CCSS ELA Standard: 1.RL.3

Your young students will compare how two characters have changed in a story.

Your 1st and 2nd graders will analyze how a character responded to a challenge.

Strength and weakness are often two sides of the same coin. Students will explore how a character’s flaw can be a benefit.

What item’s in a character’s bedroom would reflect their deepest desires? And what if they toured a similar character’s room?

What if we rewrote a story’s climax into a totally different genre?

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

What might a creature named “Aquacornus Rex” be like?

What might a creature named “Hypermnemonicus” be like?

What playlist of songs best goes with a character’s change over time?

Have you ever noticed that some stories have awfully similar problems? What if we looked for the most unusual way of solving a repeating problem?

A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Four Charlotte’s Web characters. One doesn’t belong. But which one? That depends on your argument.

When students are told that they’re “smart”, what does this word actually mean to them? (Psst. It isn’t what we intended.)

Your students will use Depth and Complexity to note how a character’s main trait changes across a story.

Every fantasy story has patterns hiding underneath the magic. Once your students see the elements, they’ll spot them everywhere — and use them in their own writing.

Create a pixelated icon that represents the essence of a character!

Romeo and Juliet in just about five minutes.

Shakespeare’s Much Ado summarized in just five minutes!

An animated summary of Shakespeare’s utterly ridiculous “Twelfth Night.”

It’s Hamlet in just about five minutes!

Nothing could possibly go wrong with a love potion on the loose!

Let’s write a summary. A very short summary. With VERY strict rules.

Ever read a student’s story that was just event after event after event and then a very sudden ending? They lack an understanding of a plot’s structure. With the help of Finding Nemo, I break down how to set up a well-structured plot.

If your students’ stories are packed with endless ninja fights or arguments between frenemies, it’s time to expose them to a wider range of conflicts.

A typical student narrative includes plot and characters but lacks a larger idea to hold it all together. This is where a lesson on themes comes in…

Are students’ characters a bit flat? Archetypes give them a strong foundation on which to build their own characters as well as a tool to analyze existing stories.