The television and interstate highways both came of age in 1950s America. Scholars use film, text, and discussion to explore how these and other cultural icons shaped the literature of the time. Pupils also create a family history...

Young writers get a jump start on story telling by selecting a plot, a setting, and multiple character cards and then use these basic elements to create a tale.

Winter, spring, summer, and fall! Every season is covered in a 14-page list of writing prompts. Included are story starters, reflection questions, poetry topics, and more.

There are so many things to celebrate in the month of April, like April Fool's Day, Earth Day, and spring! Use these fun prompts to get young writers writing during the month of April.

A reading of Stella Blackstone’s, Bear’s Busy Family launches a genealogy writing project. Young researchers use key words from the story, daddy, sister, uncle, etc., to write stories to illustrate and combine into a family book. While...

Young scholars write a script, planning and recording improvisations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature and history.

Students tell about their family heritage by writing a story and illustrating it with a picture of a family item.

What's the difference between story reading and story telling? Participants in a summer enrichment program learn all about the difference as they listen to famous speeches, engage in dramatic readings, and craft their own short stories...

Every family has a different story to share. Your learning community examines the checklist that applies to the lesson, share some of the teacher's family photos, and look for clues in their own family photos in order to complete a...

True friendship is priceless. Fourth graders read a short story about two friends who are willing to give up everything for each other — even their lives.

True! Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" makes readers nervous. But how? Young scholars create a drawing while listening to a reading of Poe's eerie tale to understand how writers create the mood of their stories and what their writing style...

Get your pupils outside and teach them about peace at the same time! Scholars create a list describing peace, hike outside, add to that list, and later create poems. The exercises support differentiation for your individual classes as...

Are opioids the most abused drug after marijuana? How hard is it for young people to obtain painkillers without a prescription? Middle and high schoolers explore the growing epidemic of opioid addiction with a lesson that prompts them to...

Boring dialogue can run a great story into the ground; get your novelists using dialogue as a tool to move their story into deeper and more developed territory. As part of a larger writing series, this lesson has a worksheet that can...

Designed to be spread across multiple days, this mini-unit gives learners an opportunity to develop family related vocabulary. Start by reading selected pages from "Family Pictures-Cuadros de familia" by Carmen Lomas Garza, and then...

A Reading Adventure Pack explores the night sky. Reading Her Seven Brothers by Paul Goble and Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey begin the learning experience. Scholars craft a night sky mobile, go stargazing, and write a mythical story...

Matt Black's photo essay, "The Geography of Poverty" provides a shocking reminder of the poverty that exists in the United States. The resource not only focuses attention on poverty but also conditions that have given rise to situation...

Learners sketch characters they create. In this character lesson, students then describe their character's appearance, family members, personality, interests and beliefs. Learners then write a short story using their character as the...

The beginning, a very good place to start, is also a very difficult thing to craft. Provide your writers with this handout that identifies, and provides examples of, six different types of narrative leads.

You'll be so glad to have had this rad worksheet for your youngsters to practice identifying what words belong to the -ad family!

Scholars watch a video or listen to a story about writing letters, then discuss their importance. A scavenger hunt challenges them to identify common elements of friendly letters and create an anchor chart. Pupils write letters to a...

Young scholars investigate their family history through pictures and writing. In this family history lesson, students research family, culture, food, music, religion, and clothing. Young scholars gather pictures of their family and...