Animals oftentimes elicit various characteristics which make them symbolic or representative of human feeling, action, or emotion. The class creates horse characters out of clay to show character action and symbolism. This is a great...

Fifty eye-catching pages contain six lessons about Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda. Each lesson has a theme and covers a different subject—literacy, social-emotional learning, science, and geography. Scholars analyze characters, examine...

Students explore how to build their character by respecting and appreciating various cultures. In this character education instructional activity, students read the book Seedfolks and answer questions based on the character's cultural...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson plan based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that...

Whether it is a protagonist, antagonist, hero or heroine, characters are a must in any story. Learners analyze a character from a narrative they are reading, then use that character as inspiration. They create a ceramic bust depicting...

Learners write dialogue. For this character development lesson students use direct or indirect speech to include a confrontation between two characters in their story. Learners portray the emotions of the characters in addition to what...

R-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to your class! After a grand conversation about what is, and how one can show respect, scholars take part in a plethora of activity choices such as role playing, a game of Simon Says, wood working,...

Mr. and Mrs. Twit do not treat each other very nicely. The sixth instructional activity in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl explores the way the characters talk to and treat one another. Role play and...

In grades kindergarten through fifth grade, scholars take part in a social-emotional learning unit designed to boost social responsibility. Three hundred pages provide lessons and activities related to everyday classroom practices, the...

Just what did Ben Franklin read? By juxtaposing Ben Franklin’s reading material as a young man with an analysis of his developed ideas, learners gain the opportunity to see how the influences of his youthful reading played out. Roman,...

Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...

Students discuss what respect means. In this character education lesson, students read the book Cynthia Ann Parker and discuss the philanthropic acts in the book. Students answer questions about the text on the provided worksheet.

Some of what we know about a character is directly stated. Some of what we know is inferred by events in the story. Character maps help primary learners recognize the difference. After modeling with a story your class has read, pupils...

Delve into narrative writing that puts choice in the hands of the writers. Kids pick their own characters, emotions, items, and places from a list and tie them together in the exposition. Several questions help guide the writers toward...

Sixth graders read Katherine Paterson's novel, Bridge to Terabithia, and watch a video of Maurice Sendak's book, Where the Wild Things Are. They examine the characters in both stories that share similar characteristics. Students use the...

What is and what will be the role of newspapers in the future? Keeping this essential question in mind, class members use print, electronic, and/or web editions of newspapers, to investigate topics that include financial...

What a great activity. Kids create humorous ceramic character (heads) spikes to enliven a planter. Modern art is full of expressive and exaggerated forms and your class gets to create them out of clay. This would be a lovely activity to...

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. 

Students understand the definition of integrity and explain quotes about it. In this integrity activity, students apply quotes about integrity to a personal experience and write about it.

Students explore traits of honest communication. In this character development and communication lesson, students are given 6 simple statements and work as a group to alter the meaning of each statement through body language, facial...

You'll be a star at your next grade level meeting with an educational unit on Louis Sachar's Holes. Based on both the novel and film, the lessons include applications to language arts with character studies and movie reviews; social...

Need a model for character education? Benjamin Franklin presents himself as in a constant state of striving to become the man he hoped to be, making his autobiography is far more accessible to learners than those of people who consider...

Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...

A tea party in Wonderland? An East Egg brunch with Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Nick? Breakfast with Miss Havisham, Lady Macbeth, and Abigail Williams? Or dinner with Andre, Hamlet, and Randle Patrick McMurphy? Class members select a favorite...