Curated OER
Five Parts That Contribute to the Whole
Students listen to and read an online story. Then they use a graphic organizer to learn the basic story elements. They select another online story and create a graphic organizer for its story elements.
Curated OER
Everyday Heroes You Can Be One, Too
Students listen to a read aloud of Alan Baker's, White Rabbit's Color Book while identifying shapes and lines throughout the book. They use shapes and different types of lines to create a bunny of their own. They must use five shapes to...
Curated OER
Build Mastery: Main Idea
Use a graphic organizer to get readers thinking about main ideas as they record the who, what, where, when, and why of a story. Consider modeling this process completely before kids do this independently. They fill in five boxes charting...
Midland Independent School District
Drama
Ten drama lessons are the perfect addition to your language arts or theater class. With a focus on script elements, plot development, and parts of a dramatic story, the lessons guide young playwrights through the steps of telling a story...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Theme and Variation
The dance elements of body, energy, space, and time are the focus of a lesson on movement and theme. The class follows along as the teacher shows them a new dance that has a theme. They practice the dance, and then change one element in...
Curated OER
Write a Round-Robin Story
Students discover the elements of a story (introduction, plot, climax, resolution, denouement). In groups of five, one student writes an introduction and passes it to the next person, who writes the plot and passes it to the next person,...
Curated OER
Popular Music and Music Videos
This resource is part of a three-activity unit that introduces your class to the concept of popular culture and the role that it plays in their lives. Here, learners examine the importance of the music industry and music videos in pop...
National Museum of the American Indian
Fritz Scholder: A Study Guide
In this engaging activity involving close analysis of abstract expressionist art, your class members will not only discover more about artist Friz Scholder's Native American art, but they will also have the opportunity to consider...
K12 Reader
Metaphors Compare Things
This learning exercise on metaphors is your ticket to better writing! As learners read ten sentences, they underline the metaphor and circle the two objects of comparison.
Nosapo
What Is in a Sentence, Paragraph, and Story?
Language arts is made up of many parts. Learners review the parts of a sentence, as well as how to make a simple sentence into a complex sentence, before examining full paragraphs and identifying the topic, body, and concluding sentence...
Curated OER
Art Basics Scavenger Hunt
Hand out this learning exercise and lead your class on a scavenger hunt. Pupils look for examples of shape, form, balance, pattern, perspective, space, and depth. They draw and write about the examples they've found. A great...
Macmillan Education
White Fang
Jack London's adventurous novel White Fang may seem removed from learners' everyday lives, but with an engaging set of reading activities, learners can relate to the story's themes. A three-page assignment delves into the...
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 learning exercise. After completing an activity about the four types of conflict, learners fill out a character map...
New York State Education Department
Comprehensive English Examination: June 2015
Heroes rise from adversity. That theme forms the focus of the critical lens essay in a sample comprehensive English examination. The exam, which is part of a larger series of sample standardized tests, also includes two short response...
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
What is Theme?
What is theme, and how can you find themes in literary works? These and other questions are answered by a colorful and engaging presentation that not only defines the term but also provides easy to understand examples. The slides...
Curated OER
Understanding Stage Design: Using Visual Elements to Provide Information to an Audience
Students study about theatrical design by developing environments for improvised and scripted scenes. They develop focused ideas for an environment using visual elements.
Curated OER
Compare and Chart the Stories
Elementary schoolers engage in a literature study. They make comparisons of two different versions of a story using a graphic organizer. Using the text and pictures elementary schoolers investigate three elements from the story. Then,...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5
If you allow the space for your class members to be creative with technology as they make a presentation, they will make you proud with their inventiveness. The resource suggests an open research project for which pupils look up...
Curated OER
Tear Into a Story
Learners retell a story using the correct sequence of events for a story they have listened to five times. They identify the characters and the setting for the story, and sequence the events using a dissembled copy of the book.
Curated OER
How Does Art Feel
Students examine a variety of textures, one of the seven elements of design. They experiment with various media and techniques to produce different textures. Then they produce two works of art, one using actual textured material and one...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5
High schoolers know how to use technology, but they often need more training on how to use it effectively for educational or professional purposes. Try out the activities described here to get your pupils thinking about interesting ways...
Curated OER
Museum Gallery
Children of all ages examine original art in an art gallery. They view art at an art gallery, then view reproductions, and compare and contrast the two works of art.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 5: Creating a Supporting Character
As a class, young writers learn how to develop a strong supporting character. They think and discuss a good friend they know, they use that friend as a basis for a potential supporting character. They create a supporting character as a...