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Journal Writing
Learners investigate the life of Martha Wayles Jefferson. In this American history activity, students examine excerpts of the journals kept by Thomas Jefferson's wife. Learners infer what life at Monticello may have been like. Students...
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Why Do Authors Write?
Sixth graders use short reading passages to identify, explain, and discuss the author's purpose for writing. After a lecture/demo, they utilize a graphic organizer embedded in this plan to organize their writing ideas.
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Crossing the Delaware with Historic, Cultural, and Personal Interpretations
Sixth graders discover the importance of information sources by researching the United States History. In this research gathering lesson, 6th graders examine a historical painting of George Washington and analyze what it means, what the...
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Language Arts Writing Project
Students practice writing open-ended questions about a specific topic. They use proper grammar and syntax in their questions that are typed into a word processing file. A rubric is included in this lesson plan to help with assessment.
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Writing and Scholarship Planning For College-Bound Students: Brainstorming Time
Students examine the process of scholarship and college essay writing. They develop a list of key words and concepts, complete handouts, and complete an outline of an essay.
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Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost
Students investigate and explore the poems of Robert Frost. They read and discuss poems by Frost, define narrative and personal, write narratives in a journal, and present a dramatic reading of a poem to the class.
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I love My Hair
Students explore strategies to help focus on writing a personal narrative. In this personal narrative writing instructional activity, students read a book and discuss how the author lets readers know how they feel. Students find a moment...
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Journeying to Create
Show a video clip that descripes how taking a journey can change a person's outlook on life. Learners write a paragraph about a place that uses imagery and tone to create a specfic effect. They evaluate their journal entries as well.
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Loose Lips
Have your middle and high schoolers analyze instances of celebrities using racial slurs or making prejudiced comments in public. After reading an article, they consider the roots and effects of prejudice and bias. As a class, they...
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Personal Responsibility
Young scholars write in their journals. For this writing and responsibility lesson, students write about personal responsibility. They have three writing choices to choose from that all deal with this central theme.
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The Political is Personal
Students examine their own political party affiliations and political beliefs. After reading an article, they discuss how students at Duke define their political philosophies. They brainstorm events, people and experiences that have...
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Taking the Witness Stand
Students identify a pivotal event in world history that they would have liked to have witnessed. They then research this event and write a first-person account of it as if they had been present. Their first-prerson account is modeled...
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Writings on a River
Young scholars identify words that can be used to describe Mark Twain's character Tom Sawyer. Students explore stage production of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by reading and discussing "An Older (and Calmer) Tom Sawyer". They develop...
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A Penny For Your Thoughts: Cross-Curricular Journal Writing
Students are introduced to the importance of journal writing. After creating their own journal, they write their thoughts and feelings about different subjects. If they choose to they can share their writings with the class to end the...
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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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Oral History: Park City Museum
Bring U.S. history to your language arts class with this lesson. Middle schoolers complete an interview for an oral history project, and discuss the importance of oral histories - and how they embellish written accounts. They write...
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Social Studies: Highway Accidents
Young scholars investigate the crash of a bus carrying an Ohio baseball team to a tournament at a site where 82 other accidents had occured previously. They interview local police and insurance agents about sites in their own locales...
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Through Our Eyes
After reading Sandra Cisneros’ novel The House on Mango Street, class members design a canned food drive, create advertisements for the drive, and use digital cameras to document the entire process. In addition, pupils journal their...
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Oh, I Believe in Yesterday
Who is Aimee Mann? Read the New York Times article "P.S. I Loved You," included here, and have your readers answer a series of reading comprehension questions. Afterward, encourage your class to brainstorm ways in which they were...
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Journal Writing
Students gain a better understanding of good journal writing. They examine how there are two types of journals - personal and public, yet each serves to describe the writers feelings and experiences about a given event.
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Writing Applications: Different Types of Writing and Their Characteristics
Twelfth graders rewrite a story in a different format to understand the effects of the author's style. In this writing style lesson, 12th graders read Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and rewrite the...
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There's No Accountin with Ledgers
Tenth graders create and maintain a ledger, write an essay for the process, and learn to keep financial accounts through the ledger. In this ledger activity, 10th graders define an accounting ledger and create one for the money they've...
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The Life Cycle of the Mealworm
Fourth graders provide a habitat for live mealworms and observe their life cycle. In this animal life cycle and scientific inquiry lesson, 4th graders create a habitat for a live mealworm and observe and record related data as it grows....
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Dear Presidential Diary
Middle schoolers discover how a president spends the day. In this presidential history lesson, students research primary sources in order to write their own diaries for presidents that include suggestions of laws, managing personnel,...