Who, What, Where, When, Why, How

Avoid the horror of readers straining to recall details of Joseph Conrad's complex Heart of Darkness. Instead provide scholars with a frame for their note taking. As they read, class members record evidence to support their responses to...

What is is about cereal boxes that draws consumers in? Tap into the effective marketing of cereal boxes and apply those elements to a book report. Pupils cover cereal boxes with information about their chosen books. they must create a...

Investigate the life of Mahatma Gandhi by researching non-violent lifestyles. Learners define the word ahimsa and discuss the personal characteristics that made Gandhi a peaceful warrior. They also create a poster about the story "The...

Cover Freytag's Triangle and examine Anton Chekhov's "The Bet" in this third lesson plan in a series of fourteen based around short stories. Learners take a quiz and discuss Freytag's triangle. They apply the triangle to "The Bet" and...

Use short stories to teach English? Yes! Designed as a professional development opportunity for English language teachers, the ideas in this booklet can easily be adapted to advanced ESL/ELL classes.

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...

Do your young authors suffer from writer's block when they try to write short stories? Access their natural creativity with C-Gor, the writing monster! The instructional activity takes aspiring authors through a new writing process...

Tap into the wisdom and knowledge of older members of the community with this New York Times plan. To warm up, learners write about and discuss advice they have been given. After reading "The Life Report," an op-ed column that asks older...

Use hypertext to make a multimedia choose-your-own adventure story! Young writers incorporate knowledge of story writing elements to write their own stories, and rewrite the adventure with various scenarios and endings. Use technology to...

Nineteen slides use the story of Chris Cuomo of CNN and his refusal to discuss his brother, New York governor Andrew's political troubles, to inform viewers about the idea of conflict of interest in journalism.