Curated OER
Tell Me a Train Story
Second graders write a short story based on train track safety and make a train-shaped class book.
Curated OER
Intergenerational Life Writing Lesson Plan
Students meet with an older adult to complete a writing assignment. Using a topic suggested by the teacher, they each write a story about their own lives and compare and contrast their perspectives. They share their viewpoints with the...
Curated OER
Acronyms - Characters in Hawthorne's Stories
Students create acronyms for book characters. In this literature study, students learn about and create acronyms for characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories The Minister's Black Veil and Young Goodman Brown. Students' acronyms...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Hearts of Writers
Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of...
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The Cutting Edge
Young writers examine the writings of Raymond Carver to investigate editing skills. They will develop original sentences. Then read the work of Raymond Carver to edit and analyze the ending. They revise and ending of their original...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - The Monkeys Escape
Houses come in all shapes and sizes, but not all houses are safe from Mr. and Mrs. Twit. The 10th lesson plan in a unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl turns learners into architects. While designing houses for the monkeys,...
Curated OER
Civil Rights in America
Seventh graders visit the Smithsonian and are shown different exhibits. They are to make their own drawing about one of the exhibits and write about the experience.
Live Oak Media
Activity Guide: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Enhance a reading of the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback with this collection of learning activities. Starting with general background information about the book and author,...
Curated OER
The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe: Literature and Theater
Students read and discuss the literary elements of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. They explore the elements of dramatic performance and create a TV news program based on life in Narnia. They videotape their...
Curated OER
Keep It Short!
Students examine the process of summarizing text. They participate in a class discussion, and read an assigned passage from their textbook, highlighting the main points of the text. Students then write a short summary of their...
Curated OER
Getting A Story
Students encounter the do's and dont's to journalism writing. Students unearth the facts of a story by watching an animated clip. Students grasp the deeper understanding of the facts of a story and how to write it correctly.
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Stanley's Story
Pupils create a newspaper story based on the events that occur in the novel Holes. They recall the basic facts of Stanley's story using the 5 W's plus H. Students write a fact based news story based on the information presented in the...
Curated OER
Cinderella: A Story Found in Many Cultures
First graders explore, discuss and examine fairy-tale and make-believe stories. They assess two different types of Cinderella stories to surface a broader look at cultural diversity. Students construct a Venn Diagram or a chart of the...
Curated OER
Writing a Movie Review
Students view a classic movie in class while taking notes. They write a summary/ review of the movie which includes the name of the movie, who wrote it, the characters and a retelling of the story. They include their opinion and how the...
Curated OER
Short and Sweet
Students summarize nonfiction text. After reviewing the process for reading in order to summarize, students independently read a nonfiction article. They write a summary paragraph using the checklist outlined by the instructor during...
Curated OER
Secret Stories: Exploring the Elements of Folktales and Fables
Students are introduced to the characteristics of fables and folktales. In groups, they read and identify the various elements in the stories they read from around the world. For each story, they analyze the setting and the various...
Curated OER
Write a Myth
Learners explore myths in ancient times. In this mythology lesson, students read or view a video production of a myth to determine specific characteristics of myths. Learners work in groups to write a myth that explains an...
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Compare and Contrast Creation Stories
Students compare and contrast creation stories. In this Bible studies lesson, students work in groups to read and summarize creation myths and share with their peers. The class goes on to create a chart to compare and...
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
Report Writing in Primary Grades
Students learn how to read a short section and parepare a sentence to share with the group. Students listen to the reading of expository text, restate, in sentence format, one fact learned from that text, and produce a report.
Curated OER
How to Write a Summary of a Book
Students explore ways to write book summaries. For this summary writing lesson, students discover the steps for writing summaries of fictional books.
Curated OER
Writing Sparks
In this writing sparks worksheet, students write a short essay giving reasons for liking/disliking stormy days and then tell a story of how they would pass the time on a stormy day.
Curated OER
Using Prominent Personalities With Identifiable Social Causes to Stimulate Writing
Students write a friendly letter to a Maya Angelou, describing their response to her poetry and short stories.
Curated OER
Pretend Memoirs
Elementary schoolers explore the concept of a memoir. The teacher tells a story from his/her childhood as an example of what a memoir is; a written account of one's past. The kids are asked to pretend that they are now adults, and are...