The second novel from Taffy Brodesser-Akner is even more ambitious and suggests this author’s talents are boundless.
A blank novel outline template for use with Google Docs, Google Keep, and Scrivener. The One Page Novel is a simple, memorable structure for novelists.
These dialogue tips and examples will help you enliven your dialogue and write effective dialogue that reveals your characters' feelings, desires and more.
I saw a blurb that likened Pizza Girl to Convenience Store Woman, but that wasn't the vibe I got from it. The tone reminded me more of Jamie Marina Lau...
No matter whether you love or loathe the long novel you teach, the same struggles pop up every time we come around to teaching it year after year. For me, it’s To Kill a Mockingbird . It’s a 400 page monster! It’s fun dawdling around with setting and making maps of May
How to Write The Perfect Psychopath. Psychopaths feel nothing, this makes them able to carry out heinous acts without any bit of feeling of remorse.
David Benioff American novel writer, producer and screenwriter. This USA screenwriter most notable one is the work he did on Game of Thrones.
Two Roads by Joseph Bruchac – Novel Guide “Two Roads” by Joseph Bruchac is an upper elementary and middle school novel that will leave every single student and teacher having lear…
I saw a blurb that likened Pizza Girl to Convenience Store Woman, but that wasn't the vibe I got from it. The tone reminded me more of Jamie Marina Lau...
Here's a super simple and fun project that you can have your students complete during your next novel study. I call them "Matchbook Summaries," for lack of a better term, and they require little prep
I randomly came up with this idea during the last week of school. One of my reading groups had finished their book and project before any of the other groups had finished. Instead of giving them a new book (there was only one week left), I quickly created this template and told them to pick an event in history and research it. I had one boy choose the Vikings, someone else chose the atomic bomb, a girl wanted the great depression, and another student picked the Korean war. I loved that everyone had such diverse topics. After they got started, I saw some great learning take place in my classroom! Because it's an inquiry-based activity, they generated their own questions. And because they got to choose their own topic, they were excited and felt ownership over the project. I plan on using this next year as a fun fast finisher activity. This list is something I quickly generated. {I know it is not all inclusive - if I left something off that you really want me to add on, please leave me a comment.} This would be fun to hang up somewhere in the back of the classroom so fast finishers can work on a project whenever they want. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD HISTORY DETECTIVES! * * * * * Want to hear some GREAT news? I am leaving next week on an 8 day history trip to Virginia where I get to study at the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute! I also get to visit Jamestown and Yorktown. I'm so excited! I plan on posting lots of the things I learn, including pictures!
The Selected Letters of Willa Cather, despite the author's wish for her correspondence to remain unpublished, finally sees the light of day this month. The editors of the book, Andrew Jewell and Janis Stout, take us inside the private life of a great American writer.
This bundle is for the novel Two Roads by Joseph Bruchac. Included: Novel introduction activity short answer questions for each chapter An essay prompt and pre writing activity A culminating project instructions and rubric Characterization worksheets A figurative language activity
Teaching the Great Gatsby? To deepen student thinking and discussion, situate this American classic within its historical context. (blog post)
This little root has it all! Sweet, tender, with an unbeatable texture--no wonder this is our most popular Parsnip! All-American is right, this one is a heavy hitter!
Once I’ve had some time away from my first draft, it’s time to start in on revisions. Naturally, the first stage in revisions is . . . the second draft! The second draft is the most complicated stage of my writing process, and half the time I feel like I have to re-learn this
A Charlotte's Web unit study perfect for homeschool, classroom, or thematic novel study. The book study resources listed in this post are all FREE!
Jami Gold's Writing Worksheets: Help for all writers, from newbies to experts and from plotters to pantsers.
At the end of each novel I teach, I like to have my students participate in some sort of culminating literary analysis project that allows me to assess their
As sweet as a macaron from Laduree, this romantic novel set in Paris about an American ballerina and a charming French boy is parfait for fans of American Royals and Netflix's Emily in Paris. Mia Jenrow has always known she's destined to be a professional ballerina. In fact, it’s in her blood—according to family legend, her too-many-greats-to-count-grandmother once danced for the Paris Opera and was painted by Degas himself! Her parents say it’s just a fantasy, but to Mia it’s so much more than that. It’s her fate. Mia is planning to spend a magical summer in France pursuing her dream, but as she pirou-ettes into Paris, she soon realizes it may be a bit more complicated than she hoped. For starters, there’s her rival, Audrey, who will stop at nothing to show her up. There’s her ballet instructor, whose impossibly high standards push her to the breaking point. And then . . . there’s Louis. Devastatingly, distractingly charming Louis. He’s eager to show Mia his city—and Mia is more than happy to hop on his Vespa and wrap her arms around him as they pass the gleaming lights of the Eiffel Tower. Mia’s summer was supposed to be about ballet—but there’s a reason Paris is called the City of Love. . . .
Free Novel Writing Worksheets (PDFs) The cornerstone of the Novel Factory software for writers is to handle useful information that authors might be collating in order to help them write their novel. This could be relating to plot, characters, locations and more. As well a offering a place to keep all that data, the Novel…
Do you struggle with plotting? A simple, easy-to-follow template for writing a fictional story is the W-Plot, perfect for both new writers and non-plotters. The W-Plot structure allows you freedom to create yet keeps your story on track all the way to that grand satisfying end. In our post, How to Write a Novel with the W-Plot Template, we break down each step to take the frustration out of plotting and give you tips to write a story readers will love.
Hi teacher friends, Some of my favorite memories in elementary school were centered around reading novels in the classroom! I’ll always remember making a glittery web with glue and black paper while reading Charlotte’s Web in third grade. (I also remember our teacher scolding us for the giant glittery mess on the
Strategies, activities, and assessments for teaching The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich; includes discussion questions, tests, & Native American lessons
We need the bigger, better deal Every English teacher I know is looking for the bigger, better deal when it comes to assessing novels. We’ve moved WAY beyond the simple book report (I hope), and into the realm of critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis. In recent years I’ve tried the mandala (which you can read… Continue reading The Character Study One Pager- An Assessment for Any Novel
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is awarded "for distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life". Here are eighteen great Pulitzer Prize-winning books from the past 100 years...
Lost Children Archive, her first novel in English, dismantles America’s “great theater of belonging.”
Writing a novel is a task that often requires planning before you start putting words on paper.
