Young scholars study personification and alliteration in various fiction texts. In this literary devices lesson, students use various texts to identify the literary devices of personification and alliteration. Young scholars use examples...

Young scholars analyze William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. In this literature analysis lesson, students compare a modern novel and play. Young scholars analyze Faulkner's interior monologues. Students write a paper about the ways As I Lay...

Many critics consider William Golding's Lord of the Flies as one of the best English language novels of the 20th century! It is also one of the 100 most challenged books taught in schools! Instructors willing to accept the challenge of...

Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...

Young readers assume the role of Genre Sleuths to investigate the characteristics of folktales, fantasies, and mysteries. For this session you will need to collect a variety of books on a topic you have been studying. Groups then examine...

Study story elements with your young learners. Read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and discuss the order of events by making a story panel out of butcher paper. Sentences are given as suggestions for the panel, though you may...

Examine the power of persuasion and have learners consider how it influences events in their own lives. After reading and analyzing informational texts to understand the author's purpose, class members take a written test and craft a...

Readers of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are directed to complete two projects as a part of their study of Mark Twain’s novel.  Individuals craft an organized notebook containing all their work during the study, and they...

Here’s a graphic organizer that permits learners to chart the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution of a story. The PDF file can be customized to work with any narrataive.

Students develop a working skill of using graphic organizers for writing. The lesson notes that the best kind of organizer is one that is engaging to the appropriate audience. The assessment follows the rubric given in the lesson.

Elementary learners explore fiction storytelling through partcipating in a survey. They identify the characters, themes and plot of the Harry Potter series while discussing their opinions in class. Learners conduct a survey about their...

If your ESL pupils love talking about movies, here is an activity ideal for providing practice with both informational reading and elements of a story. Given fictional movie posters, they decipher the information and put it into a...

Students write a science fiction story.  In this science fiction lesson, students read selections of science fiction and compare them to supernatural stories from the Bible.  Students identify themes and discuss elements that...

Students explore writing techniques by comparing fiction vs. non-fiction. In this literature analysis lesson, students read stories from Aesop's Fables and compare the themes and characters to stories from their own life. Students...

Fifth graders write a fiction book review. In this response to literature lesson, 5th graders read a story and share their understanding and opinion of the book. They write what the book is about, what they like about the book, and what...

Learners demonstrate their ability to distinguish between fact and fiction. Students identify the features of weather-related adages and proverbs. After reviewing several weather adages, learners explain whether they are based in fact.

Students read Hansel and Gretel, and discuss the conflict in the story, while determining who the protagonist and the antagonist are.  In this fiction lesson, students chart the conflict in the story they have just read. 

Accompany a reading of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and Tell Me, Tree by Gail Gibbons with an activity packet designed to bring awareness to nature, specifically trees. Scholars take to the outside, draw lines to create trees reminiscent of...

Considering using Robert Cormier's young adult novel, Tunes for Bears to Dance to for book circles or as a whole-class anchor text? Check out this overview of the key concepts and issues raised by the novel.

Human trafficking has existed in many forms throughout history. Using a novel study of Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell, readers learn the story of a young Native American girl taken into slavery. Reading comprehension and...

How are films made? As part of their study of film, middle schoolers investigate the pre-production, production, and post-production process and consider the role of the director, the screenwriter, production designer, cinematographer,...

Get the most out of your guided reading lessons with this collection of literacy materials. Offering a system for using color-coded tags to mark pages while reading books, as well as an assortment of comprehension and grammar...

Follow the format of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with a journal-writing activity. Readers choose a character and examine the character's life and circumstances through brainstorming, research, and discussion before...

A good prompt is hard to find, especially ones that encourage application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of a text. Help is here in the form of a prompt list for George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four that offers essay topics that...