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...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
When We Are A Story
Drama and story elements go hand-in-hand. Have the class dive into a dramatic play to show character intention, conflict resolution, main events, and the dialogue in a Hawaiian folk tale. They read the story, then group-up to...
Curated OER
Life Size Characters
Sixth graders analyze character traits and create a life size character outline. In this character analysis instructional activity, 6th graders analyze character traits of a character using character webs and poems. Students then create...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Sequence of Events
Are you in need of a new way to teach learners sequence of events and how to interpret a character's external motivations? Why not engage them in dramatic play? The class will use tableaux to convey the sequence of events in a familiar...
Curated OER
Rural Life During the Great Depression: A Year Down Yonder
“Anyone who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.” Mary Alice, the fifteen-year-old narrator of A Year Down Yonder, is forced to leave Chicago and spend a year with her Grandma Dowdel in a small rural...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast with Pink and Say
Sixth graders complete a shared reading of the book Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco and character analysis Venn diagram. In this character analysis lesson, 6th graders read the book and work in groups to compare and contrast the two...
Curated OER
Investigating Fables
Time for a story! Learners of all ages enjoy listening to stories, so read them some common fables and have them work cooperatively to create a fable. Differentiate for varying ability levels by providing sentence frames, graphic...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Creating Narrative
Plot, setting, characters, and conflict are common to both drama and narrative stories. Kids create narrated tableaus that show their understanding of the plot, setting, and conflict of a story they've recently read. The lesson...
Curated OER
Cooperative Jigsaw Expert Report of Fables
Young scholars research literary elements of fables. In this literature lesson plan, students analyze literary elements of fables. Young scholars work collaboratively using a jigsaw strategy to analyze literary elements.
Curated OER
Writing Worksheet
In this writing worksheet, students answer five questions relating to plot, write about a character and how they develop in four chapters, and answer questions about four characters. Students complete twenty short answer questions.
Curated OER
Teaching Selected Poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems
Students explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.
Curated OER
Literature Study Contracts
Learners complete activities with a leveled chapter book. In this literature lesson, students read a novel and complete several graphic organizers and activities as they read. They focus on characters, settings, vocabulary, and plot.
Curated OER
The Search for Identity: "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
Students read the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God". While reading the novel, they identify and discuss the figurative language used and use a passage of interest to them and analyze it in a written paper. They also discuss events...