If you're looking to start a unit based around narrative writing, make sure to consider this resource while you're planning. This book covers five topics: writing personal narratives, writing narratives about others, writing...

Imagine using narrative essays to encourage change. This multi-week unit plan does just that. After reading a series of articles from Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, class members examine the...

Immerse yourself in the beautiful, twisted world of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. A detailed lesson plan provides important details about the writing, stagecraft, music, and literary elements of the famous musical,...

As a summative assessment for this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders listen to and read informational texts in order to demonstrate their ability to take notes, write summaries, and draw connections. Young scholars first listen as...

Secondary schoolers investigate the debate surrounding the current sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church with this New York Times lesson. Through discussions and written reflection, they explore their own thoughts and opinions on...

A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...

Students work in collaborative groups to research an amendment of the Bill of Rights. They then design and present a skit that demonstrates and communicates the core values and concepts of the amendment to the class.

What were the virtues and values that helped form America? Pupils watch and discuss a video, read biographies of early Americans, chart the differences between early American religious movements, write journals and letters, draw, and...

Consider how America's founding fathers and their experiences contributed to the rights we all enjoy today. A collection of reading, writing, and collaborative exercises prompt high schoolers to think about the ways their current lives...

The House of Representatives has a lot of responsibility  in the United States government. But how did it all begin, and why is it the way it is now? A comprehensive instructional activity answers all of these questions about the US...

The works of Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet and Britain's 2009 poet laureate, serve as a model for a writing activity that asks class members to select a character card, brainstorm lists of words, phrases, actions, and items associated...

Fourteen days of writing prompts (or 16 if you count the two bonus days) are featured in packet designed for high school, college level, or adult writers.

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...

Circles aren't functions, so how is it possible to write the equation for a circle? Pupils first develop the equation of a circle through application of the Pythagorean Theorem. The activity then provides an exercise set for learners to...

Prompt your young writers to explain the rules of a game and help them develop their skills of adding appropriate detail and explanation to their writing.

Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...

Get in touch with the emotional side of writing by reading Words By Heart. The writing assignment helps learners make personal connections with the text and hone their writing skills by exploring a time that they had to forgive...

Wrap up your course by asking students to reflect and consider some of the most meaningful and important moments from the year. This document includes 15 different reflection questions, from identifying a best piece of writing or an...

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...

Conclude your novel study of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi with this biopoem activity. Get an in-depth look into the personal interests of the poem's subject including feelings, needs, fears, and more!  

Youngsters write and construct their own autobiographies based on The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis. They engage in pre-writing steps, narrative writing, and peer editing. This is the second part of a two-part project...

Promote collaboration in the classroom with a historical fiction instructional activity. Fourth graders partner up and read the other's narrative to give feedback on vocabulary choice and the accuracy of historical information. After...