Curated OER
What Makes a Novel a Novel?
They always say to write what you know. This approach is used to get middle schoolers prepared to write novels of their own. Using a favorite book as a model, potential novelists respond to prompts that ask about characters, plot, main...
Curated OER
Come Fly with Me . . . Open a Book: Travels through Literature
This detailed overview of a curriculum unit suggests using travel literature to engage and stimulate your third graders’ interest in reading. The suggested reading list includes fiction and non-fiction materials and offers urban children...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Waiting for the Biblioburro: Finding the Main Message and Taking Notes
Expose your class to Waiting for the Biblioburro, narrative nonfiction that will act as the bridge between ficiton and informational texts to come. Class members do a close reading of the text, looking at excerpts instead of the whole...
Curated OER
A Beautiful Mind: Main ideas and supporting details
This worksheet that accompanies a reading of A Beautiful Mind includes over 20 questions that address theme, fact and opinion, supporting details, characterization, and quote comprehension.
Curated OER
Writing and Presenting a Fable Using Research
Elementary and middle schoolers research animal facts and use them in a fable. First, they pair-share to find animal traits to use in writing a fable. They then complete a prewriting worksheet. After going through the writing process,...
Novelinks
Tunes for Bears to Dance to: A Letter for Henry
Readers of Tunes for Bears to Dance to are asked to write a personal letter to Henry, the main character in Robert Cormier's young adult novel, offering Henry advice about whether he should do as Mr. Hairston wants.
Scholastic
Quick as a Cricket Lesson Plan
Teaching young learners about similes is easy as pie with this primary grade language arts lesson plan. Following a class reading of the children's book, Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood, young readers learn the definition of a...
Poston Butte High School
Literacy Language Kit for the Book Hi! Fly Guy
Create a buzz in your class with this collection of learning activities for the book Hi! Fly Guy. Including a list of comprehension questions, a sequence of events activity, a summary writing assignment, and a vocabulary list, this...
Glacier Peak High School
Huckleberry Finn Theme Project Ideas
Looking for a project list to conclude a study of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? The six suggestions included in the menu (a song, thematic box, CD case, book jacket, blog, scene) could be assigned to individuals or groups....
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Identity Lesson 7: Logical Fallacies
What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Exploring Character Development in The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
How did the Civil Rights Movement affect young people in the United States? Scholars read Christopher Paul Curtis' novel, The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963. Next, they write compare and contrast essays showing how the main...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 7: The Elements of Story
Budding novelists work on character development by relating to the characters in their stories. They imagine their own hopes and dreams and recall those of characters from books they've read. Learners also consider struggles the...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 2, Lesson 9
Do our childhood circumstances significantly shape us? As the close reading of “The Palace Thief” continues, groups examine how the results of the first "Mr. Julius Caesar" competition influenced the development of the characters in...
EngageNY
Introducing Close Reading: Finding the Main Message and Taking Notes About Rain School
This second lesson in a larger unit is perfect for the beginning of the year because it explicitly teaches 3rd graders how to use close reading skills by identifying unfamiliar words, figuring out the gist, and defining important...
Novelinks
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter: Concept Analysis
Considering Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter for whole-class reading or as a selection for book circles? Check out this resource that overviews the organizational patterns, themes, plot structure, tone, and setting.
EngageNY
Close Reading of The Boy Who Loved Words: How Do People Build Their Word Power?
Third graders practice the skills of identifying the main message in a story, describing the main character, and sorting the key details of a story into specific categories. The story they read is, The Boy Who Loved Words. Using a...
Reed Novel Studies
The Indian In The Cupboard: Novel Study
Don't judge a book—or a toy—by its cover. Omri, a main character in The Indian in the Cupboard, quickly judged his plastic toy figures as boring. However, once placed in the cupboard, Omri's toys became something he never imagined....
Novelinks
The Tempest: A-Z Book Project
Create a picture dictionary for one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. After readers finish The Tempest, they assign each letter of the alphabet to a concept or character, and add a description and evidence from...
Curriculum Corner
Guest Teacher Plans: Kindergarten
Emergencies happen. Be prepared the next time you have to call in a substitute with a lesson plan designed to meet the needs of a kindergarten class. Throughout the day, class members work with number and alphabet cards, identify numbers...
Curated OER
Writing Fiction: Using Older Characters
Out with the old and in with the new? Not so in this lesson plan, which explores the idea of writing older characters in fiction. Students learn the value of varying their characters, exploring different perspectives, and avoiding...
Curated OER
Michelle Kwan: Heart of a Champion
Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Analyze a Story or History Completely and Carefully
Start off analysis of a text with a worksheet that asks pupils to complete several tasks. Class members note down a couple of characters or people and their distinguishing traits, describe the most important event, summarize the text...
Curated OER
Making A Story Map
Sixth graders learn to plan a story by using a story map. They analyze a detailed sample story map and answer 5 questions about it. Then, plan their own story using a story map template.
Curated OER
Write a Story
Here is a great way to explore narrative writing! Learners review a previously constructed story map and identify the characters, setting, and main events in the book Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock retold by Eric A. Kimmel. They...