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Life in Letters
Students explore the relationship between an author's life and their work. Students research the historical and personal events surrounding a Nobel Prize winning author and how they are reflected in the author's writing. They create a...
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Stories of Our Lives!
Students write their own books based on a life experience that they have had. In this life experiences lesson plan, students practice the writing process along with illustrating their book.
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Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
Students read "Green Eggs and Ham" in celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday and visit a storymaker website. Students create and type a three scene story using characters from Dr. Seuss's books and share their story with the class.
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Tell Me a Train Story
Second graders write a short story about train track safety and make a train shaped book.
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Oklahoma Stone Soup
Students discover the history of the Oklahoma Territory and what foods cowboys used to eat while on the move. In this culinary lesson, students read the ingredients to Oklahoma Stone Soup and prepare them in a crock pot over the course...
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Environmental Awareness — Think Global, Act Local
Students identify the different hazardous wastes and the dangers they post to the environment. In this physical science lesson, students brainstorm ways to dispose them properly. They create a short story, song or poem to conclude the...
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Tell Me a Train Story
Second graders write a short story based on train track safety and make a train-shaped class book.
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Encounter with an Interviewer
Students read the Mark Twain short story, Encounter with an Interviewer. They study "the interview" and discuss the role of the interviewer and the person being interviewed. They conduct mock interviews, constructing questions and...
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Graphic Novel Writing Workshop
Khaled Hosseini’s video “Using Real People and Events” motivates learners to reflect on their own experiences and to use those experiences as the basis of a graphic novel that expresses a universal truth. The richly detailed plan...
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Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi: Mixing Words and Pictures
Create meaningful illustrations to accompany stories in a web-based art and literacy instructional activity focused on "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. The class takes a virtual art safari with the Museum of Modern Art and then...
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A Look Through My Antonia's Eyes
Thoroughly delve into My Antonia by Willa Cather with a plethora of activities. Engage scholars with videos and web sites in this week-long unit that explains the historical context and creates pioneers in the field of research. An...
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Life Story of an Artifact
Learners write about an artifact that they are studying. In this artifacts lesson plan, students analyze details of the artifact and answer short answer questions about it.
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Sounding Out CVCE Words
First graders explore vowels and consonants by participating in a flash card activity. In this phonetics lesson, 1st graders discuss the difference between short and long vowels and identify them within a story told to them by their...
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I'm Still Scared: The War Years
Students read the story I'm Still Scared: The War Years, complete discussion questions, and activities about the book. In this war book lesson plan, students keep journals, write about being frightened, have a war veteran visit their...
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Power of Symbols in West African Art
High schoolers examine and analyze symbols used in the Asante community of Ghana and look at the history of power struggles in West Africa. They discover how to express meaning and power as they create their own symbols and short...
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Dramatizing Your Story
Students write a script, planning and recording improvisations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature and history.
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What A Pair! A Cross Grade Writing Activity
What a pair! Older pupils interview younger ones and use what they learn to write a short, illustrated storybook that features the youngster as the main character. The youngster responds with a thank-you note in which they identify their...
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Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
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The Mural of the Story
Students write a description of what they believe is on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. After reading an article, they discuss the restoration of the mural on its ceiling. They brainstorm a list of important buildings and write a...
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Language Arts: Word Recognition and Mental Images
Students read short stories containing Dolch sight words and describe the scenes and answer comprehension questions. After relating the stories to their own experiences or observations, they draw pictures illustrating a scene from the...
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Science Fiction
Students complete compare and contrast activities for two stories about racism and tolerance in the science fiction genre. In this literary analysis lesson, students read a Ray Bradbury short story and Walter Mosley poem, watch a related...
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"Blackbeard's Ghost" Differentiated Lesson Plan
Develop a better understanding of "Blackbeard's Ghost" with this differentiated lesson. Working in groups on a creative project, middle schoolers can reinforce their reading comprehension and literary analysis skills. Use this lesson to...
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"Zebra" by Chaim Potok
Combine art and literature to teach greater themes and symbolic meaning. Using the plan outlined in this resource, expose your class to the story "Zebra" by Chaim Potok, conduct discussions about social issues and nicknames, and ask...
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"The Tell-Tale Heart"- It's a Matter of Point of View
How does the point of view of Poe's protagonist in "The Tell-Tale Heart" contribute to the suspenseful tone? Help your middle schoolers identify the point of view in a literary work with this lesson, which goes on to discuss the...