Ever known the feeling of being stuck between a rock and a hard place? Jody, a character in The Yearling, knows this feeling all too well. Nature forces Jody to choose between his beloved pet and his family's food supply. Readers...

Use a series of extension activities to enhance your class reading of Chris Van Allsburg's holiday classic, The Polar Express. From a biography of the author to filmed book reviews and research about the railroad, kids can take...

What would you wish for if you were granted one wish? Kids read a story about a taxi that bestows wishes upon its passengers in a short cloze activity. They use ten words at the bottom of the page to fill in the blanks throughout the...

Second graders read WHAT IF? up to the page that ends "Suddenly, across the field they saw..." and discuss how the animals are feeling. They then discuss their feelings and in pairs discuss a possible ending to the story.

What would you do if you had to go to school all day every day? Tillie tackles this problem in Sharon Creech’s A Fine, Fine School. After a discussion of how Tillie got the principal to change his ways, brainstorm with your class...

In this storytelling lesson, children practice re-telling the story of "How Bear Lost His Tale", review and write out the story sequence, and learn about homophones like tail/tale, sail/sale, etc. Extension activities for various content...

Lead your class on an exploration of plays. This presentation shows learners how to take a story and change it into a play. It focuses on the use of dialogue. This resource could be used by a variety of grade levels.

Spark some lively conversation about American holiday traditions and debunk accepted notions about the first Thanksgiving at the same time. After reviewing the mainstream version of the Thanksgiving story with your class, offer some...

Upper graders will use a reading comprehension worksheet about the meanest teacher to practice comprehension. They will read a 5 page story titled The Meanest English Teacher Ever and answer 4 comprehension questions about it. 

Fourth Graders read the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. In the story a bulletin board flattens the main character. He is then sent in an envelope to a friend in California. During a fantasy genre language arts unit, groups of students...

How do you determine an author’s purpose? You ask the author, of course. Invite a local journalist into the class to respond to scripted student questions about his/her writing process. A review of basic classroom etiquette is also...

Students investigate writing scenarios that can be performed. They examine the parts and levels of scenarios that can actually be performed.

Young scholars read a brief text detailing a conversation between two children about building a snowman, then show what they know by way of four reading comprehension questions.  

Students explore writing techniques. They investigate stories and their endings. Students discuss good ending tips. Students write a story about a main character overcoming a problem and write a good ending.

In this writing worksheet, students look at the picture of the polar bears and write a story or report based on the picture. There is a box labeled "Word Box" for the students to write a word bank.

In this writing worksheet, students study a picture of garden and forest trees and flowers and then write a story pertaining to the picture. There is a word box labeled for students to create a word bank.

In this writing prompt worksheet, students examine Valentine's Day picture and then use the space provided to write a story regarding the picture. Teachers may add details the word list box before they provide copies of the worksheets to...

Engage conversation and explore the journey as you challenge young readers to interpret the german folktale, "The Fisherman and His Wife" written by literary brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.

Students connect with an immigration unit through research, journal writing, digital photography, and a movie production using iMovie. By acting out the immigrant's experience, students gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of...

Houses come in all shapes and sizes, but not all houses are safe from Mr. and Mrs. Twit. The 10th instructional activity in a unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl turns learners into architects. While designing houses for...

Second graders are guided through the writing process and then given time to use the skills they have acquired by writing a story and publishing it using a computer.

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...

Learners study stories. For this writing lesson, students discuss the three aspects of a story, read stories focusing on the characters, write a story as a class about a character made up by the class, and write a story with an exciting...

Students read and respond the book, The Giving Tree. In this literary unit, students listen to the story and discuss the story using Bloom's Taxonomy. Students write a letter of empathy to the tree and observe the changes the tree went...