Grades 7–9
1 Session: 90 Minutes
NarrativeLessonsBy examining patterns in engaging published stories and applying a set of meaningful prompts, your students will learn how to develop well-rounded characters that readers really care about.
Here’s a lesson I like to use near the beginning of a course. Students like it, and it gets them thinking about sophisticated fictional elements like character and plot—often without even realizing it! Most of the time, it encourages them to write good, engaging stories in which important things happen.
This book offers 50 creative writing lesson plans from the imaginative and highly acclaimed 826 National writing labs. Created as a resource to reach all students (even those most resistant to creative writing), the off-beat and attention-grabbing lessons include such gems as "Literary Facebooks," where students create a mock Facebook profile based on their favorite literary character, as well as highly practical lessons like the "College Application Essay Boot Camp." These writing lessons are written by experts—and favorite novelists, actors, and other entertainers pitched in too.
by Louise McCune, 826 Valencia
Working as budding archaeologists, students use artifacts as inspiration for several short writing pieces.
by Cristeta Boarini, 826 MSP
Students will identify something they have inherited from their families, conduct interviews, and write a narrative essay. This lesson is especially well suited for English Language Learners.
by Marya Spont-Lemus, 826CHI
Through brainstorming and drafting activities, students will learn the basics of personal narrative writing and craft an essay that they can use for college, scholarships, job applications and more.
by Laura Lisabeth, Ph.D, 826NYC
In this lesson, students experiment with the multimodal composition of Instagram and use this social media platform to promote a social justice issue.
by Mandy Seiner, 826NYC
In this lesson, students will learn about different types of rhymes, identify rhymes in lyrics and generate rhymes to use in their own lyrics.
by Julius Diaz Panoriñgan, 826LA
Through an upcoming zombie apocalypse, students will explore multiple STEM disciplines and the importance of scientific modeling. They'll write technical notes and create an ongoing narrative.
by Daniel José Older, author of Flood City.
Students will work together to produce a newspaper for the fictional Flood City. In the process, they will take on the roles of editor and journalist to source, draft, and present their newspaper.
by Karla Brundage, 826 Valencia
In this Lesson, students will further their understanding of how language can impact identity through the process of naming.
by Ola Faleti, 826CHI, with an introduction by Amanda Gorman, Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the U.S.
The pen is mightier than the sword. In this lesson, students learn there's no better evidence of this than the poetry behind social movements.
by Stephanie Wykstra, 826NYC
A student’s guide for evaluating evidence and learning to spot misleading and false information.
by Lisa Lutz, 826 Valencia
In this lesson by a young adult author and self-confessed superfan Lisa Lutz, students will learn letter-writing tips and create a fan letter.
by Christopher Ankney, AT Bianchi, & Amy Wilson, 826michigan
Using Twitter as a storytelling medium, students will improve their understanding of perspective, editing for brevity, and the importance of word choice.
by 826 National
Spooky stories are universally beloved. Read a selection of spooky stories from countries around the world, and then write your own!
by 826 National
Inspired by George Ella Lyon’s original poem, this lesson guides students through naming the people, places, and things that have shaped them.
by Meredith Goldberg-Morse, 826LA
In this lesson, students write about a cause that they are passionate about, imagine how they can create change, and come up with slogans to convince other people to take action.
by Cristeta Boarini, 826 MSP
In this lesson, students explore the genres of historical and speculative fiction before they reimagine a time they felt powerless and write a different outcome.
by Dr. Anne Desrosiers and Precediha Dangerfield, 826 Valencia
The COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives. This lesson will support students in processing the changes in their everyday lives and help them to identify the creativity their community has exhibited.
by Mallory Miller, 826 Digital Educator Leader
In this lesson, students will construct a short narrative told through concrete poems.
by Cristeta Boarini, 826MSP, and Skylar Burkhardt, 826 National
Few expressions of gratitude are more meaningful than a personalized letter. In this lesson, students reach out to essential workers and return their acts of service and kindness by giving thanks.
by Molly Sprayregen, 826CHI
Over the course of this lesson, students produce memoirs, poems, and essays that explore what it means to be a member of the LGBTQIA community in America today.
Inspired by Angela Iton and Precediha Dangerfield, 826 Valencia
In this lesson, students will use mentor texts to hone their revision skills before turning to their own poetry drafts.
by Ryan Harty, 826michigan
By examining patterns in engaging published stories and applying a set of meaningful prompts, students will learn how to develop well-rounded characters that readers really care about.
by Debra Mitchell, 826CHI
Students will become script detectives, searching for the underlying structure of every play, and then use their own memories to inspire original plays.
by Aarti Monteiro, 826NYC
Emotions play a big role in how we remember places important to us. Students explore this notion by writing memoirs, using plot, dialogue, and description to bring their stories to life.
by Klariza Alvaran, 826CHI
In this lesson, students explore the graphic novel genre with a focus on plot and character development, scripting dialogue, and visual composition.
