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Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, Written by Himself
Foster reader confidence when encountering complex text and reinforce the skills readers have acquired to build and extend their understanding of text. The plan uses a section of Douglass’ narrative as an exemplar text. Directions for...
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Jim Murphy, The Great Fire - Grade 6
The Great Fire by Jim Murphy provides the text for a study of the Chicago fire of 1871. The plan is designed as a close reading activity so that all learners have the same background information require for writing. Richly detailed, the...
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Mississippi Trial, 1955: Pre-reading Strategy
Pink and Say, a picture book by Patricia Polacco, and an anticipation guide, set the stage for a reading of Mississippi Trial, 1955, Chris Crowe's novel based on the true story of the murder of Emmett Till. Instructional routines, the...
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What is Theme?
What is theme, and how can you find themes in literary works? These and other questions are answered by a colorful and engaging presentation that not only defines the term but also provides easy to understand examples. The slides...
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Junk Food Jungle
Students become familiar with the nutritional value of foods advertised on television and in magazines. They discuss different types of foods and where snack food fits into a healthy diet. They categorize the foods they eat as healthy or...
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Arkansas' Top Ten Events of the Century....Says Who? Why? Deciding What is Important in History
Middle and high schoolers work in small groups to compare four different lists published in the Arkansas Times newspaper which chose the "top ten" Arkansas news events of the 20th century. Learners look for similarities and differences...
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Informational Text Features
How can you tell if the text you're reading is informational or narrative? Show your reading class this basic PowerPoint to illustrate the characteristics of an informational text. What makes this presentation especially effective is...
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Reporting from the Front Lines
Students examine the battle of Gettysburg as they write news articles. In this Battle of Gettysburg lesson, students become familiar with the job of the news reporter as they report on the events of the Battle of Gettysburg as they write...
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Double Jeopardy Clause: A Fifth Amendment Constitution Trivia Game
Here is a wonderful way to introduce your learners to the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. There are 16 questions designed to generate thinking and discussion questions about the Fifth Amendment. This lesson is extremely...
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Biography Chat
Students profile a mock television talk-show format to conduct mock interviews with famous people in history. Students read biographies of famous people in history. Students assemble questions for interviews.
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Gold Rush California and its Diverse Population
Students compare contemporary cultural differences with historical differences based on population percentage. In this cross-curriculum Gold Rush/math lesson plan, students analyze aspects of California's Gold Rush population and...
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The Cowboy Life
Travel back in time to the 1800s and research the Old West! Elementary and middle schoolers work with a partner to complete at least four activities from a list provided by the teacher. They use these activities to present their...
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Yellow Pages Ad-dition
Students determine the revenue generated by sample pages from the Yellow Pages. They discuss the value of advertising a business in this venue. They use the local telephone directory and some fictitious ad rates to lead their inquiry.
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Tone and Mood
How are mood and tone similar? Different? Help your readers understand the difference between the two with this helpful guide. On the first page, they read the definition for both tone and mood and identify words that are describe each....
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Deconstructing an Advertisement
Bring in a stack of magazines and distribute this advertisement analysis worksheet to your emerging analysts. As your class members ponder an ad, they answer a series of questions to help them perform a complete analysis. They consider...
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Narrative Writing
Binoculars are used as a metaphor for good descriptive writing. Class members first view a small picture and then an enlarged view of the same image in which the details come into focus. Next, learners examine a paragraph lacking sensory...
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Northwest Coast Indians: Spring and Summer Salmon
Here is a fabulous lesson about the cultures of the Northwest Indians. Through an exploration of a story about the Salmon People, learners study the practice of harvesting salmon and the cultural importance of salmon to the Northwest...
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Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?
Here is a nicely designed lesson on ancestry and family history. In it, learners read an article entitled, "Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?" Then, they make up a series of questions to profile their family and their community 100...
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Another Argument at the Dinner Table?
Here is an interesting activity on discursive text. Learners read a short essay that expresses two opinions regarding choices of foods to eat by young people. After reading the text, pupils must fill out the activity. It has them write...
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Hyperbole Lesson Plans: Ideas for the Art of Exaggeration
Hyperbole lesson plans and ideas that make figurative language instruction relevant to students' lives. Discover how to help learners better understand the figurative concept of hyperbole. A fantastic article which includes multiple web...
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How to Implement Project Based Learning to Engage Students
Can a math teacher employ project-based learning? Learn how one great math teacher uses PBL to design math projects that provide learners with a more challenging and holistic learning experience. A wonderful article, that includes three...
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The Mighty Apostrophe
Here is a well-designed presentation on apostrophes and their many uses. The apostrophe is used in many different ways, and this PowerPoint does a great job of showing how it's used. There is a nice interactive component built in, and...
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The Atom
If you are beginning a unit of study on atoms, this presentation would be an excellent way to begin! In it, learners discover many facts about atoms. For example, it would take 50,000 aluminum atoms stacked together to equal the...
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Immigration Debate
The 2010 immigration bill passed in Arizona provides class members with an opportunity to examine various perspectives of the immigration debate by watching news videos, reading interview, editorials, and viewing images. Discussion...