Eighth graders explore the four major components of an autobiography. As they discuss the major characteristics of an autobiography, 8th graders list the advantages and disadvantages of traditional, word of mouth, tales. Individually,...

Students invent an imaginary character that has the ability to time travel to China and create stories in the tradition of a traveler's tale, whereas their characters visit China's capital city, Beijing, and go to the Great Wall of China...

Students reinforce sequencing skills by retelling stories. After being assigned roles in the production, they create dialog, props, and costumes for retelling the story "Leo the Longhorn." Working in cooperative groups, students may also...

Students examine an African Cinderella story. In this Cinderella lesson, students listen to the story, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, in order to compare it to the original Cinderella story and to increase their understanding of story...

Students read two Inuit folktales about life and death. For this language arts lesson, students study the models of giving found in these Inuit tales about life, death, grief, sacrifice, and generosity. As the class reads these tales,...

Readers are first introduced to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart by making a map of Africa. They will better understand the novel's historical and literary contexts, European and African literary traditions, and how...

Students view art images of Norman Rockwell's family traditions and celebrations. They search the internet for information, and complete reflective and creative writing and sketch assignments. Students recognize and name emotions shown...

Students engage in shared verbal and written reflections about ethnic traditions. They study fairy tales of the Caribbean and the repeating patterns or themes used in folktales and fairy tales. They discuss similarities and differences...

First graders explore Japanese foods through fairy tales, fiction and nonfiction books, cooking meals and eating with chopsticks. After all of the creative ideas have been utilized, the class holds a tea party for parents in the classroom.

Students study the geography and culture of Japan and discover important historical events. They look at the religions of Japan. They determine similarities and differences in the lives of teenagers in Japan and the US. They read and...

In this Halloween reading worksheet, students learn the origin of the Jack O'Lantern by reading the Irish tale. Note: There are references in this story to selling souls to the Devil, purgatory, the fires of Hell and Jack who gets drunk...

In this activity learning exercise, students color, cut, fold and paste a picture of the Easter bunny to make a card. Teachers are given a brief history of the holiday and traditions associated with it.

Eleventh graders examine the background of Native American myths and legends.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders read a myth out loud to their classmates.  Students compare and contrast their myths with other...

Students make headdresses fit for kings. In this Yoruba tribe lesson, students study the tradition of the Nigerian tribe and then create headdress in the style of those used by the Yoruba.

The video "The Tales of Aesop" traces for viewers the history of fables and identifies their characteristics. The class then goes to the web site "The Fisherman and the Little Fish" where they examine the classic and a modern version of...

Students complete activities to analyze points of view in different texts. In this point of view lesson, students read Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Circle and discuss the points of view. Students choose a character from the story and...

Students look at three different versions of the Cinderella story. In this comparative literature lesson, students read the Chinese version "Yeh-Shen", the Egyptian version "Rhodopis," and the Native American version "The Hidden One" of...

Students explore journalism. In this expository writing lesson, students read several newspaper articles and note common features. After reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jan Brett, students work with a partner to write a news...

Introduce your class members to allegory and propaganda with a series of activities designed to accompany a study of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Readers examine the text as an allegory, consider the parallels to collective farms...

You may not be able to catch the Gingerbread Man, but you can sing a catchy song about him! Incorporate a poem into a study of poetry and/or the alphabet in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Ninth graders present tales and myths in the oral tradition. They discuss the African method of telling a story where each member of the group tells a part of the story. They make up a composite hero and write a story that describes...

Students create original tales that use animals to portray human behavior.

Students explore materials used in manufacturing. In this science instructional activity, students investigate the suitability of building materials. Students read The Three Little Pigs and discuss the building materials used in the story.

Students are read an apache folktale and discuss the characters in the story. Using the text, they identify the factors that make it a folktale and not a fairy tale. On a map, they locate where the Apache people live. As a class, they...