Playlist: Bookmarks
Random Emoji Prompt Generator
Click up an interesting, visual writing prompt suitable for any grade or purpose.
Plant Adaptation Tournament
Who will win in a tournament of eight plants with Interesting adaptations!?
Animal Adaptation Tournament
Which animal has the most interesting, most valuable, or strangest adaptations?
The Resiliency Tournament
Your students will set up a tournament to determine which person or character best demonstrated resiliency.
Analyzing Movies’ Success
So should we make another movie in this series?
Better Stories Part 5: Plot Structure
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.
Better Stories Part 2: Types of Conflict
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.
Better Stories Part 3: Literary Themes
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…
Better Stories Part 1: The Big Idea
We open our unit on narrative writing with a big idea: “structure increases creativity.” I show how this is true by bringing in examples from across all disciplines.
Better Stories Part 4: Character Archetypes
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.