Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
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Introducing Literacy Elements in Nonfiction
Explore nonfiction writing with your class. They will identify elements in nonfiction by reviewing elements of fiction. Then they use biographies, memoirs, menus, Time for Kids, and text books to identify elements of nonfiction. They...
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Story Mapping Abel's Island
Students are able to prioritize story elements using graphic organizers. They are able to evaluate character, setting and sequence in a non-print source. Students use visual and audio clues to help them evaluate the parts of a story.
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Fictional Hereos
Students are introduced to the definition of a hero. As a class, they compare and contrast the difference between non-fictional and fictional hereos they have read about. They read a story, create a story map of one of the heroes and...
Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment
Concept Muraling
Concept muraling helps learners improve their comprehension of a text by giving them a way to organize their understanding of the key concepts in that text. Introduce readers to this process with a carefully scaffolded lesson that models...
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Chinese Minority Cultures
Seventh graders identify the elements that characterize culture in literature.
Students analyze the representation of Chinese minority peoples
through textbooks. Students identify and interpret the differences among the people of China.
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Power of Point of View
Sometimes a whole story can change based on the perspective of the person telling it. Practice identifying and analyzing point of view in various reading passages and writing assignments with a language arts packet, complete with Common...
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The Bear Facts About Summarization
Students practice summarizing techniques in this lesson. They listen as the teacher reads from a non-fiction article, and the class creates a story map to highlight the most important facts from the article. They use the map to write a...
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Prince Ibrahima
Sixth graders read and utilize the facts from the story "Abd al-Rahmen Ibrahima" by Walter Dean Myers to analyze the main character's life which is ruined by conflict, jealousy, and greed. Journal entries are created in response to the...
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Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
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Frontier Life Story
Students explore American frontier life. In this history lesson, students participate in a series of activities that challenge them to discover what pioneer life was really like.
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Most Wanted Villians
Students review the characteristics of various characters in fairytales. As a class, they review the story details and create a concept map using a software program. They create their own wanted poster of the villians in the fairytale to...
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Utilizing Art, Literature and Film to Teach Black History
Fifth graders are introduced to different aspects of African-American history through literature, art, and films. As a class, they are read a story about the Underground Railroad, identify the main characters and put the events into...
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A True Story Appalachia
Students engage in a reading activity to learn about the Appalachia Mountains. The use of literature is important to provide context for the geography lesson. This lesson is strong because it allows the teacher to teach across the...
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What is a Folktale?
Middle schoolers are read an apache folktale and discuss the characters in the story. Using the text, they identify the factors that make it a folktale and not a fairy tale. On a map, they locate where the Apache people live. As a class,...
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Genres in Literature
Students analyze and differentiate between various genres of literature. They view a slideshow, take a true/false quiz, create an Idea Pad file, and create an idea map of the various genres.
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Puerto Rico: The 51st State?
Students examine the political status of Puerto Rico. In this global studies instructional activity, students explore Puerto Rico and consider the feelings of Puerto Ricans regarding their unique political status.
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Latin American Film
Middle schoolers critique, discuss, and identify characters in a film about Latin America. In this Latin America lesson plan, students watch the film and discuss the film and everyday life.
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Thematic Unit: Beginning Holocaust Studies
Fifth graders discuss concepts of diversity, culture, and prejudice, gain understanding of harm caused by prejudice, and demonstrate ability to think critically and a desire to act morally.
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Holocaust Unit
Students read a book about World War II and the Holocaust while in small literature circles. They write journal entries and news articles based on the reading.
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That's Not Fair!! Human Rights Violations during the 1800s
Learners explore the migration of African Americans into the Hoosier area. They develop a time line showing migration patterns in Indiana and explore reasons for African Americans to settle and/or travel through Indiana.
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Lands That I Love
Students create a graph showing their family roots. They read about how immigrants can develop strong feelings for two countries. They discover the importance of their earliest memories.
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Mississippi Delta Blues Moves: Second in a Series of Three with Barb Hoffman and Steve Hoskins, MGM
Students complete a graphic organizer reviewing Barb Hoffman's prior activity," Slave Songs (1840-1876)" as well as listen to and discuss Delta Blues music samples. Students research one Delta Blues singer and write a "color coded"...