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An Immigrant's Journey
Students collect photos of immigrants coming to the United States. They write fictional journal entries for one of the photographs.
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Blogging
A fun, modern twist on journaling! Instead of responding to prompts in their composition notebook, writers use the Internet to complete blog entries. A sample blog (with prompts) is shown here, and writers are assessed on conventions and...
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Prosecution or Persecution
Investigate the future of the presidency in the wake of the House of Representatives' vote to impeach President Clinton. The class brainstorms both sides of the argument, reads and discusses an article, then analyzes and writes a journal...
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A Colony is Born : Lesson 5 - Dear Mem
Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...
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Lost Names: Scenes From a Korean Boyhood,
What a great resource to share! Based on the book Lost Names by Richard Kim, this valuable lesson focuses on the Japanese occupation of Korea during WWII. Additionally, it employs first-person journaling as a mode of understanding themes...
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Investigating the Swissair Flight 111 Tragedy
Middle schoolers read two articles about the same event: "Plane from J.F.K Crashes off Canada" from the New York Times and "No Survivors from Crash of Swissair Jetliner Off Nova Scotia" from the Associated Press. They then compare the...
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Immigration Project
Students visit Ellis Island Immigration Museum (as a field trip or a virtual visit) and pretend to be Italian immigrants to the United States. They write a journal entry detailing their first week in the United States. They interview an...
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Thanksgiving
First graders summarize similarities and differences of life in England and America for the Pilgrims by reading a mini-book. Then, they write a journal entry in first person on what it is like to be a pilgrim in England and in America....
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Plot and Conflict in W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw"
Tenth graders analyze the use of literary elements in W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw." Literary analysis is accomplished by a review of the plot and order of events in the story. Learners work in pairs to match the events from the story...
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Colonial New York Slave Codes: Pedro's Walk
Look critically at the slave laws instated in Colonial New York. Your class examines primary source documents, slave laws, a narrative account from a slave's perspective, and Slave Codes. They write diary or journal entries in response...
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Character Development Project
Read Dangerous Minds with your language learning disabled pupils to identify characteristics and connect to literature. This is a specific activity intended for use with the suggested book. The class uses a character map as a way to...
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Double-Entry Journal Writing
Introduce your learners to the concept of a double-entry journal. Talk about how to connect with the text and model an example for them. Using whatever literature you are working with, have scholars choose a quote and make their own...
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Environet Lesson Plans
Eleventh graders conduct Internet research about basic ecological principles and current environmental issues. They participate in a variety of outdoor experiences and develop an "Outdoor Experiences Journal" that they keep for an...
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To Go West or Not to Go West, That is the Question
Students answer the question,"To go West or not to go West?". In this nonfiction lesson students read a piece of nonfiction about going West during the 18th century. Students use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the pros and...
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Naper Settlement: Post Activity, Journal Entry
Fourth graders have to place themselves in someone else' shoes through journal writing. They place themselves in someone else' shoes through journal writing. Students write the journal entry to another student in the class or a...
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Leaves
Students explore, observe, and collect leaves from outside. They make journal entries, discuss the differences and common features of leaves and what function leaves serve. They will discuss the plant and tree leaves. Students draw...
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Redwood Trees: How Does Water Get to the Top of the Tree
Students discuss photosynthesis. They explore and discuss surface tension, hydrogen bonding and capillary action with hands on experiments. They make journal entries and draw pictures of the different stages of the experiments.
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Called to be just
Students write journal entries reflecting on how to impact the common good of the world. In this common good lesson plan, students learn about Mother Theresa, good character, and how to make the world better.
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Journal Writing Ideas
Students choose a topic from a list to write a journal entry about. For this journal writing lesson, students use one of the ideas included in the comprehensive list of ideas when they cannot think of a topic to write about. They write...
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Civil War Journal Mini Lesson
Eighth graders explore the battles of the Civil War through journaling exercises. For this American Civil War lesson, 8th graders write journals from the perspective of teens accompanying the troops into various battles.
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Critically Surfing the Web
The New York Times article “Online Diary,” launches this study of websites and how to assess them. Richly detailed, the lesson plan includes warm-up activities, procedures, journal prompts, discussion questions, and links to valuable...
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Let's Take A Trip
Students use the Internet to find the distance from their hometown to other cities in North Carolina. They see how many miles they can travel in one day and how long it take them to get there. They do a journaling activity about points...
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On the Road with Marco Polo: Homecoming
Learners role play as Marco Polo to detail his travels. They include the terrains, foods, religions, people and cultures that were encountered. They write a journal entry as if they were Marco Polo detailing one aspect of his travels.
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Slave Narratives: Constructing U.S. History Through Analyzing Primary Sources
Learners access oral histories that contain slave narratives from the Library of Congress. They describe the lives of former slaves, sample varied individual experiences and make generalizations about their research in journal entries.