Film English
If At First You Don't Succeed
When faced with a challenge, how do your pupils respond? Starting with character analyses, learners participate in a lesson about appearances and perseverance. They watch a short film, talk about common English expressions, and write a...
Curated OER
Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this instructional activity 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...
Curated OER
Shakespeare and Poe Teach Six-Trait Writing
A Six-Trait Writing instructional activity helps your middle schoolers liven up their word choice and shows them how to evaluate their own writing. Class members take a close look at the language used in poems by Shakespeare, Kipling,...
Curated OER
Carnival of the Animals and Aquarium and Magic Fish
Engage little learners in this moderately developed three-lesson unit on the composer Camille Saint-Saens and his piece "The Carnival of Animals." Each lesson includes a listening, discussion, and an art project to engage your class in...
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...
Curated OER
The "Write" Stuff: Strategies and Conventions for Imaginative Writing
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...
National Park Service
The Poet's Toolbox
If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities on...
Film English
Moments
Examine homelessness through a series of writing and discussion activities and a short film. Learners first come up with their own stories based on images of characters in the film. They then watch the film and respond to a series of...
Pearson
Catching the Sun: Tales from Asia
Explore the folklore of Asia and the South Pacific with this language arts lesson plan series. Complementing a reading of Catching the Sun: Tales from Asia by Jan M. Mike, this resource supports learners with understanding cause and...
Bright Hub Education
"Where the Red Fern Grows": A Lesson on Love and Devotion
Where the Read Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls is rich with themes relating to love and family. Help your class to understand these themes with the series of reading activities included in this unit outline. Readers can keep a journal to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Possible Perspectives
Visual art is the inspiration for a creative writing activity focused on having learners write from different perspectives. They analyze the image Yellow Rain Jacket, picking out details to help their storytelling. They use the details...
Curated OER
Imagining China through Words
When Europeans first came back with tales of China, they provided vivid written accounts and minimal visual imput. This resulted in art rendered mostly from descriptive language. Learners explore this phenomena by listening to...
Curated OER
Creative Writing Workshop (Middle, Reading/Writing)
Bring this lesson into your unit about creative writing and precise language. First, middle schoolers create a piece of writing with the help of their classmates. In the second part of this workshop, they edit their own piece of writing....
Curated OER
Write a Description
Finding the central idea is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers write descriptions of different animals using details and descriptive language. They watch a video of kids using descriptive language, and then use showing language...
Curated OER
Metaphors
Metaphors open doors to descriptive language for your poets. They read the poem "What is the Sun" and record all the metaphors they find. Then, scholars change one of them to a simile. After answering two more comprehension questions,...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension: David Copperfield
Good worksheets are hard to find, but you found one! Your class reads an excerpt from the classic, David Copperfield. They answer four comprehension questions and explore context to complete eight fill-in-the-blank vocabulary words. The...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing: Using Exact Words
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...
Curated OER
Lesson: Mad Lib Leigh!
A fun and quirky painting is analyzed for details in an art/literacy lesson. Youngsters look for colors, shadows, and details and then describe them using vivid language. They use the words from discussion to complete a fun Mad Lib-style...
Curated OER
A Creative Presentation
Bring writing to life with this lesson in which elementary and middle schoolers create a display of the imagery they identify in a series of Gary Paulsen books. They read the suggested materials, identify imagery and descriptive...
Curated OER
Write a Story
Here is a great way to explore narrative writing! Learners review a previously constructed story map and identify the characters, setting, and main events in the book Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock retold by Eric A. Kimmel. They...
Curated OER
Getting Hooked, Introduction for a Narrative
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...
Curated OER
Write Your Own Description
In this writing worksheet, students learn about a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks titled "Skipper" which is about her goldfish. Students draw the water, life and objects in a fish bowl shape, then describe what people would see if they looked...
Curated OER
Describer-Drawer Game
What's life with out a little fun and games now and then? This game helps kids practice many different skill sets. Child one takes a card then attempts to dictate how to draw the object to child two. Child two draws an object based on...
Curated OER
Descriptive Prompt: Precise Language
Incorporate sensory details into a piece of descriptive writing. First, elementary and middle schoolers improve a piece of writing by using precise, vivid language, as well as appropriate word choice. They then listen to a variety of...