Students will apply their understanding of plot elements and characterization to write an original, inclusive resolution to a shared story.
This lesson is presented in collaboration with Cartoon Network’s “Stop Bullying: Speak Up” initiative and encourages students across the country to share their stories on inclusion and empathy. The lesson invites students to practice inclusion through writing in two ways: first, students will make positive choices when writing about characters who stand up to bullying and work towards inclusive resolutions. Second, students will write alongside thousands of peers across the country when offering their solution to a shared story.
A note on timing: This lesson was designed as a writing workshop, with a suggested time commitment of approximately 2 hours. Pending your schedule, grade level, and students’ background knowledge, you may opt to distribute the activities over the course of 2-5 days.
by Paris Hyun, 826LA
Students play the role of benevolent inventor. They identify and think critically about real world problems, and create an ingredients list and usage instructions for an elixir that fixes the problem.
by Emilia Rivera and Ashley Smith, 826 Valencia
Students will report about their favorite neighborhood places and write a review about the most special one.
by Ashlyn Anstee, 826LA
Using the classic battle between superheroes and villains as inspiration, students will create their own twist on a superhero comic, featuring believable characters and Marvel-worthy dialogue.
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 Rebecca Escoto and Cynthia Aguilar, 826LA
Students will identify the characteristics of a hero, familiarize themselves with heroes in their own community, and write an explanatory piece identifying a hero in their community.
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 826 New Orleans
Students will imagine what they would do if they were someone or something else.
by Jory John, 826 Valencia
Students will explore the essentials of an effective “how-to” piece, while considering their own areas of interest and expertise to share with their peers and the world at large.
by Emily Lam, 826 Valencia
In this lesson, students will go through the steps in the writing process (pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, publishing) to produce a zine that highlights what makes them special.
by Ashley Smith, 826 Valencia
In this lesson, students will explore different holidays people celebrate around the world and then create a new holiday of their own.
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 Kim Adelman, 826LA
In this lesson, students imagine trading lives with a fictional character for a day and write about the fantastic possibilities that would ensue.
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 Rebecca Darugar, 826NYC
Students investigate the plant life that grows within their community and then select a specific species to learn about in-depth and consider how that species interacts with the overall ecosystem.
by Kathy Seipp, 826 Digital Educator Leader
In this lesson, students will illustrate the literal and figurative meaning of idioms and write using idioms.
By Jillian Wasick, 826 Valencia
In this lesson, students write vegetable-inspired superhero stories.
by Nicolien Buholzer, 826LA
In this lesson, students write letters to someone special and reflect on the impact of being kind towards others.
by Jayne Kennedy, 826LA
Gather students around the metaphorical campfire to craft a brochure for a Nature Preserve on another planet, complete with wild critters, plant life, unique geological formations, and park history
by Nesley Rojo, 826 Valencia
Students will practice identifying personification and then use sensory detail and figurative language to express it in their writing.
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 Ellen Fee, 826 MSP
Students will learn about endangered species, how animals become endangered, and then write either a poem or a story about a day-in-the-life about an endangered animal of their choosing.
by Jessica Barbaria, 826NYC
In this lesson, students dive into the many forms bullying can take, create scripts and role-play bullying scenarios, and reflect on their own experiences with bullying.
by Abigail Jacobs & Taylor Jacobson, 826 Valencia & 826LA
This lesson teaches students to write proposals so convincing no parent can resist them.
by Nicolien Buholzer, 826LA
In this lesson, students consider the perspective of a villain they love to hate. They will create a compelling backstory for the character and write short stories from the villain’s point of view.
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 Kyley Pulphus, 826 New Orleans
In this workshop, students will create a pourquoi tale, or origin story, of how a local delicacy came to be.
by Nathalie Lagerfeld & Jill Carey, 826CHI
Borrowing inspiration from out-of-this-world illustrations, students will create an amazing sci-fi story with a fantastical setting, realistic characters, and page-turning plot.
by Jane Roschen, 826LA
This lesson prompts students to explore the exciting range of things they can do when they grow up and highlights the importance of education, curiosity, and role models.
by Nicolien Buholzer, 826LA
Students team up to write collaborative short stories about a character who stands up to a bully and discover how they can help end bullying.
by Mindy Misener, 826michigan
Students learn how poetry can “break the rules” then practice breaking the “rules” in their own poems by challenging the expectations, assumptions, and principles their work set up.
by Rebecca Glaser, 826 Digital Educator Leader
Students craft campaigns to take on an issue in their community, using formal and informal writing to convince others to take action.
by AT Bianchi & Kati Shanks, 826michigan
In this lesson, students imagine a fictional sport for fantastic beings, create a statistic for that sport, and write a newspaper article about the championship game.
by Kendra Lappin, 826 Valencia
Students will become naturalists for the day by performing field observations and recording their thoughts in a field journal.
by Neil Gordon, 826LA
Using precise, clear instructions, each student will create a treasure hunt document that provides clues for finding a treasure hidden in a location of their choosing.
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 Ashley Smith, 826 Valencia
Students find gratitude all around as they thank ordinary objects in their lives in the form of an ode.
by Lindsay Ringwald, 826LA
In this lesson, students will imagine a narrative in the form of a craigslist advertisement to showcase a typically scary monster as a down to earth creature.
by Dr. Bunny McFadden, 826 Valencia
Imagination opens doors to new possibilities. This lesson allows students to exercise their imaginations by describing an imaginary door to the future and picturing what is beyond it.
by Nicolien Buholzer, 826LA
Why does kindness count? In this lesson, students will consider acts of kindness they’ve experienced or witnessed and reflect on the difference that kindness makes in the world.
by Miriam Nash, Ministry of Stories and BBC History
In this lesson, students will emulate Dylan Thomas’ famous drama, Under Milk Wood. Students will create imaginative works of fiction that examine their neighborhood in order to bring it to life.
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 826 National and Cartoon Network
Students write two stories focused on the power of inclusion with this downloadable, printable, DIY publishing kit.