Recording the key elements of a story (title, setting, characters, problem, ending) on a story map graphic organizer provides primary readers a chance to practice identifying these elements and promotes reading comprehension. The...

Follow up a class reading of the children's book Officer Buckle and Gloria with this simple sequence-of-events worksheet. Including pictures of six key moments from the story, young learners must first number them in the correct...

Organize your curriculum of narratives and stories within an ELA unit and keep track of what elements are needed to ensure the unit's success. This curriculum map template allows you to plan for supporting texts, comprehension...

The stories of enslaved people are preserved forever thanks to the Great Depression. Budding historians explore slave narratives gathered by a federal government initiative to discover what life was actually like for enslaved people....

What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...

The memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, is the focus of a unit designed for fourth graders. Scholars begin each lesson with a warm-up, then listen to a read-aloud of a section of the book. Pupils complete word work,...

The March on Washington takes center stage in the discussion of chapter 15 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X; however, class members are presented with an entirely different view of the march from the ones they have previously studied....

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...

Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select...

A Six-Trait Writing instructional activity helps your middle schoolers liven up their word choice and shows them how to evaluate their own writing. Class members take a close look at the language used in poems by Shakespeare, Kipling,...

A creative spin occurs when one pupil acts as author Ann M. Martin. Using a Q & A at the back of her book A Dog's Life, other classmates ask the "author" questions. They discuss the reasons why they know the book is from a...

Supporting characters need detail and characteristics just like a main character. Keep your budding authors entrenched in detail as they write their novels. This lesson focuses on developing supporting characters using personal...

Writing can become one-dimensional if authors don't involve all their senses. First, scholars observe a strange object which, ideally, they can touch and even smell. Without using certain words (you can create a list or have the class...

Grow an understanding of short story with a well-sequenced plan built around an Academy Award-winning short film. Class members explore the elements of an effective short story, and practice writing their own. They also watch the short...

An extensive portfolio project encourages your kids to reflect on their personalities with multiple writing assignments. From activities on extended metaphors to writing about an important day in their lives, kids explore the way they...

Young journalists write diary entries from the point of view of a person involved in a historical event. They focus on including facts, clear narration, and accurate description of the individual's feelings. 

You can't read Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without craving the rich treats described in Dahl's vivid prose. Young writers try their hands at sensory language with a lesson plan that prompts them to write about...

This first in a series of four resources is designed for instructors to use Octavia E. Butler's Kindred in their classes. The packet includes an overview of the unit, a day-to-day calendar, links to background articles, and reading...

Here's a must-have guide for instructors who use Robert Frost's poems in their classes. The 24-page guide focuses on poems included in Frost's first two volumes of poems, background information on the poet, and what Frost thought was an...

Twenty prompts, fifteen starters, and ten situations. What more could you ask for from a list of journal ideas?

An extensive collection of lessons and activities includes many writing, grammar, and proofreading exercises. With templates and worksheets that cover several steps in the writing process, from sentence to paragraph to essay, this...

This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.

What is "virtual freedom"? How about "enslaved entrepreneurship"? Class members will learn about these terms and much more as they read the poems and examine the life of George Moses Horton.