Students locate information about a legendary person or place, locate legends in their locale, create a description and drawing of their legendary person or place, exchange their description with another student, and recreate the other...

Sixth graders can identify five basic elements that most mysteries contain. They put the elements of mystery into a graphic organizer they can follow. They construct meaning after reading Poe's short story and identify or infer the...

In this creative writing ideas worksheet, students create their own stories as they use the setting, character, and objects listed on the worksheet to fuel their ideas.

Sixth graders discover idioms. For this idioms lesson, 6th graders evaluate idioms and discover their meaning. Students read Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein and create unique idioms. Assessment rubric is provided.

Students read and analyze the classic Greek tale of "Jason and the Golden Fleece." They compare/contrast the story with modern works of literature and films, answer discussion questions, and retell the story in a modern-day setting.

Learners create stories using only pictures.  In this visual storytelling lesson, students read Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie de Paola and analyze the wordless story.  Learners create new text for the book by writing on...

Students consider the structure of folktales. In this writing skills lesson, students list the attributes of folktales that they read in class. Students then complete handouts based on the elements of the tales as well as types of tales...

Students write short stories of three paragraphs. They focus on the story elements of introduction, body, and conclusion. They exchange papers so that three different students author the stories.

Students research which buildings are registered as national or state historical sites, and lobby the community by petition to have another local building placed on the national or state historic register.

Students use the My Hero website to help them develop their reading skills. They create a KWL chart for the hero of their choice.

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

Learn all about the book Pudd'nhead Wilson with this analysis of the text. You can plan your unit with the useful teacher information provided here and use the project ideas to enrich instruction.

After completing Juliet Marillier's young adult novel Wildwood Dancing, class members rewrite a traditional fairy tale, making three significant changes to illustrate a theme of their choosing.

Included in this resource are a variety of activities to do while reading Willa Cather's My Antonia. The activities, which range from mapping out Nebraska to writing activities about pioneer living, are all designed with one...

This worksheet that accompanies a reading of A Beautiful Mind includes over 20 questions that address theme, fact and opinion, supporting details, characterization, and quote comprehension.

Choosing a poet or a theme, eighth graders conduct research in the world of poetry. They conduct Internet research and select five poems that fit their poet or theme, and create a seven slide PowerPoint presentation on their selected...

Tenth graders explore narrative poetry. They analyze sections of a poem and present to groups. They compose their own narrative poems using pictures as prompts. They exchange their poems and analyze their classmate's poem.

Discover some of the themes of Dr. Seuss's major books. They see that despite being written for young people, Dr. Seuss' books contain powerful messages and important themes.

Develop a mystery character using clues from a bag. This engaging activity will help learners understand character traits. They develop a list of the items from the bag, discuss and develop the character with a partner, and create a...

Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The...

Are you are considering a unit on Beowulf or Superman, on myths, or tricksters? Here's a great overview you can use to launch a study of universal themes and archetypes. The focus here is on the oral tradition, but the concepts apply to...

Aladdin, Disney's Broadway musical comedy, is a magic carpet ride. Prepare your class for a field trip to the show with a study guide that is a treasure trove of activities, cultural connections, and background information.

Students navigate Doodle Splash to create a painting.  In this doodle splash instructional activity, students explain their splash painting relationship to a piece of literature.

Engage your class in photography with this series of activities! Beginning photographers research and explain elements of photography, camera equipment, and careers in photography. After the research portion, learners complete one of two...