by Mariama J. Lockington & Peter Calhoun Hall, 826NYC
In this superlesson, students isolate DNA, design planes, build lairs, and engineer safe transport to help a hero save the day. Students will also take technical notes and explore new forms of poetry.
by Alana Herron, 826 Digital Educator Leader
Students will craft an argument about a controversial topic they hold a personal connection to and record their argument to persuade their audience.
by Gem Carmella, Ministry of Stories and BBC History
In this Lesson, students will learn how to write comedy sketches inspired by "Monty Python’s Flying Circus."
by 826 National
Stories are the thread that connect communities. In this lesson, students learn more about culture and identity through Dakota and Hmong textile arts, as well as reflect on their own identities.
by Kyley Pulphus, 826 New Orleans
In this Spark, students will create a “pourquoi tale,” or origin story, of how a local delicacy came to be.
by Catherine Calabro, with inspiration from Rachel Feder, 826michigan
Your students will use free writes, writing games, cheesy pop lyrics, and revision strategies to learn how to make connections between all of the points on their journey of writing a poem.
by Saiya Miller, 826 New Orleans
Students will collect dirt, map their neighborhood, and listen to music that explores low sound, depth of soil, and the psychological landscape of New Orleans.
by Rebecca Darugar, 826NYC
Students examine relationships between art, poetry, politics, and current events, and reflect on personal experiences while writing social justice poetry.
by Robert Paterno, 826LA
A mock crime scene kick-starts this lesson, getting students to hone their inferencing skills and serving as inspiration for crime stories.
by 826 New Orleans
In this lesson, students have an opportunity to write a letter expressing their views on issues that matter to them most surrounding an election.
by 826 National
What happens when we start from a place of gratitude? In this lesson, students will use Ross Gay’s "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude" as a catalyst for a daily gratitude journal.
by Tim Campos, 826 New Orleans
Through discussion, map-making, and writing, students will investigate the ways in which our knowledge of places is constructed and will uncover the ways that this knowledge is distorted by biases.
by Allison Peters, 826michigan
Discover what’s possible through writing. In this lesson, students will write a thrilling new story about their future selves inspired by their curiosity and imagination.
by Aarti Monteiro, 826NYC
Students will read a poem by Eve L. Ewing and learn to write a poem that retells or reimagines an experience.
by Kelly Jones, 826 New Orleans
Through writing, drawing, mapping, and researching a chosen fruit, students will become more familiar with the often complex history of food and how people access it.
by Rebecca Darugar, Liz Levine, and Brancey Mora, 826NYC and 826 National
Invite students to write about their personal experiences with social media and online platforms with this lesson from 826NYC.
by Allie Mariano, 826 New Orleans
Students will tell stories about their neighborhoods and create maps that document change. The end result is a better understanding of a map’s ability to demonstrate the history behind fixed points.
by Rebecca Darugar, 826NYC
Students will work in a collaborative, constructive setting to create a vision for your classroom as a safe space for students and teachers.
by Ellen Lathrop and Malia Urbina, 826 Valencia
In this lesson, students will use descriptive language to write a poem about a favorite animal.
by Erin Ruane, 826 New Orleans
In this lesson, students are challenged to reevaluate the way water and land are represented on a map.
by Emily Clader & Daniel Reck, 826michigan
Students will create infinite poems using fractals, imagine life on a doughnut, and speculate about a universe where time goes crazy. Along the way, they'll explore cool, new math facts and concepts.
by Summer Medina, 826NYC
Self-power comes from many places. In this Lesson, students will discover the power that comes from speaking and writing in multiple languages through poetry.
by KQED Education
This lesson from KQED Education asks students to choose an issue they care about and create an editorial cartoon advocating for change on a local, national, or global level.
by Katie Manning and Brandon Brown, 826LA
Students enter The Poetry Laboratory, no lab coats required, and use methods of observation and playful strategies to embark on the process of writing poetry.
by Bryan Wilson, Educator Leader, The Bureau of Fearless Ideas
What do you get when you mix foraging with metaphors? Metaphoraging, of course! In this interactive lesson, students will forage their learning space for metaphors.
by Aran Donovan, 826 New Orleans
Students (virtually) explore a local cemetery and write a monologue from a famous person buried there, including facts from their research and imagined details from a mapping exercise.
by Dave Eggers, 826 Valencia
Over a flexible series of activities, students will learn to draw details from real life to create unforgettable characters and compelling stories.
by Marini Drobish, 826 Digital Educator Leader
This lesson invites students to write a modern day fairy tale. Students will reconstruct classic fairy tales by choosing to focus on altering one story element: setting, point of view, or resolution.
by Jillian Wasick, 826 Valencia
Students write ekphrastic poems, exploring and creating connections between text and image.
by 826 National, in partnership with Paramount Pictures
Imaginary friends come in all shapes and sizes! Inspired by the new Paramount Pictures movie, IF, students will create their own imaginary friend to take with them on their next adventure.
by Tom Molanphy, 826 Valencia
Students will learn to see home in a fresh way, to walk through doors and open windows they never noticed, and to find the stories that home holds.
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