Read this twist on Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Dusty Locks and the Three Bears by Susan Lowell. Kindergartners listen, predict, and discuss the story. They then participate in a dramatization of the story and draw a picture...

Students discover writing strategies authors use to enhance characters.  In this character writing lesson, students are read the Knuffle Bunny books by Mo Willems and analyze the story, characters and settings as they listen....

Students discover Mexican culture by reading and cooking.  In this Central American History lesson plan, students read the book Holy Mole, and analyze the story by answering questions about plot, characters and even sound effects...

Comparing the more modern film Ten Things I Hate About You to The Taming of the Shrew leads to an understanding of how Shakespearean plots can be applied to modern-day situations and characters. As a culminating activity, groups select a...

Students create movements to music that reflect focused listening, write story using complete, coherent sentences, design and perform class play speaking clearly and at an appropriate pace, and retell Peter and the Wolf story, including...

Students investigate themes and settings in their favorite fiction stories.  In this creative writing lesson, students discuss the reasons a fictional story works well and discuss ways to create their own.  Students create...

Reading Mary Pope Osborne's Civil War on Sunday? Here's a packet crammed with activities, exercises, reading guides, and project suggestions. A must-have for your curriculum library.

Students dress and act as selected characters from Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". They identify each other and make predictions about the upcoming chapters based on their observations about the characters.

Students determine the story elements of typical mystery stories including characters and plot structure. They look at vocabulary that is common to mystery stories before reading and responding to mystery chapter books. Working in guided...

Learners discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical instructional activity, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with...

Second graders identify story elements in familiar stories from their lives. In this story elements lesson, 2nd graders act out familiar activities  by following directions. Students read a story and discuss the story elements....

Third graders identify the main characters in the Ingalls family and describe the relationships between the characters. They locate the setting of the book on a map of the Upper Mid- West. Students understand that the books are set in...

Time for a story! Learners of all ages enjoy listening to stories, so read them some common fables and have them work cooperatively to create a fable.  Differentiate for varying ability levels by providing sentence frames, graphic...

Students read and analyze the works of Shakespeare. For this "Much Ado About Nothing" lesson, students deicper the play and research Shakespeare's works. Students create a quiz based on his life and re-enact a scene from the play.

Fourth graders act out a mock fairy tale trial. They use a fairy tale like "The Three Little Pigs", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "Hansel and Grete"l, and/or "Little Red Riding Hood".

How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...

The danger of mob mentality is on display in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Get your class thinking with some challenging quickwrite questions, then assign characters from the play to be read aloud altogether. Links to worksheets...

Sixth graders recongize and analyze different components of a piece of literature. They must also practice their oral communcation skills by reading a book to an audience.

Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....

Students role play different situations. In this respect lesson, students read Mr. Lincoln's Way, identify the story elements and answer comprehension questions. Students discuss how they can always treat others with respect and role...

Explore language arts by completing a story worksheet in class. Readers will identify the importance of plot, setting, and character while they write their own short story. They also retell their story to a classmate and participate in a...

Learners read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In this poetry lesson, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.

Pupils explore empathy and fairness. They examine the importance of being able to empathize with people who are different from themselves. Students explore ways of resolving conflict and they recognize the concerns of others.

Everyone can be an expert! After finishing Wendelin Van Draanen's book Flipped, divide your class into small groups. Then, assign each group a topic to become experts on. The resource suggests topics such as characters, themes, setting,...