Literacy Design Collaborative
Text Analysis and Character Revelations: Flowers for Algernon
What does your character reveal about you? Scholars carry out several activities to determine the reveal of character in Flowers for Algernon. Readers answer text dependent questions, complete diary entries, write reflections, and use...
Curated OER
Character Diary Entry (3+)
Students better explain a character after examining their traits as well as trying to write a diary entry from their perspective.
Alberta Learning
Creating Authentic Diaries
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "What is history but a fable agreed upon?" A series of lessons encourages learners to look beyond the basic fable agreed upon related to events in history and consider multiple accounts of the event. The...
Weebly
Holocaust Diary Project
Here is a good interdisciplinary project that combines creative and narrative writing with studies of the Holocaust. Your young historians will compose a diary of experiences from the perspective of an individual living during the time...
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
Dear Diary
Students analyze a piece of writing by creating diary entries based on a character. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read an assigned book with their classmates and create a sketch of what they believe the main character...
Curated OER
Diary
Keeping a journal can be one of the most enjoyable writing tasks that children engage in. They get to write about what they want to write about - not what the teacher tells them to write about! Here, young writers pretend they are a...
Curated OER
Civil War Diaries
Fifth graders examine excerpts from a diary of a Confederate soldier and his experiences in a Union prison camp. After receiving character cards, they write diary entries from the perspectives of their Civil War identity. As an...
Curated OER
Dear Diary
In this narrative worksheet, students compose a diary entry that includes different facets of writing. Students then respond to different narratives in the class by answering 11 different questions.
Curated OER
Writing to describe
Learners examine descriptive writing. In this writing lesson, students listen to an audio version of the diary of Lt. Polly Hatchard and her expedition to the South Pole. Learners explore the components of descriptive writing and...
Curated OER
Historical Fiction: A Wealth of Interpretations
How can understanding the genre of historical fiction help your language arts class with literary analysis? Use this lesson to help young readers learn about historical fiction. After reading a selection from the "Dear America" or "My...
Curated OER
Meet Hannah the Weaver
Students analyze primary and secondary sources to explore slavery and emancipation, and write letter or diary entry from point of view of slave Hannah Harris or plantation owner Robert Carter. Students then dramatize their creative...
Smithsonian Institution
Who's in Camp?
Pupils complete readings, a group activity using cards, and a writing activity to better understand people's lives during the American Revolution. The resource emphasizes people such as the militiamen, women, officers, and children,...
Montgomery Public Schools
Romeo and Juliet Study Packet
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a play about star-crossed lovers, resonates deeply with teenagers. The study packet contains study questions for each act of the play. Learners use a graphic organizer to analyze whether characters...
Curated OER
Characteristics of Anne Frank
Eighth graders read selected passages from The Diary of Anne Frank. Working in pairs, 8th graders determine what qualities and characteristics they would assign to her from their selected diary entry.
Curated OER
Aztec Myths 1
Students write a diary entry or a letter from the viewpoint of a character in a myth. In this Aztec myths lesson, students define myths and read "The Heart of Copil" and "The Eagle of Tenochtitlan" and find the land of the Aztecs on a...
Curated OER
The Well of Truth
Second graders explore the Egyptian folktale, The Well of Truth. In this folktale lesson, 2nd graders read the tale and discuss the events from the text. Students write a diary entry from the point of view of a character in the text....
Curated OER
Foreshadowing
Pupils read and discuss Act V, Scene 1. They define foreshadowing and identify examples of it from the text. They edit a partner's diary entry. They identify key ideas from the scene.
Orlando Shakes
Julius Caesar: Study Guide
What makes a good leader? Use the curriculum guide for William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to help scholars answer that question. Pupils research the play's historical context and other background information before engaging in...
Curated OER
Polar Explorers
Challenge learners who are studying famous polar explorers to read an excerpt from the diary of Thomas Orde-Lees. They then answer some questions about the explorer, and the conditions under which he was writing.
Curated OER
Multigenre Research Project
Students research influences on African American literature. They research someone who has influenced the development of African American literature and create a multi-genre research project. They create a photograph poem, character...
Curated OER
"The Hell of Mirrors" by Edogawa Rampo
Learners read and analyze the short story, "The Hell of Mirrors," by Edogawa Rampo. They write diary entries, develop a video, create an illustration, conduct research, and write a short story.
Curated OER
Fun Plays on Famous First Ladies
Middle schoolers inquire about the lives of the First Ladies in our country. In this First Ladies lesson, students build knowledge about the contributions of First Ladies and how their childhood made them the person they are. Middle...
Infobased Learning
Bloom's Literature: How to Write about Nineteen Eighty Four
A good prompt is hard to find, especially ones that encourage application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of a text. Help is here in the form of a prompt list for George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four that offers essay topics that...