Students explore river routes. In this social studies lesson, students trace the route of a river from its source and discuss the Continental Divide. Students draw the route the river takes and name the states it flows through. Students...

Students examine the many ways quilts were used to chronicle the history and experiences of African slaves and African-Americans in America. They analyze a story quilt using the elements of storytelling, then create a class quilt.

Fifth graders practice the trait of word choice and create a narrative writing with appropriate word choices. They work in pairs to write a story using as many word pairs from their imaginations as they can.

This lesson plan allows students to research and compare the city of Baltimore to other northern cities of interest during the Great Migration. After reading a narrative entitled Return South Migration and conducting extensive research,...

Students work in groups to create a story that will be presented to the class.  In this story writing lesson, students complete a project planning sheet, work together to create a story that includes a hero and at least two other...

Second graders create their own writing pieces. In this narrative instructional activity, 2nd graders use a graphic organizer to come up with ideas and details. They practice writing topic sentences.

Students create a story based upon their interpretation of a work of art. The story displays students' knowledge of writing conventions, elements of a short story, literary conflict and use of descriptive text.

Students observe, discuss, and interpret Radcliffe Bailey's work "By the River" by creating a personal narrative of the 18th or 19th century. Internet access is required and related links are offered for teaching aides.

Twelfth graders rewrite a story in a different format to understand the effects of the author's style. For this writing style lesson, 12th graders read Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and rewrite the...

Students participate in a lesson that involves writing a persuasive essay. They use the prompt of "extending the school day". The paper should contain correct elements of sentence structure with clear purpose that is supported with...

Students practice visualizing elements from a story. While reading a poem aloud, the instructor models what they see as they read the passage. Students draw a picture of a scene from the book "How to Eat Fried Worms" after reading it...

Students analyze fables and trickster tales from various cultural traditions. In this fable analysis lesson, students identify the elements of fables and trickster stories. Students read Aesop's fables and Ananse spider stories....

Using Alpha Smarts, 3rd graders write a "Story-in-the-Round". The end result of this project is one story for every student in the class that has been written by the entire class. Students create a PowerPoint presentation with a...

Students participate in a variety of activities surrounding Rock & Roll music, lyrics, drama and visual art and how they all help demonstrate examples of literary terms. They use Rock & Roll as an effective aid to stimulate their...

Students write a paragraph describing a conflict they had with a friend or a family member and a paragraph explaining how it was resolved. In this social science lesson, students share their paragraphs with a partner and then will...

Eighth graders write a three part dialogue as part of an effective memoir.  In this three part dialogue lesson plan, 8th graders are given two parts of a dialogue and emotions that accompany the words.  Students then...

Students use familiar characters, plots, and settings from traditional fairy tales to create "fractured" versions, while experimenting with satire, irony and parody. A fractured fairy tale is designed to be humorous by changing the story...

Learners examine artwork by Keith Haring, and listen to music popular in the 1980s that influenced him. They develop storyboards, and film music videos for their favorite song.

Middle schoolers read sections of Mackenzie King's diary. King was the Prime Minister of Canada during WWII. They relate the importance of keeping a diary.

Students create original short stories that feature distinctive weather phenomena, such as rainbows, snowstorms, tornadoes, thunder and/or lightning. They use a story map, imbedded in this plane, to help them organize their story.

Students investigate the American Revolutionary War era from the perspective of Britain and the American colonists by researching causes, effects, events and people. They compare the views of the Colonists, and the British and recognize...

Students explore the American dream. In this contemporary music lesson, students analyze the lyrics of songs by Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, and David Massengill. Students create 3-D representations of the American dream and write...

Did you know that November is Novel Writing Month? In the first of a series of lessons, class members are introduced to the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project.

Students read a short fiction book and demostrate comprehension by identifying the main characters, setting, conflict, theme, and summarizing the main points. They organize the information in Inspiration and create a powerpoint to show...