Curated OER
The Antagonist's Point of View
Analyzing literary antagonists is a first step to creating memorable characters in student writing.
Curated OER
Creating Interesting Characters
What makes a story interesting? Complex characters! As part of a series of worksheets that prepares middle schoolers to write their own novel, the exercises included explain the role of the protagonist, the antagonist, and the supporting...
Curated OER
Character in a Bag
Develop a mystery character using clues from a bag. This engaging activity will help learners understand character traits. They develop a list of the items from the bag, discuss and develop the character with a partner, and create a...
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
Create a Playbill!
Seventh graders explore the various elements found in the advertisement of a dramatic experience. Playbills are created that reflect the plot without revealing the climax of the play. Costumes, set construction, and character description...
Curated OER
The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folk Tale
"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...
Curated OER
Create a Playbill!
Middle schoolers examine the variety of elements for a written play and create a playbill. They read about and define literary elements on a worksheet, and participate in a dramatic reading. Each student then creates and publishes a...
Curated OER
Comprehension-Characters/characterization
Fifth graders discuss characterization as well as to define antagonist and protagonist. In this language arts lesson, 5th graders write questions for an interview of a character in the book "The Three Little Pigs" and then answer them....
Curated OER
The Nature of the Antagonist
Students explain the differences between protagonists and antagonists and recognize the fundamental purpose of an antagonist or villain in storytelling. They also explain conflict as used in literature.
Curated OER
Points of View
Cinderella is a classic love story when Cinderella is the protagonist—but what happens if a stepsister tells the story? Focus on point of view with a lesson about fairy tales and story elements. After reading a few familiar fairy tales,...
Reed Novel Studies
Peter and The Starcatchers: Novel Study
Peter and Molly, characters in Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridly Pearson, are in a different world on a faraway island fighting pirates and thieves. As scholars read about the kids' adventures, they complete sentences...
Farmington Public Schools
British Literature Honors: Beowulf
Whether new to teaching Beowulf or an experience pro, you'll find much to like in a richly detailed unit plan that asks readers to consider how the epic represents the difficulty in defining good and evil but also reflects the changing...
Curated OER
Character Bust: Ceramics Lesson
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...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Characters
Are your learners only talking about the plot of the story and not the richness of the characters? Then show them how important characters are to literature with the information available here. The learner will know how authors create...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Kennewick Man: Science and Sacred Rights
"Have respect for the dead!" Scholars investigate how science and religion often clash. As they look into the laws of science and the laws of religion, the legal ramifications at the federal level of both play into an argument they...
Curated OER
Creating with Alice
Learners explore Alice Programming Software. In this exploratory lesson plan, students design a unique storyboard which will guide the creation of their Alice World. Learners write and create their own films.
Curated OER
Their Names Are Pricked
Students discuss areas of ambiguity in Julius Caesar and analyze the language as a tool to illustrate complex desires. In this Shakespeare lesson plan, students define subtext and use a neutral scene to act out subtext. Students create...
Curated OER
Character Sketches
Young scholars are introduced to the types of characters found in short stories. They read a short story in class and produce sketches of the protagonist and antagonist. Finally, they create their own characters and write about them in...
Curriculum Corner
Native American Literature
Celebrate and honor Native American culture with this set of graphic organizers that showcases literature like The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses and A Boy Called Slow as well as three other Native American literature books. Learners compare...
Curated OER
Costume And Make-Up Shakespeare Style
Students create original costumes and make-up for a puppet presentation of a scene from Shakespeare in this week long creative project. Performances of the Shakespeare scenes end this lesson geared towards state and national standards...
Curated OER
Convincing Characters
Young scholars create vivid, active characters for a story. In this character lesson, students discuss the characters in books they are familiar with. Young scholars create a list of novels they have read and discuss the character types....
Curated OER
Making Photo Essays Easy
Young scholars generate ideas about what makes a good story and a good photograph then place them together to create a photo essay. In this photo essay instructional activity, students assemble random photos into a story, select the best...
Curated OER
Tattercoats
Young scholars read the English folktale, "Tattercoats," identify basic literary terms, and respond to writing prompts. They compare and contrast with another Cinderella story version and create a graphic response to the story.
Curated OER
The First Americans
Students participate in theatre activities to study American history. In this American history and theatre lesson, students work in groups to research a specific Native American group to investigate their lifestyle. Students then create...