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Design a Reef!
Here is an ambitious, but highly valuable undertaking: set up a miniature coral reef in your classroom. Young marine scientists research coral reef ecosystems and ensure all vital factors are included in their functioning model. The...
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Co-Operation: Drama
For some schools, character-counts lessons are a big part of the curriculum. This resource focuses on following directions and the importance of being a cooperative team player. Learners role-play a variety of situations by being...
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Seed to Soup Organic Garden
Have your young biologists visit decomposition stations as they explore the process of organic material. This activity involves some set-up as kids will be visiting 13 desks to collect colored paper each representing a different element...
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Packing Nouns
Play a noun game with your class. Put a suitcase in the middle of the room and have each class member, in turn, name a noun that begins with a specified letter of the alphabet. To ramp up the challenge, assign concrete, abstract, proper,...
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Animal Behavior - Why Do Dogs Drool?
Students explore types of studied behavior animals acquire. Using a Smart Board file, students simulate rewarding a studied behavior. To further reinforce studied behaviors, students play "Pavlov's Dog" on an internet website. Students...
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If I Were A Statue
Students locate and identify statues in their local community. They write what they would see or hear and how they would feel if they were statues. They illustrate their stories.
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Circulatory System
Students rotate through various physical activities checking their carotid pulse after each. This activity will give knowledge to students about health behaviors and understanding the exercise aspect of growth and development.
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Unlocking Soliloquies and Unleashing "the Dogs of War"
What is a soliloquy, and who is Julius Caesar? Explore soliloquies with this lesson that gets your kids up and moving! Learners line up, facing each other. Then they read the soliloquy (one side reads one line, and the other side reads...
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What's That?
Meant to be a simulation of a deep-sea exploration, this requires that another lesson be completed first. In that lesson, titled "Animals of the Lost City," marine biology buffs construct murals of benthic communities. In this lesson,...
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Time Capsule: Oral Presentation
A great way to gain proficiency when learning a new language is to prepare an oral presentation. In this foreign language lesson, pairs collaborate to develop a Time Capsule which they present to their class using their target language.
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Rules, Routines and Protocols of P.E.
Divided into groups of threes or fours, class members develop skits that demonstrate their knowledge of classroom rules, routines, and protocols.
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Your Own Classroom Court
Create your own classroom court. After studying courtroom proceedings, with a focus on the concept of a trial by a jury of your peers, pupils create a set of classroom rules and develop a procedure for solving conflicts. They then are...
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Using the Internet to Challenge Young Writers
Designed as a professional development exercise to introduce teachers to the Internet, the activities in this resource ask novice web surfers to access a series of sites, bookmark them, and answer question about information found on the...
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Feelin' Swing, Part 2
Upper elementary schoolers listen to and reproduce the rythm of Mary Lou William's musical piece, "Scratchin' in the Gravel." The swing song was written at a time that women did not play jazz. She broke the rules by playing and writing...
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Beat the Clock
Tired of wasting time trying to get your class to split up into groups? Engage in an activity to help your charges manage time. Learners reflect on a time they were left out or rejected, and then practice forming groups of three within...
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Making Sense of Homographs
What is a homograph? Develop your students' vocabulary with a word association tool. Language arts classes discover what a homograph is and how it can be used as a visual thesaurus. They discover the other uses for homographs such as...
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Magical Creatures Land
The opening of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit provides a model of how to use rich details to create a setting. After reading the description of Bilbo Baggins’ abode, young writers create their own magical home for a fantasy creature. The...
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Introducing the Hamburger Model or Persuasive Writing
A one-page template provides primary writers with a graphic organizer to assist them in drafting a persuasive paragraph. Labeled the “Hamburger Model” because of its appearance, the worksheet asks pupils to craft an introduction, provide...
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Identify Intended Media Messages
How does media convey different messages? Use this lesson to explore media by identifying and analyzing selected images. Middle schoolers analyze a poster and discuss the intended meaning of the imagery and how it makes them feel. They...
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Speak Up for Recycling
Are you looking for ways to enhance a persuasive writing or speech unit? Use this lesson to prompt your young writers to investigate a school recycling program. After conducting research, they present a persuasive, well-organized speech...
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American Revolution Simulation: Colonial History, Drama
Young scholars explain why the American colonies declared the independence, students should relate to that which is held most dearly i.e. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They participate in a drama that illustrates this.
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The Magic Apple
Second graders assimilate information about the origins and purpose of folktales as stories that informed and entertained people around the world. They determine how and why the folktales were handed down and how they changed from...
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Science and Art Museum
Imagine each one of your learners on task and interested in scientific material. Learners investigate science related art by creating a small museum! Using digital cameras, pupils photograph different scientific actions that look...
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Who's On First?
Have you ever considered why the number 10 is so important to us? That's what learners do here. They explore patterns formed by powers of ten and by decimals, convert units of measure within the metric system, and express these in the...