Curated OER
Storytelling: Oral Traditions Learning Center
Young scholars explore the oral traditions. In this storytelling lesson, students compare and contrast stories from the cultural traditions of Alaska and Hawaii.
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas
You can keep this printable idea sheet and use when you're in a tight spot. It contains cross-curricular ideas that span every subject while relating to the African tale, "Anasazi the Spider." Learners will act, write, move, count, and...
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Storytelling: Writers' Workshop Learning Center
Evaluating a variety of narrative texts can help build strong writers. Pupils identify plot elements and their relation to personal experience, then apply what they gleaned from the class discussion to create their own narratives.
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Storytelling in the Oral Tradition
Seventh graders research Greek mythological characters. They write about problems faced by middle school-aged children and how the character would handle them. Students also create story boards to accompany their oral narratives.
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Teaching Creation Myths
Students examine various creation myths from around the world. They compare/contrast the myths, write their own creation stories, and present their myths to the class in the form of storytelling, role-playing, dance, or a puppet show.
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Stamps and Cemeteries as Storytellers
Young scholars discern the difference between commemorative and regular issue stamps while drawing conclusions about the time period. In this Stamps as Storytellers lesson, students design stamps using symbolism and historical data. In...
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Native American Storyteller Figure
Third graders explore cultures that use clay figures in the art of storytelling. They discover the importance of cultural history being passed through generations. They also form their own storyteller from a clay figure.
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The Magical World of Russian Fairy Tales
Students read several fairy tales of Russian origin. They brainstorm common elements of a fairy tale and identify those elements in several examples. They retell a favorite fairy tale through a skit, oral storytelling, a sketch, or a...
Teach With Movies
Title: "The Yearling" - Topics: Literature/U.S.; U.S./1865-1913 & Florida
Life in the Florida swamps after the Civil War comes alive in the 1946 film adaptation of Majorie Kinnan Rawlings’s The Yearling. The film of this powerful coming-of-age story, filled with love and loss, can be used with or without a...
Curated OER
Using the Comic the Rabbit and Bear Paws to teach
First graders read a portion of an illustrated story featuring an oral storytelling tradition in order to gain an understanding of the tradition. They recognize that Aboriginal people's relationship with place has changed over time.
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Speaking Out For Women's Rights
Learners write a children's story in which the characters are encouraged to speak out for the equality of women. They create a character and plot outline that includes details and supporting statements for women's rights. A brief 2-3...
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Great Gullah Story Telling Packet
Sixth graders examine the Creole language known as Gullah which is a form of speech comprised of a number of unrelated languages. They determine how slaves used this to communicate so that slave masters would not be able to understand...
Adult Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ghost Boys: Educator Guide
The spirit of the Civil Rights Movement lives on in a more literal than figurative way in Ghost Boys. A focused lesson plan features Jewell Parker Rhodes' novel about ghosts of slain black teenagers, including the main character, Jerome,...
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Friday and Friends: A Prospectus of the Mexican Family through Children's Literature
Young scholars use literature to examine how the structure of families in Mexico has changed over time. In groups, they examine how their life now relates to their ancestors and the Spanish conquest of the area. As a class, they are...
Curated OER
Helping Your Community-A Storytelling Performance
Imagine you're sitting around a campfire with a group of friends. Each person tells a story with a wierd and mysterious plot. As the campfire glows brighter, everyone focuses on the storyteller. This is the scene you and a group of...
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Parents and Children Working Together for Tikkun Olam
Pupils explore the concept of Tikkun Olam as a way of improving their world. They listen to the story of Hayley Fields' goal to raise money for a new Torah and discuss what inspires them about her story. After discussion, they...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Ruta Sepetys
Historical fiction novels give readers a chance to step into someone else's shoes. An educator's guide from Penguin Common Core Lesson Plans provides resources to accompany three historical fiction novels written by Ruta Sepetys: Between...
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Recalling History by Pulling Strings
Students investigate the role and nature of story-telling as it preserves history and culture and discuss how puppetry serves as an effective method of presentation. They create basic outlines for puppet shows that relay important...
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Touring the Museum
Second graders create a living sculpture using their peers. Working with a partner, they manipulate their partner's arms and legs to create a living statue. They create a story to go along with their sculpture, explaining what the...
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Literacy & Art: The Story behind the Quilt
Students examine the many ways quilts were used to chronicle the history and experiences of African slaves and African-Americans in America. They analyze a story quilt using the elements of storytelling, then create a class quilt.
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Local Heroes
Students investigate heroes in their community by presenting a story of a true hero to their class. In this storytelling lesson, students interview a local person who has performed a heroic deed and create a presentation with Windows...
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Keeping the Past Alive
Students read about the oral histories of West Africa and complete related activities. In this oral histories lesson plan, students read about the importance of oral customs in African cultures. Students interview a family member about...
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Dive into Reading During National Book Month!
Cultivate a passion for literature with fun, easy to incorporate reading activities.
Teaching Tolerance
Fairness Fair
How can we create a more fair world? Chances are, class members have some ideas! After reading a text about fairness, individuals create skits around the ideas of fairness. Extend the learning and make their presentations a...