Curated OER
I Am An Author
Analyze and interpret a literary work your class has read during the course. After reading a variety of literary works, middle schoolers alter the ending of a selection by creating an alternate ending. They generate five comprehension...
Digital Writing and Research Lab's – Lesson Plans
Teaching Close Reading through Short Composition/Revision
This activity may have writers evaluate short compositions, but their subjects are quite tall: great Americans. Pupils read one another's compositions and closely examine how specific phrases and diction contribute to shaping American...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Commitment to Recovery
Recovery from substance addiction is an ongoing process. The final lesson in a series about painkiller abuse and addiction prompts learners to research various recovery options before writing a short story about a character who is going...
Curated OER
Writing - Fiction
After listening to the opening description in Of Mice and Men, high schoolers try their hand at writing a short story that includes a mugging. The story should include all five senses. Each of the pupils reads their opening paragraph to...
Curated OER
"Taming the Bicycle"
Eighth graders discuss invention of bicycle and early obstacles to riding, listen to and discuss short story "Taming the Bicycle" by Mark Twain, define vocabulary words from story, and create and present humorous "how to" project to...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension: Fiction and Nonfiction
This resource is made up of a series of reading passages with accompanying questions. On the first page, learners read the definitions of both fiction and non-fiction. They examine four short selections before writing either fiction or...
Curated OER
Understanding Protagonists and Antagonists
How can you tell if a character is a villain? What about a hero? Work on literary analysis with an engaging language arts activity. After completing an activity about the four types of conflict, learners fill out a character map about a...
Curated OER
With Detective Fiction in the Urban Classroom
This abstract for an instructional unit using three-minute mysteries, stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe includes a short history of detective fiction, sample plans, and suggestions for exercises and activities...
Curated OER
Using Science Fiction To Understand Biological Concepts
High schoolers read and discuss," The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton and complete a short writing exercise as a warm-up for a longer piece of science fiction writing. They choose a topic and create a science fiction short story...
Curated OER
Exploring Science Fiction
Twelfth graders read a variety of science fiction short stories. Using the text, they identify the components that make it science fiction and a well written piece of literature. They record their observations and share them with the...
Curated OER
Short Stories: The Puzzle Pieces of Life
Students distinguish the elements of fiction in a short story. In this fiction elements lesson, students complete nine lessons of activities to learn about the elements of fiction in short stories.
Curated OER
Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Mixing Fact and Fiction
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," from The Jungle Book, offers young readers a chance to examine how Rudyard Kipling uses setting and personification to bring to life the brave mongoose who battles cobras to protect his family. Class members explore...
Virginia Department of Education
Identifying the Main Idea in Fiction
Discovering the main idea in fiction is like uncovering buried treasure; one must persevere to locate it, and the reward is priceless. Scholars delve deep into leveled stories using three questions to aid in identifying the main idea.
Independence Public Library
Unmasking the Truth Behind the Red Death
"The Masque of the Red Death" provides readers with an opportunity to research and plan a presentation about a topic related to Edgar Allen Poe's classic short story.
Curated OER
Haunted House
Read alouds are great ways to build fluency, accuracy, and intonation. Each slide contains part of a story about a haunted house and audio of the story being read aloud by several different children. Whether you use it as a reading...
Curated OER
Story Questions
In this worksheet, writers respond to three short-answer questions. Explain what is funny in the story, how the story makes them feel, and whether they liked the story. This is a great resource to send home for independent reading or to...
Curated OER
Story Problems: Conflict
For this story questions worksheet, students respond to 3 short answer questions that require them to explain what was the problem is in a story, who fixed the problem in the story, and whether they liked the story.
Curated OER
New York State Language Arts Test Grade 4
Quiz your class with this New York state language arts test. The test is composed of several informational and fictional passages and 28 multiple choice questions. The questions are based mostly on reading comprehension.
The New York Times
Writing Fiction Based on Real Science - NYTimes.com
Refuse to alienate your scientific-minded young scholars during your creative writing unit. Learners explore how literary writing can reflect observable fact, and be based in actual science. The links include examples of fiction and...
Curated OER
Animal Fact or Fiction?
Read and discuss the article "Welcome to Cicadaville (Enter at Your Own Risk)" to gain a better understanding around the confusion regarding cicadas and locust swarms. In groups your young analysts research statements about animals to...
Colorado Springs School District
AP Literature and Composition Reading and Writing Transition Tasks
Worried about the summer slide? Scholars keep literature skills sharp by working through a summer packet to prep for AP Literature classes. Pupils annotate and close read short stories, answer questions about a variety of literary...
Curated OER
Setting the Story: Techniques for Creating a Realistic Setting
“It was a dark and stormy night.” Thus begins the 1830's novel Paul Clifford and, of course, all of Snoopy’s novels! Encourage young writers to craft settings for their stories that go beyond Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s often-mocked phrase...
Urban Education Exchange
Lessons and Units: The Watsons go to Birmingham—1963 5TH GRADE UNIT
Get ready to read The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 with a lesson about historical fiction. Spanning several centuries, the resource prompts learners to guess the historical era of a story based on a word or phrase in the text. In...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Heart
Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...