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During Reading Strategies
Students employ strategies to increase comprehension while they are reading. In this language arts lesson, students must infer, predict and visualize in order to improve comprehension.
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Cold Sassy Tree: Multicultural Strategy
Analyze the characters in Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree with this assignment. After reading the majority of the novel, class members choose a character and make a visual representation of the character, including any important...
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Horror Tales: What Makes Them Spooky?
Before you jump into this lesson, be aware there is little to work with. That being said, the ideas are solid and will be brought to life with a little Halloween spirit. Learners examine horror as a sub-genre, and contemplate what makes...
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The Purpose and Power of Persuasion
Examine the power of persuasion and have learners consider how it influences events in their own lives. After reading and analyzing informational texts to understand the author's purpose, class members take a written test and craft a...
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"Blackbeard's Ghost" Differentiated Lesson Plan
Develop a better understanding of "Blackbeard's Ghost" with this differentiated lesson plan. Working in groups on a creative project, middle schoolers can reinforce their reading comprehension and literary analysis skills. Use this...
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Problem-Solving Processes and Figurative Language
Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...
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Dancing through Poetry
Get your class up and moving as they explore how to express movement and dance through words. Designed around two poems by Lillian Morrison about break dancing, the activity truly captures the creative and multi-sensory aspects of...
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Rest in Peace, Maniac Magee
Scholars read Maniac Magee and create epitaphs for each of the major characters using precise words reflecting the individual characters personality and nature. They will learn what an epitaph is and practice writing their own. They can...
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Acrostic Book Report
Students read the story Wild Horse Winter and construct acrostic poems. In this poetry lesson, students use adjectives and events in the text to develop an acrostic poem.
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Poetry and Visualization
Students use visualization techniques when reading poetry. In this visualization and poetry lesson, students work in groups to present a tableau that depicts a word from the poem as classmates guess the word. Students then read the...
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Landmarks of the Underground Railroad
Students explore Civil Rights by reading several books in class. In this Underground Railroad lesson, students discuss The Story of Henry Box Brown and identify the location and functionality of the Underground Railroad. Students answer...
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Autobiographies: A Jigsaw Puzzle
Learners read The Autobiography of Ben Franklin. Using construction paper, they cut out five jigsaw puzzle pieces in different shapes using the entire sheet of paper. They write events from their own lives on the puzzle pieces, thus...
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Charlotte's Web Trading Card
Students read Charlotte's Web, view variety of trading cards, discuss what they know about trading cards and their purpose, choose character from story, complete bubble map about character, and create character trading card using...
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Blanket the Plains
Students discuss vivid imagery in a story. In this figurative language lesson, students read samples of sensory language and then discuss the meaning of a piece of figurative language. Students provide examples.
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Digital Poetry Books
Students, after reviewing the writing process and assessing how to use a digital camera to take creative photos, create a Digital Poetry Book. They incorporate the use of Microsoft Photo Draw and Publisher for the creation of their...
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Metric Meals
Sixth graders investigate metric measurements. In this metric measurement lesson, 6th graders explore mass, capacity, and length. Students examine graduated cylinders and balance scales to obtain measurements. Resources are provided.
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Exploring American Tall Tales
Young scholars explore elements of American folktales and tall tales. In this literature instructional activity, students read examples of American folktales and tall tales and prepare a monologue or news report to present to the class...
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Signing a Poem
Students interpret poetry though movement. In this poetry lesson students take a poem they've previously read and discussed in class and work in pairs to develop gestures for each line.
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Through the Looking-Glass Chess: Create Your Own Games!
Sixth graders research chess in relation to the metaphors in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass. They read the novel and note references to chess and research the history of chess and how to play the game. In groups, they create...
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Hero Holiday and Portfolio Completed
Students summarize the unit on heroes and present picture books to younger students. In this hero lesson, students compile their portfolios, in which they have presented heroic characteristics of their own classmates. Students bind...
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Multicultural Literature Lesson Plan The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland
Sixth graders begin reading "The Lotus Seed" before determining a plant that is a representative of their country or region. They illustrate the plant and write sentences about it and locate the region on a map. Finally, they make a...
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Folktale Improvisation
Sixth graders present reader's theatre by improvising folktales from different countries. In groups, they produce an improvisation of a folktale story from an assigned reading of a folktale.
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Modern day Folktales: Recasting Folktales in the 21st Century
Students write their own modern day folktale and compare it with "Cathal O'Cruachan and the Cowherd." In addition, they illustrate a character from the original Irish folktale and how the same character would appear today. Students read...
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Poverty and Natural Disasters: Exploring the Connections
Students explore the connections between natural disasters and poverty. In this economic activity students examine worksheets and activities for each level.