Complete College America
The Marshmallow Reading/Writing Project
Which option would most children choose: One marshmallow now, or two marshmallows in 10 minutes? Learners watch the social experiment on video and discuss their observations. They then read articles and work in small groups to analyze...
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Kindergarten Writing: Narrative Prompt
What is special about summer (fall, winter, or spring)? Using a bag filled with season-related items (for summer items like sunglasses, a swimming suit, etc.) the class take turns taking out one item. A discussion of how each item might...
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Narrative vs. Expository Texts
Young scholars use examples of narrative and expository text to analyze and compare the two styles. High schoolers read articles on life in Lesotho and Madagascar and use graphic organizers and discussion to compare them. Young scholars...
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The Story of Me
Students are given the preset graphic organizer using "Kidspiration". They create a graphic organizer about them and then use the graphic organizer to write their personal narrative.
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Introducing Literature Circle Roles to Students
Students read a narrative selection and select a literature circle role. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students work in groups to identify vocabulary, make text connections, or other reading comprehension...
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Writing a Character Sketch
Combining descriptive and expository writing skills, middle schoolers create a character sketch about someone they know well. They use a graphic organizer to help them discuss a model character sketch and organize/write one of their own....
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Narrative Writing
Are you the oldest in your family? The youngest? The middlest? How do you feel about your place in your family? After reading such stories as My Rotten, Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by...
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Build Your Own Adventure
Sixth graders write a narrative. They choose options for plot and climax within the context of an outdoor survival story.
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Telling My Story: Conducting and Writing an Oral History
Students analyze the use of oral history as a way of gathering history. In this oral history lesson, students define oral history and then discuss researching immigration. Students research immigration. Students create questions for to...
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Fun Plays on Famous First Ladies
Learners inquire about the lives of the First Ladies in our country. In this First Ladies lesson, students build knowledge about the contributions of First Ladies and how their childhood made them the person they are. Learners do a play...
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Autobiographical Talking Sticks
Students begin the lesson plan by developing a map of their lives. Individually, they take this information and write a personal narrative. They create symbols to represent the various times in their lives and introduce them into their...
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The Newspaper Article
Have your class participate in an interview activity using an informational text about the Amazon. After reading a Cultural Connections story about a person from the Amazon, middle schoolers write interview questions based on the text....
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Flying Freudian Fun: A Look At Ethical Decision Making
There are not many more apt examples of ethics gone awry than William Golding's Lord of the Flies.. Ninth graders focus the ethics of decision making with the examples provided in the plot. They focus on the concept of the psyche and how...
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Lesson: Dongducheon: A Walk to Remember, A Walk to Envision: Interpreting History, Memory, and Identity
Cultural discourse can start through a variety of venues. Learners begin to think about how our minds, memories, and identities shape our attitudes toward culture and history. They analyze seven pieces from the Dongducheon art exhibit...
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The Stories Behind the Masterpieces
Students examine Rembrandt's self-portraits and discuss important events in his life. They also examine "Aristotle with the Bust of Homer" and try to identify with the person in the paining, predicting what his life might have been like....
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Project WRITE: Class Interview Book
Get your language arts class moving, build community, and strengthen writing skills with this kinesthetic activity. The class brainstorms interview questions from which each chooses three. Individuals then collect information about six...
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Environmentally Friendly
What can your pupils do to promote better conditions for wildlife? After researching issues around wildlife management, class members use the Internet to locate three different organizations devoted to protecting wildlife. They then...
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"Herstory" in Michigan - Great Women of our Great State
Learners discover the struggles and achievements of women throughout Michigan's history, the changes that have taken place in women's roles, and the difference one person can make. This lesson focuses on the impact women have made on the...
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Personal / Group Magazine
Sixth graders complete the magazine template in the Macmillan "Writer's Journal" available through the basic skills department using word processing, spreadsheet, graphic, and electronic resource (i.e.-Internet) skills
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Holidays: Ramadan and Eid
Students study ways some holidays are celebrated in this country, and share their experiences, the lesson focuses on Bangla students' celebration of Eid, an important holiday in Bangladesh for the Muslim People. Students make a class...
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Sequencing
High schoolers consider how cause and effect translate into sequencing in literary works. In this sequencing lesson, students read non-fiction passages about Eleanor Roosevelt and Clara Barton. High schoolers complete graphic organizers...
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Who's Who at Our School
Young scholars interview staff members at their elementary school in order to get to know them better. They write interview questions, conduct an interview, write a paragraph about the staff member, and take digital pictures of that...
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Teaching Imagery with Gary Paulsen
Middle schoolers read excerpts from memoirs written by Gary Paulsen as examples of how to write a narrative piece. They identify figurative language used and then they write a memoir of their own that contains imagery and figurative...
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Where I'm From: Personal and Cherokee
Students write a poem about the land they are from. They research the previous inhabitants of the same land - the Cherokee Indians - and write a poem about the land from a Cherokee perspective.