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Identifying Missing Words
How do you figure out the meaning of a word you don't know? Young readers develop skills to identifying missing words in a story using context clues. Picture clues are used to identify covered words in the story I Can’t Get My Turtle to...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a great story to share with your class, and this lesson focuses on just that story! The eighth in a fourteen-lesson series on short stories, the plan has learners study some vocabulary, read the story,...
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Miss Nelson Is Missing
Students practice identifying story elements and using vocabulary words from newly read books. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read the book Miss Nelson is Missing, and complete several worksheets and a story map about...
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The Exploration of the Writer, His Louisiana History And the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman By Ernest J. Faines
Students identify the significance of the author's experiences on his written work; describe the hardships faced by slaves and plantation owners once the caves were set free; explain the role of the Seceses and why they were a threat to...
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EEEK! A Spider!
Youngsters complete a unit of lessons based on the story "Little Miss Muffet." They predict what will happen in the story, and use context clues to look for meaning in the words. They research information about spiders using the Internet...
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Short Story
Seventh graders identify the various elements of a short story. After reading Rudyard Kipling's short story, "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," students identify the author's purpose in writing the story as well as the elements that make it a short...
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Holey Story
Sixth graders create a cloze activity based on an article of a current event. They switch worksheets and the next group chooses the words they feel are missing and justify their word choices.
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Allusions to Shakespeare in Popular Culture
Send your high schoolers on a scavenger hunt through popular culture (music, television, video games, movies) to find allusions to Shakespeare. They must each provide three to share with the class, and the one they present cannot have...
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Picture This
Students, after explaining the famous quote, "A picture is worth a thousand words," supply the missing words to a wordless story by Mercer Mayer called "A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog." They brainstorm the setting, plot, descriptive words,...
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Completing a Christmas Story
Students discuss with teacher how to complete a short story and the elements necessary: characters, settings, themes, and plots. They then use the worksheet to complete the short story.
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Vivid Verbs in Writing
Eighth graders explore how to incorporate vivid verbs in their writing. They review action verbs in sentences and view a Power Point presentation discussing possible verbs and their meanings. They view a website and retell a Greek myth...
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Trouble in the Fields: Mexican Migrant Workers
Students become curators and museum reviewers for an online gallery using a selected group of primary sources on Mexican migrant workers. They share and reflect on their own and each other's ideas though participation in an on-line...
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"Kermit the Hermit," by Bill Peet
Students read a story about making decisions to spend and save. They fill in missing words in a poem about spending.
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Miss Alaineus: A Recipe for Disaster
Students listen to the story, "Miss Alaineus: A Recipe for Disaster" and then participate in a series of activities designed to introduce new words to the class.
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Friends
Students complete vocabulary activities about friends. In this vocabulary lesson, students introduce themselves in a ball game format and discuss the topic of friends. Students complete a worksheet with related vocabulary and read a...
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Batter Up
Students explore personal achievement by reading a children's book. In this story analysis lesson plan, students read the book Batter Up, by Sue Muller Hacking and discuss the main character in the story and the actions that she takes to...
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Keyboarding - Correct the Story
Students read a story that has several blank words and letters. They proofread, edit and type the story filling in the blanks with logical answers.
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Gender Roles in the Mid-Nineteenth CenturyWhat Fiction Tells Us
Young scholars examine 19th century gender roles. For this gender roles lesson, students read "The Daughter-in-Law" and discuss their impressions of etiquette and gender roles in the 19th century. Young scholars write etiquette guides...
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Case of the Missing Cookies
Students imagine they are a detective who has been asked to solve the theft of cookies from a jar in the student cafeteria. Students practice using the steps of the scientific method to solve the crime. Finally, students write a detailed...
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Soda to be Absent from Schools
Should schools serve soda to young scholars? Learners read an artlcle that argues against the sale of soda in schools and engage in a class discussion. They then complete a short assessment to check for comprehension and reflect on the...
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How to Write a Biography
Looking for a great instructional activity on how to write a biography? Here, middle schoolers draw from magazine articles, novels, historical figures, and current events to choose a person, or character to write about in a biography....
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Elizabeti's Series--Classroom Guide
Second graders explore the books in the Elizabeti Series. In this reading comprehension activity, young readers discuss pre-reading focus questions about their feelings on the first day of school. They investigate the book and describe...
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What Did You Do?
English learners practice using the past tense by participating in a time description activity. They identify the differences between verbs when they are used to describe current events or past events. Students answer questions using...
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Head of the Class
Fourth graders complete a map according to a theme. Using Internet and word processing tools, student fill in the missing information according to the theme of the map. All maps are answers are computer based.