Students are introduced to the topic of legends. Using the text of Irving's novels, they gather information on different cultures. They practice using new vocabulary and their listening skills. They retell the stories in chronlogical order.

Learners work in co-op groups to create a Reader's Theater production of the story. Students create a flow map that sequences the major events in the story. Learners research the island of Martinique and create a travel brochure...

Honing reading and communication skills through the theme of farm animals is the focus of this lesson. Students read a book about Scandinavian farm animals and complete prediction journal activities. They complete a worksheet about the...

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...

Who is Emmet Till? An important historical figure, your kids will be shocked by his story! Discover the details of his life and collaborate to write a crown of sonnets in the style of Marilyn Nelson.

Gather your first graders and read Franklin's New Friend. First, show the book's cover and title. What can your youngsters infer from these along? Then read through the comprehension questions you created and start reading the...

Read the story Gingerbread Baby and use these various activities to connect to grammar, art, and point of view. In one activity, learners create character masks. They practice writing verbs on the back of the masks to tell what each...

Students participate in a variety of shared reading and writing activities related to the book "The Big Sneeze" by Ruth Brown. They develop a list of farm vocabulary, sequence the events of the story on a graphic organizer, act out...

Students understand what good and bad choices are in regards to money and review and reinforce the value of each coin. They identify parts of a story as well as the sequencing. They then create their own sequence of events in words...

Students explore Aboriginal storytelling. In this literature lesson, students read Knots on a Counting Rope and then create a story line as they discuss the attributes of Aboriginal culture. Students retell the story in their own words.

Second graders use literature journals and discussion groups to summarize and improve their reading comprehension. For this reading skills lesson, 2nd graders discuss animals they've loved and read the story The Girl Who Loved Wild...

Readers listen and critically read fictional prose to answer prediction questions at designated stopping points, and then they give a summary of the short story. This lesson is ideal for English language learners developing English...

Learners discuss the differences between a storybook and an information book. Students use various materials found in nature to make a nature collage. Learners make a nature dictionary using pictures and their own definitions from the...

Youngsters practice retelling a part of their favorite Native American tale to a small group of their peers. Peer partners assess each others performances. To keep comments positive and constructive, consider giving your class sentence...

Introduce your class to epic heroes with these activities for Beowulf. After watching a video clip, taking notes on heroes, and tracking characteristics of heroism throughout Beowulf, class members retell an episode of Beowulf using a...

Students build background knowledge or schema of critical division skills by predicting or inferring what will happen next in the story, retelling story detail, and counting the number of cookies on the plate.

Students explore genealogy by reading a family history book in class. In this family tree lesson, students read the story Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney and discuss their own family history. Students identify what the term...

First graders use sequencing to recall and tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They create a storyboard using pencils first and then crayons with six illustrations in sequence.

Students listen to The Trouble With Trolls and discuss fables.  For this story elements lesson, students work on reading skills.  Students participate in different reading activities.

First graders put on puppet show and retell fairy tales.

Second graders investigate the life of Booker T. Washington by reading a biography.  In this biographical lesson, 2nd graders read the story More Than Anything Else, and examine the geographical locations Washington once resided...

How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...

How can you tell if a number of items is reasonable? Combine math and language arts with a fun instructional activity based on Jeff Shepard's The Right Number of Elephants. After reading the book, kids discuss amounts of other...

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...