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The New YouTube
Can you guess how many hits YouTube gets in one day? If you said two billion, you're wrong. If you said three billion, you're getting closer, but you're still over a billion hits away! Use this article to bring current events into the...
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Suspended 1,353 Feet Up
With a series of pictures you are transported to Chicago's Skywalk. Read about this magnificent tourist attraction and answer the reading comprehension questions provided. Extend this activity by having your class write about other...
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School, Unplugged
What would school be like if you couldn't teach lessons that require technology? Would it benefit the class? Would it hold them back? Have your learners read this article and answer the basic reading comprehension questions. Then have...
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All the News That's Fit to Click: Analyzing New York Times Design
Explore the New York Times, online and in print. Partners take the roles of reader and monitor while each peruses the newspaper. Discussion questions compare the online version to a hard copy print edition. Links provide comparison of...
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Peer Review: Looking at Texts from a Reader's Point of View
Designed to acquaint Purdue University freshmen with the concept of peer review, this presentation could be used with high school level learners as an introduction to peer reviewing. Slides model the process as well as helpful questions...
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Quotation Response Speech: Public Speaking Skills
Improve high schoolers' public speaking with an engaging activity. Class members select three personally relevant quotes from a list. They then write a short speech for each quote, explaining how the quotes are personally relevant. The...
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How to Locate and Evaluate Information, Part I - Online Catalog
Using the online catalog, researchers locate and record on a citation template specific sources for their research paper. A library specialist models searching strategies while the teacher introduces the research paper process. Daily...
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What Do You Think? Analyzing Points of View About an Issue
"How might multiple perspectives of standardized testing impact me as a student?" is an example of an essential question that a researcher might use as a basis for this lesson on how to research and present a written stance on a...
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We've Gotcha Covered: The Iowa Insurance Story
Analyze the relationship between financial risks and the growth of the insurance industry in Iowa. Learners work in groups to analyze the major catastrophic events that occurred in their community. Several worksheets are included.
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Boogie Woogie with a B: Using Alliteration while Exploring Patriotic Tunes
Are you looking for a way to bring writing into your history lesson plan - or history into your writing lesson plan? This cross-curricular activity is helpful and fun, no matter what class you're teaching! Using "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"...
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Same Setting, Different Moods: Voice and Word Choice Using Lord of the Flies
Whether it's dark, delightful, or somber, set the mood with William Golding's Lord of the Flies. High-schoolers practice descriptive writing by creating the appropriate mood for an original scene, starring one of the book's main characters.
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Persuasive Techniques in Advertising and Make Your Own Advertisement
Are you looking for a collaborative and fun way to teach persuasion? This could be a great resource for you! After reviewing advertising techniques and searching for examples of propaganda, have your class create and present their own...
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Mythological Word Origins
Review myths and the characters therein, connecting them to vocabulary words in the English language today. Begin by searching online for myths and character names. With at least ten names that are familiar English words, young scholars...
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After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans
Students describe issues or problems facing African Americans following Reconstruction. They explain possible solutions to these problems suggested in the sources you find, and cite arguments for and against these solutions.
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Public Arts Programs
Young scholars choose a project from one of the public art programs and work on it as a collaborative project. The goal is to encourage students to research art programs in their city, and communicate with young scholars from another city.
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How are People Portrayed by Different Media?
Your 9th - 12th graders can hone their analysis and critical thinking skills by studying the way a subject is portrayed across media types. They examine how various print, visual, and online sources have portrayed key players in the 9/11...
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Life Reflections in Songwriting and Poetry
Learners analyze, discuss and compare sources of inspiration, use of words and imagery, and other differences in writing styles between two featured songwriters. This is an introductory lesson to a creative project unit.
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Resource Language Arts
Give your resource class an overview of grammar. While these slides are not complicated, they are nonetheless geared toward middle and high-school learners, who understand some academic language. The presentation ends with a list of...
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Making Your Sentences Work: Subject-Verb Agreement
Review subject-verb agreement with your class. Demonstrate the different verb forms when the subject is singular, plural, compound, and an indefinite pronoun. Not too long, this presentation is nonetheless thorough, especially for...
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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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Answering and Scoring Open-Ended Questions
Help learners respond in the best way possible to open-ended questions. Go through the ACE method with a text and question of your choice. Scholars work in groups to post their responses on the board. An attached rubric is used for...
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The Persuaders
Have your upper graders watch the documentary, "The Persuaders" as they explore how advertisers try to gain potential customers. The video is followed by a discussion and close examination of new marketing trends and strategies.
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A Tale of Two Schools
Students create different photographs using photographic techniques of camera angles, lighting, and composition. They write non-fiction stories about people they interview and create two school newsletters that portray a fictional...
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How Long is Too Long?
Students examine the legal term statute of limitations and how it varies based on the type of criminal or civil activity under discussion. They discern the applicable statute of limitations given an hypothetical or actual situation and...