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Classification of Animals
Sixth graders examine two-way classification systems using four mutually exclusive groups and two dimensions simultaneously. They then are given a set of plastic animals, asked to create a two-way classification system, then asked to...
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Persuasive Letters and The Tell Tale Heart
Students write persuasive letters based on "The Tell Tale Heart." They brainstorm topic sentences, main ideas, and details. They analyze the character and determine if he is innocent or guilty. They create a map listing their reasons to...
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Evaluate the Main Characters? Problem-Solving Processes
Students read passages from several sources and evaluate the text for various criteria. In this problem solving instructional activity, students evaluate character problem solving processes after reading passages. They will use a Venn...
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Seedfolks Final Writing Assessment
Wrap up a study of Seedfolks with a final essay. Writers can draft their essays by following the steps and filling in the organizer provided here. The packet begins with a prompt, includes a few basic requirements, and provides an...
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Picture This...
Students explore the concept of visualization as a means of comprehending what they read. Through modeling, they discover how to create mental pictures of what they read from both poems and books. As a class, they create a story quilt...
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Same, But Different
Students compare and contrast specific characters in the book, "Old Henry." They discuss similarities and differences between people and define character traits. They assess one's own character traits and have a class discussion about...
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Narrative Strategies
Sixth graders explore strategies authors use to make characters and setting seem real to readers. They develop characters and describe setting in original narratives. Students read myths and determine common themes found in myths from...
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Wonderful Westerns
For this book report worksheet, young scholars choose a novel about westerns to read and then completes six various assignments dealing with the novel of their choice.
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Book Illustration
Students view a video and discuss what illustrations in a book show and don't show. In this observation lesson, students look at the details on a page in Alice in Wonderland and create an illustration.
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Noncombatancy and the Seventh day Adventist Church
Upper graders investigate how the Seventh Day Adventists are objectors to the practice of war. The instructional activity covers the Civil War and examines the church's position about the practice of war. The research extends to modern...
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"Lawd! Lawd! Lawd!"
From British accents to Texan drawls, a character's dialect can be an important part of the reading experience. A Six-Trait writing activity guides learners through the analysis of a character's dialect (Daniel Keyes's Flowers for...
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Writing Takes Shape!
Students read The Greedy Triangle and discuss geometric solids. In this geometry lesson plan, students list the geo-solids in the world and create a graphic organizer to show where geo-solids exist.
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A Poem for Two Voices for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Poems For Two Voices are a great resource in any language arts classroom, whether you are studying poetry or not. Focusing on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this lesson prompts young authors to write a Poem For Two Voices...
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The Princess's Point of View
Everyone wants to be part of a royal family. Let your pupils experience the privilege of royalty by rewriting the story The Frog Prince from the point of view of the princess. While the story line remains the same, perspective is bound...
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Puck's Girdle
Fifth graders calculate the perimeters, areas, and volumes of everyday objects. They discuss the word problem involving Puck from the Shakespeare play "Mid-Summer Night's Dream," and invent and plan a method for solving the problem in...
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Analyzing Two or More Nonfiction Texts
How does recognizing the author's purpose help you draw conclusions about a topic? Using two articles (both are attached), learners brainstorm why each author wrote each article. Are their purposes similar or different? Learners use a...
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Audio Aesop: Listen to the Lesson!
Aesop's Fables are the focus of this language arts lesson. Young philosophers study and discuss the morals found in the most famous of Aesop's Fables. They write an original fable that teaches a common moral. A "Fable Listening Library"...
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Combining with Participial Phrases
Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...
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So Much Depends Upon...Sixteen-Word Imagery Poems Inspired by Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
After reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (and possibly shedding a few tears), middle schoolers work on their own sixteen-word poems with a Six Trait writing activity. They focus on word choice in this activity to capture an...
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Linking Writing to Creativity
In a GATE classroom, the key to producing creative writing is tapping into students' innate storytelling abilities.
Teach With Movies
Learning Guide To: Gone with the Wind
The film version of Gone with the Wind is the focus of this learning guide that asks viewers to consider some of the issues that the Southern states faced prior to and during the Civil War.
Space Awareness
Transforming Water Into Acid ... And Back
Greenhouse gases affect marine wildlife in life-threatening ways. Through experimentation, your classes explore the acidification of water from the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. As they introduce carbon dioxide to water, a pH...
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"Knot" the Whole Truth: Writing a Modern-Day Story with a Tall Tale's Voice
Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write their own...
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Understanding Stage Design: Using Visual Elements to Provide Information to an Audience
Students study about theatrical design by developing environments for improvised and scripted scenes. They develop focused ideas for an environment using visual elements.