Curated OER
Movie Books- Children's Stories
Students create movie books that make their stories come alive. They share these movie books with non-readers in an attempt to inspire them.
Curated OER
Semiotics and Set: Year 9
Drama enthusiasts explore the importance of set and action in conveying dramatic tension. They act out a polished dramatic piece using the set as a key component of their story. This should be connected to setting as it is also used in...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 8: Setting and Mood
What mood does this story evoke? How are setting and mood linked? Young novelists explore the different emotions brought about by writing, starting by journaling things that inspire their own feelings. Examine the word mood, looking into...
Curated OER
Holes: Setting and Inferences
Learners read the book Holes, and draw a picture of the setting and answer questions about inferences regarding the book. They answer two questions and draw one setting.
Curated OER
Snapshots of a Short Story
First graders will be creating and filling in a graphic organizer using Kidspiration, as a pre-writing activity for their short story piece. They then use their graphic organizers to write their entire short story. Once written, the...
Curated OER
Publishing Stories: Beginning, Middle, End
First and second graders explore the importance of having a beginning, middle, and end when writing stories. In this story writing instructional activity, students write short stories using the story diamond as a guide. They invite their...
Curated OER
Create a Chart
Young scholars create charts for story elements. They read two selections that share a common theme and discuss the story elements. They create a chart for the characters, plot, and setting and complete it while reading the selections.
Curated OER
Dusty Locks and the Three Bears
Read this twist on Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Dusty Locks and the Three Bears by Susan Lowell. Kindergartners listen, predict, and discuss the story. They then participate in a dramatization of the story and draw a picture...
Curated OER
Different Strokes For Different Folktales
Young readers use graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and story maps, to analyze a variety of folktales and the elements of a story. They use writing, sequencing activities, and creative art to identify the morals learned from a...
Curated OER
Crafty Literature Projects to Lure Language Arts Learners
Recognize National Arts and Crafts Month with language arts project ideas to inspire creative learning.
Curated OER
Book Discussions in a Reading Partnership
Do you have a lot of different reading levels in your class? Pair kids up by level and have them choose a book to read independently. They will make predictions, ask questions, make connections, etc. Consider creating a general reading...
August House
How Tiger Got His Stripes
How did the tiger get its stripes? Kindergartners read a Vietnamese folk tale, "How the Tiger Got His Stripes," retold by Rob Cleveland, and work through several reading comprehension and literary analysis activities.
Curated OER
Handout #1: Identifying Setting (Place)
How does setting help shape a story? As your readers progress through Of Mice and Men, stop to have them focus on the setting. This sheet provides six quotations from the text and asks learners to decide if they contribute to the...
Curated OER
Adventure Story
It's always fun to make up something together as a class. This fine instructional activity has children make up and illustrate a collaborative adventure story. The essential elements of a good story (setting, characters, plot, help,...
Curated OER
Story Elements
In this graphic organizer, students use the format of the worksheet to understand the elements in a story they have read. Students must know about plot and setting to complete the worksheet.
Curated OER
Story Map Situations
Third graders explore a variety of ways to represent text. They represent text in story maps while on the playground. Students depict the elements of a story on a story map. They create a poster for character, setting, problem, and the...
Curated OER
Let's Watch a Story
Fourth graders watch a silent movie and identify the elements of a story. They complete a worksheet attached to the lesson and discuss their answers.
Curated OER
Story Map for Bud, Not Buddy
Why should your class complete a story map? After reading Bud, Not Buddy, divide your class into pairs or small groups to complete the included worksheet. They list the main characters, the conflict, main plot events, the resolution, and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Character in Place: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” for the Common Core
How do writers use the interaction between elements like characterization and setting to create meaning? Readers of "A Worn Path" create a series of comic book-style graphics of Eudora Welty's short story and reflect on how Welty...
Curated OER
Setting the Story: Techniques for Creating a Realistic Setting
“It was a dark and stormy night.” Thus begins the 1830's novel Paul Clifford and, of course, all of Snoopy’s novels! Encourage young writers to craft settings for their stories that go beyond Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s often-mocked phrase...
PB Works
The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
There is more going on under the surface of Ernest Hemingway's work than one can glean in an initial reading. A literature resource compares the themes and structures of several of Hemingway's works before prompting class members to use...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 12: Story Event
Focus on plot and the impact-specific events in The Cay. Class members use their double-entry journals, created in a previous lesson in this series, to record their thinking about the guiding question as they read chapters 15 through 17....
Freeology
Summarizing
Scholars draft a summary using a graphic organizer featuring a story's characters, setting, main events, conflict, and resolution.
Curated OER
Movie Books- Children's Stories
Students use iMovie to write, illustrate, and narrate a movie book to bring their story alive visually and capture the interest of and inspire nonreaders at their school.