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Fractured Fairy Tales
Through reading and writing, learners explore common elements found in fairy tales. After discussing traditional fairy tales, class members listen to The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by John Scieszka, a hilarious retelling of the...
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My Hero Learning Circle
Students participate in a collaboration activity. In this My Hero Project lesson, students discover what a hero is to someone halfway around the world and themselves. Over the 16-week session, circles, made up of between 6-9 classes from...
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From Caterpiller to Butterfly: Cycles, Circles, and Patterns
Students examine art of butterflies and discuss what they know about the insect. They create their own butterfly puppets and write a story to represent its life cycle.
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Civil Rights: Rosa Parks Centers
Research the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Rosa Parks. Set up different centers and have learners rotate through the activities aimed at researching Rosa Parks. They read The Bus Ride that Changed History: The Story of Rosa Parks, write a...
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Getting Hooked, Introduction for a Narrative
How can you interest your reader? Here is a great lesson on reading and discussing the characteristics of a narrative. Elementary schoolers explore writing techniques to hook the reader. They identify their hook and share their...
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Fun with Summarizing
Students practice summarization by creating a story map. After reading Freckle Juice, students working in groups, create a story map of the main events of the story. Groups use their story maps to summarize a chapter of the story and...
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Fourth graders read the novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for Reader's Circle, they also are writing a variety of pieces for the Writer's Workshop that is closely related to the novel. The quality and the quantity of work that...
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Acting for the Common Goods
The first of a three-part series on bullying, this plan has class members present skits about bullying, write and sign an anti-bullying pledge, and complete a service project. For the skit, learners use information from previous lessons...
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Cruise the News
Students utilize newspapers as a resource to complete various tasks. They read articles, write summaries, investigate the classified section, write commercials, and circle spelling words.
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Inspector Readers: The 002 Book Club
This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...
Education Outside
Nature's Treasure Map
Youngsters construct a map of treasures that they find along a nature trail as they hike. They also make sketches and create place names of some of the spots along the trail. Once back in class, pupils use their treasure maps to help...
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Plot Mobiles
Students read folktales and identify the plot of the story by making a mobile. In this inventive and colorful lesson, students listen to a variety of famous folktales, and practice identifying the plot. Then, they work together to create...
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Thanksgiving Acrostic Poems
Students watch streaming video, Holiday Facts and Fun: Thanksgiving, define and discuss acrostic poetry, complete circle map using words associated with Thanksgiving, and create acrostic Thanksgiving poems to be typed in Microsoft Word...
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Tibetan Monk Sand Paintings
Students complete an art project. In this sand paintings lesson, students learn about the history of mandalas and then create a sand painting of their own. Extensions include writing a story or poem about their sand painting, study of...
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If You Give a Mouse A Cookie
Students are read the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and develop their own story. They use a literature wheel to determine what the mouse will want next. They share their wheels with a friend.
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Weather and Climate
Students identify the words plain and climate and discuss what would happen if it never rained. Students identify and interpret the weather in Poland and create a web illustrating various weather patterns. Students write a 4-line poem...
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Surviving the Struggle: Ruby Bridges, Ryan White, and Anne Frank
Fourth graders develop a deeper understanding of Anne Frank's survival. They select significant subject matter for a family photo album, write photo captions expressing feelings as well as facts, and sequence material in a logical,...
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Self-Portrait Shields
Students listen to the story, The Shield of Athena, and examine the original context of the sculptural fragment of a fallen warrior. They list important events and people in their lives, then create shields that depict their personal...
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Getting to Know You
Students observe the teacher's basket which contains items that represent his/her childhood. They listen to a read aloud of Library Lil and complete a graphic organizer based on the story. They decorate a paper cut out with facts about a...
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Integrated Social Studies and Storytelling Lesson
Fourth graders study the Civil War. They examine online photos that are connected to Indiana's role in the Civil War. They choose one of these photos and in a story circle, tell a story about it. They tell who is in the picture, what...
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Spacd Day:Probing For Knowledge
Students investigate the uses and purpose of the Hubble telescope. They create a model of the telescope and conduct research about the history behind the invention of it. Students use the information in order to create a context for the...
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Cool, Clear Water - Or Is It?
Students use a problem solving method to offer a solution to one of the water quality problems within the Kansas Lower Republican River Basin. Groups research a problem area, then produce a skit, poem, song or story to illustrate the...
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Characterization
Students read the book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. In this character traits instructional activity, students read the book and identify character traits. Students draw pictures of a character from the book and describe the character...
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A memorial for Ground Zero
Students discuss memorials and design a memorial for the 9/11 victims.