditional and Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, told from the wolf's point of view). As your 4th graders recount the familiar version of the story, emphasize the...

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...

Fifth graders develop and practice the steps involved in imaginative writing. They follow the steps/worksheets included and write imaginative stories of their own.

Seventh graders write a few sentences explaining the most important events of their lives during the past year. As a class, they discuss why they chose the elements they did for their sentences. To end the lesson, they read a variety of...

Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers. 

Primary learners grasp sequence of events by discussing morning routines and reviewing the story of Little Red Riding Hood. They explore the necessity of correct order of events. As a class, create a story with a beginning, middle, and...

Read, discuss, and write short stories with your primary class. They read a short story and complete worksheets for the story. They also brainstorm ideas for a class story and choose an idea to write 3 ideas and then write the story as a...

After discussing the main events in Mr. Popper’s Penguins, young writers describe in sequence what they would do if they had 12 penguins living in their house. The narratives are then glued onto a penguin cut-out, mounted on construction...

Examine the differences between totalitarianism and democracy in this writing lesson. Using the same format and theme from Great Expectations, young writers work in pairs to compose their own short stories. They follow guidelines for the...

Explore the Ukraine through a reading of The Mitten. Readers will determine the sequence of events, cause and effect, make predictions, and find the main idea of the story. They also use math skills to make charts and graphs. Finally,...

A creative spin occurs when one pupil acts as author Ann M. Martin. Using a Q & A at the back of her book A Dog's Life, other classmates ask the "author" questions. They discuss the reasons why they know the book is from a...

Discover Oklahoma's first farmers. Read about 14 different agriculture workers and their contribution to Oklahoma's farming. After reading, have your class complete several activities such as researching an agriculturist, writing a...

Third graders write, illustrate, and publish a collaborative story. In this writing lesson, 3rd graders review story elements by reading stories written by professional authors and other students. They work in groups to write a...

Fourth graders demonstrate and evaluate the six traits of writing. They read and identify good writing and bad writing, utilize a rubric to self-evaluate their own writing, participate in a Reader's Theater, and publish a class book.

Youngsters retell the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They write a sentence for speech bubbles for a character in the story, identify the phrases that can be used for retelling a story, and in small groups write a sentence for the...

Third graders explore language arts by analyzing a children's story in class. In this story structure lesson, 3rd graders read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and write a brief summary. Students identify the beginning,...

Students analyze photographs, then create their own photo essays by using photos, magazine pictures or drawings to illustrate their stories.

Enhance a reading of the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this collection of learning activities. Starting with general background information about the book and author,...

Imagine a day in the life of a child who has to work 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week. After viewing images and reading stories of child laborers, class members select an image and write a richly detailed narrative about a typical...