University of Pennsylvania
Mock Trial of Alfred Dreyfus
What if scholars based mock trials on history? The fourth installment of a five-part series on the Dreyfus Affair asks learners to read various pieces of evidence before conducting a mock trial for a French officer. Teams answer...
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Persuasive/Argumentative Essay vs. Opinion writing
Reinforce persuasive and argumentative writing skills with this instructional activity, which utilizes SchoolNet News Network's website/SNN Monthly magazine. Young writers review journalism writing styles that help them explain that...
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Coal Camps and Mining Towns
Young scholars should gain a better understanding of the processes involved in extracting coal from the Earth as a result of this instructional activity. They reearch the history of coal mining, look into coal mining towns, and create a...
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Subject-Verb Agreement Context Exercises
Focus on verb agreement with this clear, concise activity. Various subject-verb combinations and sentence examples prompt learners to choose the correct verb to fill in the blank. A great tool and handy guide for this area of grammar.
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Mystery of the Real Robinson Crusoe Solved
Students explore the location of the campsite of fictional character Robinson Crusoe. In this ESL lesson, students read an article that discusses the whereabouts of Robinson Crusoe's campsite, then have a class discussion on the...
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Planning for the Voyage - Pilgrim Study Unit
Students locate Plymouth, MA, Hudson River, Cape Cod, Holland and England on a map. They identify the reasons the Pilgrims came to the New World and explain how the investors and the colonists would each benefit from a new colony. After...
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Invisible Invaders
Young scholars research various epidemics that have devastated the world population focusing on the historical events taking place during the times of the epidemics and the epidemics' effects on these societies.
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Logs of Straw: Dendocronology
Students investigate the age of trees by analyzing tree rings. In this dendocronology lesson, students examine sample images of tree rings and identify their age by the amount of rings. Students complete a chart identifying the age,...
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Plant Investigaion
Students examine and investigate two plants for a short report. They have deeper comprehension of a native and non-native plant and what the relationship is between the two plants. Students identify a native and non-native plant. They...
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The Changes of Puberty
Students study about the changes of puberty for boys and girls. In this health lesson, students study how the body changes during puberty and make a presentation about a significant change that can take place during puberty and how to...
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Communication: Asking Honestly for What You Want
Students discover psychology by participating in a relationship activity. In this honesty instructional activity, students read text which discusses the importance of being upfront with your feelings. Students complete teenage...
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History Personified
In 1856 Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts over the head with a cane. This event, which highlighted the acrimonious debate over the expansion of slavery, is the focus of a paper...
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Proofreading Lesson 6
Explore proofreading strategies with this lesson. Eighth graders practice finding errors in punctuation, capitalization, and formatting. Then, they write about a given topic and then proofread their compositions, looking for errors in...
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How to Integrate Quotations
Quotations add validity to an argument or an analysis, but how do you integrate them into your writing? Several examples are provided, and your emerging writers will surely benefit from looking at different ways to add quotations....
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Teaching Correct Pronouns
I or me? Are your middle school grammarians struggling with pronoun case? Try this trick. Instruct your learners to look right before or right after the pronoun choice for the words and, or, nor. Have them cover the conjunction and the...
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Following Their Footsteps
Students research and create a book report on a famous person. In this character education lesson, students examine the positive traits exemplified by a famous person and present an oral presentation for their classmates.
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Activity 3: Composing Personal Narratives
What was your most (exciting, maddening, nervous, thrilling, etc.) experience in school? A part of a unit on narrative writing, in this lesson class members review the elements of the form and then choose an event when they learned a...
Virginia Department of Education
Revising Writing
Junior high writers investigate other student’s sample writing and critique on how it could be improved. Skill emphasis is place on elaboration, voice, and sentence variety. The student writing is provided, but the checklist for revision...
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Brochure Writing
Have your budding authors evaluate various writing styles found in informational brochures. They look for effective writing, compare and contrast styles, and create an assessment.
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Egyptian Burial
Students research burial tombs of ancient Egypt. Acting as pharaohs of Egypt, students create burial plans to decide what items they would include in their own tombs and why. They find another student to analyze their plan.
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Getting Ready to Write
Young scholars watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to...
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Graphic Timeline
Students complete a written timeline organizer utilizing information from the "Who Am I?" reflection/response handout. They create a graphic time line illustrating important event in their lives in sequential order with the help of...
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Get to Know a Fish
Students discover the anatomy of a fish by identifying its body parts. In this oceanography lesson, students view a live fish in their classroom and draw a poster of the fish one body part at a time while identifying it. Students...
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The Story of Red and Blue: Art
Students identify art history by examining a list of images on-line. In this painting lesson, students identify the work of Keith Haring by researching the Internet and discuss his style of artwork. Students utilize computers, paint and...