Teaching Tolerance
Collage of Concerns
A picture can speak louder than words. An interesting lesson introduces the themes of social justice and diversity to young learners by having them create artwork. Scholars create collages from a variety of sources to showcase what...
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Wynton's Tune
Young scholars examine the serigraph, "Wynton's Tune," by artist Faith Ringgold. They discuss the painting, listen to jazz music, create a drawing that tells a story inspired by their favorite music, and write sentences describing their...
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Wanted Poster
Students examine a fairy tale character of their choice in great detail. They create a wanted poster that includes the following: a picture of the character, a written description of his/her appearance, a reward amount, and reasonthe...
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Rain Forest Writing
First graders have already examined the characteristics of the rainforest. They write a story about the rainforest and it can be fact or fiction. They type their story in the computer lab to be published.
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Planets
First graders study the planets in the solar system. In this planets lesson, 1st graders read Planets, then create a mobile containing all of the planets in the correct order. Students will label the planets with descriptive words.
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Sensory Descriptors
Students feel items in a bucket and describe them using descriptive words. In this sensory descriptive lesson plan, students use words such as smoothe, rough, and bumpy.
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Guess My Shape
Students describe shapes to other students who have to guess that shape. In this shape lesson plan, students describe shape attributes to other students. Then those other students have to guess the shape that is being described to them....
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What's in Our Woods?
Learners observe their local forest and document the change that occurs over the school year. For this forestry lesson, students utilize a GPS to mark a certain area of the woods as their study area for the remainder of the year....
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Write Your Own "I Have a Dream" Speech
Students listen to King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. They use a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet to express their dreams for the world in a format similar to King's speech.
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Making Words
Students add letters to teacher provided endings to make new words. In this phonics lesson, students learn to make new words using word families. A sample worksheet is provided and a rubric
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Talking About Your Name in Math Terms
Add imagination and creativity to your math instructional activity. Young mathematicians investigate ways to express their names in mathematical terms. For instance, they can count the number of letters, analyze the geometric shapes of...
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Story Starters for Beginning Readers and Writers
Students respond to a story starters about a dinosaur, present, pet store, puppy or another topic of interest to primary-grade students. They dictate or write stories in response to 15 story starters designed to develop language skills.
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Candy Heart Stories
Learners will write stories using the words that are found on candy conversation hearts. They show the proper use of quotation marks while writing the stories with modifications. Randomly, hearts will be selected to start a conversation...
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Counting Back and Counting On
Read aloud your choice of books about counting on and counting back (a list is provided, or tell stories of your own). Your learners will write horizontal equations to portray what happens in the story. They build a paper chain and...
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Vocabulary
Pupils use new vocabulary words in their speech and writing and spell them correctly. In this vocabulary lesson plan, students create portfolios of their vocabulary work.
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Dressing Pets
Students compare and contrast different careers and life choices. They associate activities with uniforms or other clothing, and apply those associations to the creative personification of their pets. They then use their imaginations to...
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Extraterrestrials Visit Earth
Young scholars compare the unique characteristics of Earth to other planets and then write descriptions of Earth that might attract fictional extraterrestrials to visit the planet. They design an appealing travel brochure that...
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Squiggle Sculpture
Students work cooperatively to create a unique visual arts presentation. They write a detailed description of their own visual art using the art elements and principles of visual organization as a basis for their comments.
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Reap What You Sow with Writing
Students practice using graphic organizers to summarize The Little Red Hen and the Grain of Wheat.
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Garden Journals
Students create "Garden Journals" using construction paper, poster board, and general art supplies in this Art, Science, Reading, and Writing lesson for the early-elementary classroom. This activity may be done at the beginning of the...
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Sensory Details
Students observe their environment and write detailed, sensory-specific sentences about that environment. This lesson can be extended to include the creation of a personalized story or movie of the experience (student examples are...
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Picture This
Students, after explaining the famous quote, "A picture is worth a thousand words," supply the missing words to a wordless story by Mercer Mayer called "A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog." They brainstorm the setting, plot, descriptive words,...
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Corn Cob Toys
Learners make toys from corn cobs. They study the many uses for corn, both historically and today. They write a description of the toy/object he or she has made and provide instructions for making it. They write and perform plays,...
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Liftoff Into Space
Students explore the history of space exploration. For this history of space exploration lesson, students create a timeline of space exploration. Students watch a space video and discuss important events. Students research space...