Help your kindergarteners identify the main idea in a story. Small groups work with the teacher to make predictions and draw conclusions. They are able to determine cause and effect relationships. The instructional activity is divided...

Discovering the main idea in fiction is like uncovering buried treasure; one must persevere to locate it, and the reward is priceless. Scholars delve deep into leveled stories using three questions to aid in identifying the main idea. 

Second graders read the story PUSS IN BOOTS identifying main characters, setting, and significant events. They then read the story JAMIL AND THE CLEVER CAT and compare it with the story PUSS IN BOOTS compiling a list of characters,...

This second lesson in a larger unit is perfect for the beginning of the year because it explicitly teaches 3rd graders how to use close reading skills by identifying unfamiliar words, figuring out the gist, and defining important...

Third graders practice the skills of identifying the main message in a story, describing the main character, and sorting the key details of a story into specific categories. The story they read is, The Boy Who Loved Words. Using a...

Students explore the book A Midsummer Night's Dream. In this literature lesson, students identify main characters and vocabulary words from the text. Students participate in a book discussion group.

Here is a activity which is "flexible," and can operate as an individual or whole class activity. After reading a book of their choosing, with the use of a semantic map, learners identify character traits. They infer how their feelings...

Analyze characters and stories to identify stereotyping. Learners will examine the concept of character gender to evaluate bias in classroom story books. They are asked to read a story or play and change the gender of the character to...

Here is a fun resource that your kids will love. While reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie, they analyze the story's main characters by creating an online scrapbook. The purpose is to have them identify character traits and use...

Third graders read excepts from the story, Thank You, Mr. Falker in order to gain practice in understanding an unfamiliar story by focusing on the details. They use a worksheet, embedded in the plan, which directs them to certain...

What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...

Emergencies happen. Be prepared the next time you have to call in a substitute with a lesson plan designed to meet the needs of a kindergarten class. Throughout the day, class members work with number and alphabet cards, identify numbers...

Students discuss and examine the comic strip section in newspapers.  They compare and contrast themselves and others with the comic strip characters.  With partners, they select a comic strip and complete a student activity sheet.

Third graders identify the main characters in the Ingalls family and describe the relationships between the characters. They locate the setting of the book on a map of the Upper Mid- West. Students understand that the books are set in...

Such an ambitious lesson! Third graders with special needs listen to an audio recording of the novel, Moby Dick. They stop often to discuss each of the main characters and analyze their actions in the story. They then make puppets of one...

After completing the 11th chapter of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, take part in a KWHL chart driven by the question,When is it appropriate and admirable to defy authority? Focusing on codes of conduct,...

Assist your pupils with literary analysis by discussing and exploring theme. This plan, the twelfth in a series of fourteen, builds in some time to explore theme as a class. Learners also blog about the main event in their stories and...

Address the literary elements in a piece of writing using these materials. The packet includes plenty of resources, and focuses mainly on theme, character, and point of view, with some materials for setting, symbolism, and author's...

Students interact with the main concepts of a narrative text in the six lessons of this unit. The setting, prediction, retelling, sequencing, and the identification of the beggining, middle and end of a story are investigated.

Students complete a literature analysis of fiction texts to study elements of fiction. In this fiction analysis lesson, students read various fiction texts and examine them to learn about fiction elements. Students learn to draw...

Third graders continue to practice the close reading skills of capturing the gist and reading again for important details in the sixth lesson in a larger unit. This is a great beginning-of-the-year unit for establishing visible thinking...

Students read and review the main elements of a story. In this language arts lesson, students predict what the story read to them would have been like if the genders of the characters had been different. Students write a new...

Middle schoolers critique, discuss, and identify characters in a film about Latin America. In this Latin America lesson plan, students watch the film and discuss the film and everyday life.

Continue working through Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, by looking into language choices and discussing text-dependent questions. Pupils converse in small groups and as a class about plot, setting, and figurative language. Using...