Which comes first? The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, or Future? What clues can readers use to establish the chronology of A Christmas Carol? The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, Marley, and Tiny Tim provides the text for an activity that...

Read and analyze the book, The Teacher From the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler with your class. They will compare/contrast the two Mrs. Greens with a Venn diagram, design a new book cover, create a paper mache mask, and complete a story...

Here’s a clever way to combine language arts and social studies. Shakespeare’s The Tempest is believed to have been inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda in 1609. The class views a brief scene from Castaway in which Tom...

Dander from the show Twisted Whiskers and characters from My Little Pony are featured in this three part lesson that explores using story pyramids to scaffold ideas, adding sensory details to enrich writing, and editing using common...

Read to write! The class lists sensory details based on the plot of a story they have recently read. They create a drawing of a bracelet and use the bracelet's jewels or charms to list sensory details included in the story. They then use...

Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use...

This overview of Theodore Taylor's The Cay is designed as an introduction for teachers who are considering using Theodore Taylor's novel for whole-class and/or book circle study. 

Analyze the setting behind the Great Depression in California with Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising. Middle schoolers assess the protagonist during her coming-of-age moments, while migrant workers manage the hardships of the...

Students read a story about fire safety and create their own ending to the story in order to learn about fire escape plans and to demonstrate their writing skills. In this fire safety lesson, students discuss the parts of a story, read...

Third graders read the story "A Bargain for Frances" and  make predictions about the unfolding plot of the story. In this set the scene lesson, 3rd graders examine the three parts of a story; the beginning, middle, and end.

Ninth graders identify and apply some of the vocabulary used in Science concerning the Sea Perch project. They view a video of The Hunt for Red October, and students make a comparative study of the translation of the printed work onto...

Readers write a formal letter to an author offering an alternative ending to a story the author has written. First, the class reads a story or novel. Upon finishing the reading, they are introduced to the format of a formal letter. They...

Where this lesson plan idea is lacking in materials, it makes up for with creativity! Using "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" as the background, mathematicians plot points on a coordinate grid to create props for the story. The polygons...

In this exercise, learners examine the difference between a theme, topic, and moral. After a class discussion on the definition of literary themes, the instructor reads The Cello of Mr. O by Jane Cutler. Next, individuals analyze the...

Immerse your class in Dickens's London and classic story of A Christmas Carol. Here, a SMARTboard presentation and WebQuest build background of the setting for the novel (or the play A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley.) Learning about...

Ah, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer! Before your class reads this classic novel, encourage them to activate prior knowledge and build interest in the book with the KWHL strategy. Directions for walking your class through this strategy are...

Twelfth graders examine the elements of literature. They each read a chapter of a novel, sequentially list the main ideas, present a summary of the chapter to the class, sequence the events, and review the novel by summarizing the timeline.

Third graders develop an appreciate for the various cultures that are present in their local community. Through reading and research, they explain how various culture came to live in their area. At the conclusion of the unit, 3rd...

Students complete many creative writing assignments in their advanced ESL class. In this creative writing lesson plan, students complete book reports, folktales, biographies, historical journal entries, and more.

Students explore English by reading children stories in class. In this tier two vocabulary lesson, students read the book The Surprise Garden and identify the settings, plot and characters. Students define a list of vocabulary words from...

Students develop a setting, plot and characters for a science fiction story based on current news themes, and then individually write drafts of the story.

Students explore the concept of mysteries.  In this mystery genre activity, students identify the common characteristics of mystery books and use a story map to identify these characteristics in a given book.  Students also...

Students consider different stories and story-telling techniques of animated and live-action filmmaking, write proposals for animated films, and storyboard individual scenes.

Fourth graders read the book Stellaluna and cite sentences that show cause and effect in the story. In this cause and effect lesson plan, 4th graders also write sentences that show cause and effect in their own lives.