Curated OER
The Learning Network: Re-envisioning Classic Stories
Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...
Curated OER
Story Boards
Students devise story boards to sequence the main events in a story. They draw a picture that demonstrates the main event in each chapter of a story and label it with a sentence.
Curated OER
The Story of the Solar System
There is more to the solar system than the typical study of the sun and planets. Launch a study of asteroids, meteoroids, and comets by watching the video The Story of the Solar System, available for purchase through this...
Sandra Effinger
Bulletin Board Project
Imagine a project that informs and entertains. Replace book reports with a bulletin board that highlights all the important elements of a novel. Readers research the author, create a timeline of events in the story, write a...
Curated OER
Theatrical Economics
Read then role-play the characters from story of If You Give A Pig a Pancake. Young actors use improvisation and characterization to create the characters from the story. They will also write and role play original version of the...
Curated OER
Story Summaries; The Three Little Pigs
Students explore language arts by completing a graphic organizer in class. In this story structure lesson, students read the classic tale "The Three Little Pigs" and discuss the main characters, conflict and setting. Students complete a...
Curated OER
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Students explore expressive reading. In this literature lesson, students read the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and interpret key themes. Students perform a different version of the text.
Curated OER
Every Picture Tells a Story
Students explore story structure. In this literacy and story structure lesson, students listen to picture books and illustrate a favorite part of the story. Students share their pictures and place them in sequential order on a bulletin...
Film English
My Shoes
Engage your pupils in short story and short film. Using a still from the film as inspiration, pairs compose short stories, which they later share and compare with other members of the class. They then watch the film and respond to a...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Tell Me Again
Students demonstrate how to retell a story in sequential order. In this reading comprehension lesson, students listen to a suggested read aloud, such as Little Boy Blue. Additionally, students practice retelling the story by using...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Picturing a Story: Photo Essay about a Community, Event or Issue
Picture this. Class members follow in the footsteps of W. Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, James Nachtwey, and Lewis Hine by creating their own photo essay about a local event or issue.
Curated OER
It's All Part of the Story
Young scholars explore storytelling through pantomime, improvisation, and dramatization. They watch an online video, discuss Native American earth stories, role-play various situations, explore websites, and present an oral story to the...
Curated OER
My Favorite Birthday Story
Happy birthday! Pre-K and Kindergarten pupils bring in a photograph of their favorite birthday party. They get together in small groups and write about the birthday - with the help of adults. The stories and the photos are displayed on...
Curated OER
Picturing a Story: Photo Essay About a Community, Event, or Issue
Students research Dorothea Lange's documentary projects and create their own photo essay about a subject. In this photo essay instructional activity, students analyze examples of social-documentary photographs of Lange. Students define a...
Curated OER
Analyzing Story Structure
Students explore language arts by completing a graphic organizer in class. In this story structure lesson, students read the poem "Sick" by Shel Silverstein and discuss the different elements in the piece which make it an effective...
Curated OER
Multimedia Urban Stories: "This is who I am"
Students create a photo essay. In this lesson encouraging self-expression, students view and reflect upon photo essays. Then, they go out into the community and create their own photo essay complete with captions. Students publish their...
Curated OER
Animation Station
Learners examine clay animation. In this technology instructional activity, students use the Internet to investigate the history of clay animation. Learners use story boards and clay figures to create their own "animation."
Curated OER
Justifying Answers
Young scholars study story problems and learn how to find and justify their answers. They will use a story problem and then respond to the prompt questions from the teacher. They must add and subtract facts to 6 and learn how to justify...
Curated OER
Retelling Information
This scripted lesson suggests using the journalist’s five W’s (who, what, when, where, why) to teach readers how to summarize a story and to how to distinguish between significant and supporting details. A template and rubric are...
Curated OER
Web Designs: A Story Comes Alive
Learners work cooperatively to choose a theme, write a story, and produce a web site to display this story in this middle-level lesson on the career of a web designer. This excellent lesson ends with an organized, web site launch party.
Curated OER
Using Harmonic Vision’s Music Ace Software to Reinforce Basic Music Skills
If you have access to Harmonic Vision’s Music Ace Software, then this lesson could work for you. Kindergarteners use the video music software to place, identify, and read musical notes. They listen in and identify both high and low...
Curated OER
Story Quilts-For the Classroom
Students create a classroom story quilt. In this literacy lesson, students recall events from a text and illustrate their favorite part of the story on a quilt piece. The quilt is sewn together to form a classroom quilt.
Curated OER
Sequencing The Three Billy Goats Gruff
First graders participate in sequencing activities. In this sequencing lesson, 1st graders read the book the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Students retell the story and act out the scenes in groups. Students create a mural of the story...
Curated OER
Can you think of pictures that will tell a story about rice?
First graders use pictures and letters to create a rebus. In this writing sentences lessons, 1st graders analyze sample rebuses as a class and read a rice rebus independently. Students make three rebus sentences. Students play a...