K20 LEARN
Whose Manifest Destiny? Westward Expansion
Your land is my land! Young historians investigate the concept of Manifest Destiny used by the United States government to justify western expansion. Jigsaw groups read primary source documents to gain an understanding of the movement...
Curated OER
Writing Dialogue: Putting a Voice on the Page
Dialogue can really make or break a piece of writing. Help your creative writers craft thoughtful, effective dialogue that advances the plot and develops their characters. One example is provided, but consider adding a few more slides to...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: Crossing the River
High schoolers analyze the multiple voices in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. In this multiple voices lesson plan, students explore the use of symbolism with the narrative voices of the text. High schoolers write a detailed profile of...
Curated OER
Kindergarten Writing: Narrative Prompt
What is special about summer (fall, winter, or spring)? Using a bag filled with season-related items (for summer items like sunglasses, a swimming suit, etc.) the class take turns taking out one item. A discussion of how each item might...
Curated OER
Dance and Writing
Fourth graders use dance moves to perform narratives. In this dramatic performing lesson, 4th graders use strong and soft movements to show what character's voice is portraying. Students also use movement to show the feelings in the...
Curated OER
Twisted Tales
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 another...
Curated OER
Harness Music to Enhance Writing
Use the magic of music to engage the senses and bring new life to your writing curriculum.
Curated OER
Prairie Poetry
Ninth graders take note of the ways in which word choice, rhythm, language and narrative voice, as well as point of view in a poem can be used to evoke a time and place. They use their insights to create a poem of their own.
Curated OER
Monster Voices
Students create stories based upon the techniques of author Maurice Sendak in Where the Wild Things Are. They use a word processing program and the Apple software program GarageBand to create new voices for the story. This lesson is...
Curated OER
Creature Feature
Students work in pairs to create a creature and its habitat out of construction paper. Then students write a narrative to describe the animal and its habitat.
Curated OER
Introducing Literature Circle Roles to Students
Students read a narrative selection and select a literature circle role. In this reading comprehension lesson, students work in groups to identify vocabulary, make text connections, or other reading comprehension strategies. Students...
National Council for the Social Studies
Analyzing a Product or Political Advertisement
How do advertisements evoke specific thoughts and feelings? Class members find out through the exploration of the Internet, videos, television, magazines, radio, and posters. Learners investigate commercial advertisements, political...
Indiana University
World Literature: "One Evening in the Rainy Season" Shi Zhecun
Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...
Curated OER
Step into the Painting: Social Studies, Literature, and Art
Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 2
After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in her...
Candlewick Press
A Classroom Guide to Peter H. Reynolds's Creatrilogy
Help young readers find, identify, and use their voices with a set of empowering activities based on Peter H. Reynolds' trilogy of books. Sky Color, Ish, and The Dot focus on recognizing moods and treating each other kindly, and their...
Curated OER
Writing About Talking
The story of King Arthur is a fascinating one, and this retold excerpt offers an excellent example of narrative word choice in a dialogue. Learners read the text and examine the way the author uses synonyms for said. They write down all...
Louisiana Department of Education
How to Write a Memoir
Who are we and what shapes our identities? Seventh graders work to answer this question as they learn how to write a memoir. Full of non-print resources and supplemental texts that range from fiction to non-fiction, scholars write their...
Curated OER
Yakety-Yak
Do talk back! The transcript of one side of a telephone conversation launches a study of dialogue. Class members imagine the response of the speaker on the other side of the conversation and record these responses on the provided...
Curated OER
"The Charge of the Light Brigade": Writing Prompt and Pre-writing
Inspire your learners to experience poetry in an entirely different way with this resource. A writing prompt that goes along with "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, learners craft a reflective piece in the voice...
Curated OER
Photography Narratives
Young scholars write a narrative corresponding to a photo. They create a background story based on the person in their picture and share it with the class.
Curated OER
Shakespeare and Poe Teach Six-Trait Writing
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,...
Curated OER
The Voice of the Individual
Young learners explore the role of the individual within society. They view art work, design calling cards, and display their work. Additionally, learners document an imaginary trip, create sculpted self-portraits, create a class play, a...
Curated OER
Family Stories and Personal Narratives
Fourth graders read various stories in their literature books about families. Individually, they make a timeline showing the most important events in their lives. They bring in one artifact from their lives and write a paper about it...