Curated OER
Language Arts: Plot Summary
Eighth graders implement plot summary organizers to identify essential elements such as conflict and resolution in literature. In pairs, they retell fairy tales to each other and complete plot summaries about them. As students read new...
Curated OER
Crafty Literature Projects to Lure Language Arts Learners
Recognize National Arts and Crafts Month with language arts project ideas to inspire creative learning.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Monitoring for Understanding, Simple Summary
Can your class sum up a text in a few sentences? Help them build this skill by starting nice and slow. For this summarizing activity, the teacher marks the main ideas with sticky notes. Learners read and reread the text, pausing at the...
Curated OER
Setting the Tone with Figurative Language
Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...
Curated OER
Plot Summary for Story Elements
Ninth graders identify story elements utilizing a plot summary organizer. In this plot summary lesson, 9th graders discuss the elements of a good story and listen to the story of the three little pigs. Students complete a group plot...
Curated OER
Plot Summary for Story Element
Seventh graders identify story elements utilizing a plot summary organizer. In this story elements instructional activity, 7th graders discuss the elements of a good story. Students use The Three Little Pigs to practice finding the plot...
Curated OER
Plot Summary: The Outsiders
In this plot summary worksheet, students are given several prompts to assist in developing a summary of the first chapter of The Outsiders.
Syracuse City School District
Summary of Fiction and Non-Fiction Text
Somebody Wanted But So Then (SWBST)? Yes! Here's a great strategy for teaching young readers how to summarize narrative text. In addition, the packet includes exercises that show kids how to summarize nonfiction text using the classic...
Curated OER
James and the Giant Peach Plot Analysis
It's all about the plot, main events, and story mapping with this lesson. As the class reads the novel James and the Giant Peach, they create an excitement graph that actually charts key events and moments of excitement. After creating...
For the Teachers
Sequence Plot Chart
Your kids can identify the plot sequence of a short story, but what about an informational article? Have them examine the chronological order of events in informational texts with a lesson on the sequence of events.
Orlando Shakes
Julius Caesar: Study Guide
What makes a good leader? Use the curriculum guide for William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to help scholars answer that question. Pupils research the play's historical context and other background information before engaging in...
Newspaper in Education
The Iliad: A Young Reader Adventure
Is The Iliad part of your curriculum? Check out a resource that offers something for those new to teaching the classic and those with lots of experience using Homer's epic. Plot summaries, discussion questions, activities abound in this...
Orlando Shakes
West Side Story: Study Guide
Hey, enough frabbajabba about that stool pigeon, Daddy-O! Using the West Side Story study guide, scholars explore the language of the play and read about its historical associations and themes. Pupils also engage in a Spectrum of...
Teacher's Corner
Dr. Seuss Book Report - Setting
A great way to incorporate a beloved author into the classroom, especially during the month of March. This book report activity requires young authors to write a short summary of their favorite Dr. Seuss book. It's up to you to decide...
Curated OER
Frame Story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
Mark Twain's frame story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" provides an opportunity for a study of this story-within-a-story pattern. Using an illustrated template, class members record a plot summary of the frame story...
Hyperion
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
Avi's Crispin: The Cross of Lead is the focus of a teacher's guide that provides background information on 14th Century England, a plot summary, discussion questions, activities, and resource links. A must-have for those who use this...
Curated OER
Summarizing Details in Sequence
Seventh graders write a few sentences explaining the most important events of their lives during the past year. As a class, they discuss why they chose the elements they did for their sentences. To end the lesson, they read a variety of...
Novelinks
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Concept Analysis
Considering using Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a whole class reading or for book circles? Check out this overview that provides a plot summary, a list of enduring questions raise by and themes addressed by the...
Curated OER
Running Out of Time: Concept Analysis
Tap into the information included in this in-depth analysis of Running Out of Time when planning your unit. The document includes a plot summary, analysis of the literary elements in the novel, implications for various student groups,...
Curated OER
The Study of Theme and Figurative Language in Poetry and/or Prose
Identify and analyze the use of figurative language used in select pieces of writing. These pieces of literature will represent at least two pieces by one writer and at least two pieces by different writers. This instructional activity...
Saddleback Educational Publishing
The Jungle Book: Study Guide
Delve into The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling with a helpful study guide. Crossword puzzles, comprehension questions, character descriptions, chapter summaries, and vocabulary exercises connect readers with the classic text of a boy and...
Curated OER
A Study Guide for The Phantom of the Opera
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...
Curated OER
Literary Analysis: Summary vs. Analysis
What is the difference between summary writing and literary analysis? A 16-slide presentation offers some basic requirements for both types of writing and helps readers identify each based on keywords used in both types of writing....
Curriculum Corner
Summer Reading Record
No more summer reading lag! Give young readers a set of graphic organizers and worksheets to keep track of the books they read over the summer and to keep reading comprehension skills fresh. The graphic organizers include identifying...