PBS
Cardboard History
A PBS clip focused on collecting sports memorabilia launches this research project lesson plan. Class members then read Dan Gutman’s Honus and Me in which Wagner’s baseball card is used to time travel. The lesson plan ends with...
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Digging Deep for Figurative Language (Hyperbole)
What are hyperboles? Examine the attributes of hyperboles with your high school classes. Pupils read selected poems and prose selections that feature hyperboles and discuss their functions in each work of literature. Specific poems and...
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Louisiana's Tragic Hero - "Evangeline"
"Ye who believe...List to a Tale of Love in Acadie." Longfellow's epic poem, "Evangeline," launches a study of tragic heroines, epic poetry, the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada, and their subsequent migration to Louisiana. The...
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Beowulf
High schoolers complete literature analysis activities for Beowulf. They read lines from the poem and complete character analysis activities. In addition, they write and share a boast modeled on the text and then create heroes and...
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A Season for Chapters
Art, music, poetry, and the beauty of the seasons is what you'll find in this very nice unit idea. You can use any of the suggested books and activities to engage your second graders in an exploration of the changes that take place...
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Let's Celebrate Our Land!
Young scholars investigate Woody Guthrie's beliefs. In this citizenship lesson, students research and discuss the beliefs of Woody Guthrie and write down several facts that they learned.
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Writing a Book Review - Non-Fiction
Fifth graders write a book review for a nonfiction book. In this response to literature lesson, 5th graders read a nonfiction book and write a review that gets others interested in reading the book without giving too much away. The...
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Women of the Twenties and The Great Gatsby
Students research social elements of the 1920s. In this persuasive writing lesson, students make comparisons between women of the 1920s and women in the 21st century. They work in small groups to discuss the women in The Great Gatsby,...
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Human Rights in the News
Students, in groups, review recent newspapers and news media. They construct a poster using items from the newspaper grouped under four categories: rights being practiced or enjoyed, rights being denied, rights being protected, and...
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Keepers
What are some things you think are special enough to keep? Discussing special things launches young learners into reading Keepers. They investigate related vocabulary and practice before, during, and after reading comprehension...
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Explore Point of View Through Aerial Photography
Read the story Amelia the Pigeon and discuss perspective. Since Amelia is a pigeon with a bird's eye view, use aerial photography to enhance your learners' understanding. Have fun connecting art and literature while talking about...
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Mississippi River
Learners study scanning and skimming techniques. In this research skills lesson, students use the research techniques on print literature about the Mississippi River. Learners prepare book talks on the literature they read.
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Poetry-The Essence of Life
Students analyze and appreciate various types of poetry. In this poetry unit, students read classic and contemporary works to discover ways in which poetry expresses strong feelings. Students identify key vocabulary used to analyze...
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History and Human Rights: A Process for Analyzing Events
Students analyze various American History topics which concern human rights. They research the topics and analyze the sources for bias or stereotype. They decide and discuss whether or not any human right were violated in each...
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Point of View to Ponder
Students view (or read) The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty. They
discuss other literary pieces that include the misleading first person narrator. They
role play fictional characters from literature and present a short anecdote in a...
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The Diary of Anne Frank
Eighth graders read the Diary of Anne Frank. In this novel reading instructional activity, 8th graders read and analyze the story. Students do online activities and create a newspaper giving a summary of three major events in the story....
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The Joy of a Garden
Students study environmental stewardship. In this environmental stewardship instructional activity, students read the story The Gardner and define the character's actions for the environment. Students define philanthropy and complete a...
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Biography of a River
Students examine the importance of rivers. They conduct research on a select river, and develop a river biography that includes a century report, description, interviews, and an epitaph in the form of a Cinquain.
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Biography of a river
Students compare and contrast facts about the development, history and importance of several rivers in the state. They research the history and development of one particular river and describe the deltas and their formation.
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Fantasies and Myths
Fourth graders examine different types of literature, specifically myths and fantasy. They listen to "The Giving Tree", identify in which genre of literature it belongs, and view several myths on a website. At end of instructional...
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Fantasies and Myths
Fourth graders listen to the book, THE GIVING TREE and discuss what genre category they believe the story fits into and why. They read of of the myths on the website on the computers and then come back together as a group and discuss...
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Living with the Threat of Wildfire
Learners describe the risk of wildfires. In this fire safety lesson, students describe ways to reduce the risk of wildfires to residential areas. They study what to do before, during and after the occurrence of a wildfire. Learners...
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Figurative Language Scavenger Hunt
Eighth graders analyze and interpret figurative language. They listen to some examples of poetry which use figurative language. Then, they divide into groups and attempt to find more examples. Finally, 8th graders write what the poet is...
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What Do Stories Share?
Students compare two pieces of literature using a Venn Diagram. For this comparison lesson, they use the graphic organizer to find the similarities and differences in Leo, the Late Bloomer, and Thank You, Mr. Falker. They discuss the...