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Role Models, Fantasy vs. Reality
Learners explore the qualities of a hero. Through a class discussion, they compare and contrast a reality hero to a fantasy super hero. Students watch television commercials and identify the influences in them. They determine positive...
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Inquiring Minds
Students review examples of questions that represent different levels of thinking. They then focus on the contributions of leaders from different eras and generate interview questions that a contemporary leader might ask of a...
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Interrupting and Disagreeing Politely
Explore communication by completing argument related worksheets. Learners discuss appropriate ways to communicate with someone they are having a disagreement with and what techniques are not polite. Learners read example arguments and...
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Beginning Persuasive Writing
Students identify elements of persuasive writing. Students discuss writing strategies and topics. They participate in pair and share activities. Students write a persuasive letter.
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What Jamie Saw
Students listen as the teacher reads the book "What Jamie Saw." They write down the interesting sentences that are encountered. Students jot notes into their journals answering questions about the way Jamie/Patty are feeling. They...
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An Irritiating Creature - a poetry lesson
Students think about and evaluate the meaning of a poem. It also encourages students to be original and creative in their thinking as they read, analyze and illustrate their story.
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Antonyms
Students encounter words that are antonym pairs with opposite meaning. Students show examples of antonyms to the class. Students increase knowledge of antonym pairs. Students share stories full of antonyms with each other.
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"The Tiger Who Came to Tea"
Young scholars complete various activities related to the book "The Tiger Who Came to Tea" by Judith Kerr Collins. They participate in a shared reading activity, list the foods from the story, write and read sentences in speech bubbles,...
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March Madness Poetry Tournmament
Young scholars are exposed to a variety of poems, know elements of poetry, analyze poems, and make decisions by voting. They also share their own thoughts and opinions and listen to and respect the thoughts of their classmates as well. ...
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Mrs. Perkins Dolch Words: #10 Create a Story
Students write their stories. In this sight words and writing lesson, students examine a list of 20 teacher-provided dolch words and use them to write their own stories. Students share their stories with their classmates.
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Irony in Poetry and Prose (Fiction and Non-fiction Texts)
Middle and high schoolers examine the impact of irony in poetry and prose. For this figurative language lesson, they read instructor-selected literature and identify uses of irony. Then they discuss how irony enhances literature.
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Writing Process-- Revision and Editing
As guided practice, class members work together to revise a model persuasive paragraph. Then they practice independently with their own writing. The included rubric looks at prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, nonfiction text...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Benjamin Franklin and Learning a Lesson
Examine stories with a moral in a character development instructional activity. The class reads a short story written by Benjamin Franklin in which he pays too much for a toy whistle. Individuals then make text-to-self connections and...
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Who is the Expert? Exploring Credible Sources in Healthcare
How do you decide what sources are credible when researching online? Evaluate sources with a focus on researching health issues. After brainstorming common health concerns and how they would try to diagnose these problems, class members...
The New York Times
Literary Pilgrimages: Exploring the Role of Place in Writers’ Lives and Work
Do the places you have lived influence what you write? Class members research the lives of writers and look for how places these writers have lived might have influenced their writings.
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Talking Heads
After processing notes from research or an interview, middle schoolers turn the information into a script or dialogue for narrative, persuasive, or expository text. Use this instructional activity in any writing unit to reinforce proper...
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100 Years War and Joan of Ark
What events led up to the Hundred Years War? In small groups or pairs the class discusses several critical thinking questions and then writes a fictional dialogue that depicts both an English and a French point of view.
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Storytelling Traditions
Learners demonstrate an evaluation of how the culture of a time period influences storytelling narratives by comparing Adeline's story to the plot summary of Cinderella and Anne Sexton's poem Cinderella. They write a poem which reworks a...
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Censorship In Fahrenheit 451
Tenth graders explore the concept of censorship through a reading of Fahrenheit 451. They discuss the issue and its relation to contemporary society. Students work in groups to debate the pros and cons of censorship in our society.
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A Letter to Terry Fox
Middle schoolers research information about Terry Fox on the Internet. They write a personal letter to Terry Fox.
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Writing: The Perfect Teacher
Students explore the topics of respect and expectations by discussing attributes of a perfect teacher. After collecting their written responses, the teacher types them in a list, but changes the heading to "The Perfect Student." They...
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Let's Get Along
Students examine the book Smoky Night. In this cultural lesson, students read the text and discuss why it's important to get along with others. Students complete a Venn diagram to compare and contrast themselves with a peer.
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Proverbial Picture Pages
Examine the meaning of the word proverb, and then choose proverbs from a list. The list is not provided, but there are several resources listed here to find a variety of proverbs. Then have your learners explain the meaning of each...
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Classifying Information About a Main Idea
Elementary learners explore language arts by completing a text identification activity. They discuss the importance of a main idea in a story or paper and how to present it properly. Then they practice identifying the main idea in sample...