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Writing a Newspaper-Style Article
Help your secondary reader/writers assess texts by studying press releases from Statistics Canada and drafting articles based on them. They then compare the press release, their own articles, and actual news stories they find online. I'd...
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Lesson: Paul Chan: 1st Light and 5th Light
Paul Chan's latest exhibit includes seven manifestations of light. Today, kids analyze the pieces 1st Light and 5th Light. They consider the concept of opposed or dualistic realities found in literature, society, and Chan's work. They...
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"I'm Not Old Enough to Vote, but If I Was..." Creating Video Public Service Announcements
Students create a short multi-media public service announcement aimed at increasing voter participation after determining how the issues can impact their communities. They apply critical viewing skills while determining the effectiveness...
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Creating Civic Awareness Through Artistic and Literary Forms
Interpret current events using editorial cartoons and other print media. Middle schoolers explore the meanings of literary and artistic terms such as satire, irony, and caricature. They visit internet sites to develop an understanding of...
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Hold On to Your Hats
Elementary schoolers study the symbolism and influences found in advertising. First, they learn about the history and cultural significance of the Summer Official's Hat that was a symbol of status in ancient China. Then, they access...
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Lesson Plan: A Bird's Tale
Who wouldn't love to get a letter from a blue bird? Elementary art enthusiasts analyze the social and historical context of Ason Yellowhair's Navajo piece, Bird and Cornstalk Rug. They examine the construction and images on the rug...
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Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe: What is Beautiful?
Students consider the notion of beauty and what impact the media and popular culture have on it. In this cross curricular lesson, students examine print ads, write down and share their thoughts on them. Then students form literary groups...
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Media Awareness: Helping a Product Cross the Finish Line
Students develop critical thinking skills to understand and create advertisements. In this journalism lesson, students analyze the elements necessary for effective advertisements and work in cooperative groups to create and present...
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Critical Consumerism: Videos and Teen Culture
Students analyze music videos as a study on teen culture. In this teen culture lesson, students view music videos and track a different aspect of the videos for male representation, female representation, racial representation,...
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Reading Comprehension
After listening to a story learners engage in a kinesthetic activity to answer comprehension and critical thinking questions. Finally, the students identify three main facts about the story. Extensions include a fact and opinion...
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Map It Out
Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...
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Lights, Camera, Campaign
Students employ their technology skills to produce campaign commercials. In this political campaign lesson, students discover the appropriate uses of video cameras and create fictitious campaign commercials.
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Can you Follow Me? Conventions
Use the present tense to create written assignments. Critical thinkers take a passage written in past or future tense and rewrite it in present tense. They then write a set of instructions in present tense.
Denver Art Museum
The Poetry in Non-Events
The photograph, Nellie and her Italian Soda is viewed and discussed by the class. They are instructed to use the photograph as inspiration to write a poem about non-events, or things that are beautiful in every day life. Pupils use a...
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State Issues: The Native People of Hawaii
Students research issues about their state and community. They work in groups to create a multi-media presentation highlighting the issues.
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Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Lesson: Immigration
Many of your class members will have heard of Executive Order 9066 and the Japanese internment camps of World War II. Some may even recognize the terms “Issei” and “Nisei,” but few will have heard of Enemy Alien Hearing Boards, of the...
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Communicating Through Pictures
Students examine photographs, paintings and drawings convey meaning and mood. The ability to 'read' a picture is an important literary skill. This activity gives students the opportunity to tell a story through pictures by creating a...
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Art and Literacy, grades 3-6, Reading Comprehension Category: Critical Stance
Students compare two very different works of art and two poems, and verbally list similarities and differences they perceive in the works of art and the poems; students then select poem that best correlates with a work of art.
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Lessons in Drama: Learning About American Political Thought
Students develop critical thinking skills so that they may produce their own written plays or music from their thoughts and feelings. They express their thoughts based on what has been presented to them over the duration of the course.
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Waterfalls
Third graders practice identifying the main idea and supporting details when reading informational text. They read text related to waterfalls and practice note taking skills to identify critical details. Students use their notes to...
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Art: Faith Ringgold Story Quilts
Twelfth graders examine the impact of African American culture on the United States by inspecting Faith Ringgold's story quilts. Working in groups, they create a collective story quilt about current cultural issues. They research their...
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Photography: Beyond the Snapshot
Students explore news photography skills. In this photojournalism instructional activity, students examine photographs from newspapers and magazines and discuss the attributes of quality photographs. Students complete a webquest at the...
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MONSTERS AND MYTHS: SCRIPTS /SCULPTS
Seventh graders are introduced to myths formed by many cultures as a unique genre of literature. They use critical thinking skills to compare and contrast mythic tales, compare versions of the same story, and respond to literature in...
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The Caldecott Award
Fourth graders engage in a multitude of written and artistic activities as they study illustrators, how illustrations enhance a studenT book, and the Caldecott Award.