Albert Shanker Institute
Economic Causes of the March on Washington
Money can't buy happiness, but it can put food on the table and pay the bills. The first of a five-lesson unit teaches pupils about the unemployment rate in 1963 and its relationship with the March on Washington. They learn how to create...
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The Last Word: Using Critical Thinking and Analysis to Reach a Decision
Want to explore the process of writing a persuasive essay and tie it in with the upcoming elections? Class members use Venn diagrams and the hamburger model of persuasive writing to write a five-paragraph essay on elections and...
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Data Analysis and Data Explorer
Students use the Data Explorer software to organize and display the test scores for the classes in stacked box-and-whisker plots, then analyze the results in paragraph form.
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Violence On TV
Learners examine violence on TV. For this data collection lesson, students explore TV violence. Learners watch TV shows and fill out a checklist about the amount of violence. Students organize and analyze the information to make a report.
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Information Shuffle
Gather some information, print it onto sentence strips, and then have your class physically shuffle the cards to better understand the importance of organizational patterns in writing. Middle school learners examine information for a...
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African American Women Before and After the Civil War: Slavery and Freedom
Learners listen to data on African American women in Texas before the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson, students compare and contrast the lives of slave and free women, and discuss case studies, locating areas on a map. Learners...
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School Autobiography
Students brainstorm for fifteen minutes independently, sketching out what they remember or how they want to organize their data. they write a journal along the lines of "what do you remember about kindergarten? Write to a (fictional)...
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Coin Count & Classification
Students make a prediction about how 100 pennies sort by decade or year and then test their predictions. They organize their data using a graph that is imbedded in this lesson.
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Sounds of the Season
During Christmas time, use common carols and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music as the basis for writing advertisements. Learners can work in teams or individually as they listen to songs via the links provided. A "Christmas Music Comparison...
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What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?
Students divide careers into clusters. In this vocational technology lesson, students prepare a PowerPoint presentation of one of the six career clusters. Working in small groups, students organize a variety of careers into the various...
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Interview! Magazine
Students interview a subject and write a biographical sketch for a fictional magazine. In this interview lesson, students choose a person to interview and create two sets of questions. Students conduct the interview. Students then write...
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Gandhi Speech Writing
Explore non-violent protest in this social values and world history lesson. After viewing the movie Gandhi, and discussing important events in Gandhi's life, young orators write a speech defending Gandhi's position on the value of...
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Ethnic Folklore in Your Classroom: Traditions, Tales, and Treasures from Tijuana to Timbuktu
Students create their own festival. In this folk life lesson plan, students research their folklore history by interviewing their parents and grandparents, organizing the data found, and presenting that material to the class. Students...
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Death On Board La Belle: Finding Clues from Old Bones
Students practice analyzing skeletal remains for clues by using the Internet. In this scientific investigation lesson, students research the La Belle shipwreck using the Internet and written materials, later completing a Skeletal Report...
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Defining the Difference Between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
Learners examine microscopic life by conducting a scientific investigation. In this cell analysis lesson, students define the prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and discuss their word origins. Learners view each type of cell on slides...
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Percents: What's the Use?
Learners explore percentages in real world situations. In this percents lesson, students determine the final sales price after discounts. Learners interview community members and determine how percentages are used in the real world.
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Designing Experiments - Overview
Young scholars explore the concepts that enable them to design and conduct sound scientific experiments. They critique a faulty experiment and become familiar with some of the criteria of a good experiment. They conduct their own...
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Persuasive Writing-"Those Whales"
Use an article about an Orca killing a trainer to help writers complete a persuasive essay. The article, other templates, and models are attached. Scholars divide up into groups of three where each person takes a different role,...
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Balloons: Math with the Montgolfier Balloon
Students discover the history of hot air balloons by watching one ascent. In this physics lesson, students utilize a Montgolfier Hot Air Balloon from an earlier lesson and record the temperature, rate of ascent and the volume. Students...
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Airing Our concerns: I Can See Clearly Now
Students research specific answers to questions about air pollution. For this air pollution lesson, students share information to fully understand the causes of air pollution. Students role play individuals from different groups to...
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Kites: Patang - The Indian Fighter Kite
Students investigate the history of fighter kites and build their own. In this aeronautics lesson, students discover how other countries utilize fighter kites and where they originated. Students create their own fighter kites in class...
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Mapping Population Changes In The United States
Students create a choropleth map to illustrate the population growth rate of the United States. They explore how to construct a choropleth map, and discuss the impact of population changes for the future.
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Battle of the Bulge
Students identify the date and location of the Battle of the Bulge and the sides battling in it and who the military leaders were. They identify what each side did in the battle, who the victor was, and the condition each side was in...