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Folktales: A Cultural Teaching Tool
Students demonstrate an understanding that folktales carry underlying themes through writing sentences explaining some of the themes presented in several folktales.
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The Media
Students identify various forms of media used in a political campaign and compare the different formats as vehicles for distributing political messages. They analyze the effectiveness of candidate's uses of different media.
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Create Your Own Coded Language
Students discover and identify cryptology used in everyday life. They decipher or crack codes. Students create their own secret writing or coded messages, and develop a dictionary of eponyms. They discuss how they have already...
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Teaching Language Arts with Sayings and Phrases
Students complete a unit to learn sayings and phrases that help them understand language art concepts. In this sayings and phrases lesson, students complete 11 lessons that use common sayings and phrases to teach language art concepts...
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Context Clues
Students develop vocabulary using pre -reading strategies. In this language arts lesson, students discuss the intended message from observing a picture. Additionally, students explore guessing the covered word within a text.
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Gandhi Speaks Through Clothing
Middle schoolers analyze how Gandhi used the way he dressed to communicate with the Indian people. Students understand why Mahatma Gandhi was such an effective leader of the Indian struggle for independence from British colonial rule
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Portrait of The African American Family
Students examine how African American families were affected by slavery. As a class, they watch and read King's "I Have a Dream Speech" and write a paper on how this message relates to families. In their journals, they compare and...
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Zeros and Ones
Students review counting, the number system and the decimal number system. They rotate through three stations, "How RAM Works, "Binary Numbers" and "Binary Letters." They complete three separate worksheets to check for complete...
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Media Literacy Discussion Guide
Students examine and analyze visual media and its messages critically. They determine whether specific media messages inform, entertain, or persuade and what factors influence the media. Using primary sources, they participate in peer...
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Magical Moments Around the World
Students write magical moments about human compassion and enter the examples on a global, multilingual website. In this global communication instructional activity, students create their own message about human compassion. Students then...
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The President and the Press ~ FDR's First Press Conference: March 1933
Learners consider that many presidential aides now speak "off the record," in essence conveying a message from the president. They examine why most Presidents have fewer press conferences the deeper they get into their terms of office.
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The Birth of a City
Third graders understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives. They research the basic structure of the United States government. They participate in a simulated City Council meeting.
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Decisions That Changed Our Lives: A Look At the African American Quest for Freedom and Rights
Students are introduced to the goals of abolitionists throughout history. In groups, they use the internet to discover the purpose of the Underground Railroad and why there were bus boycotts in the 1960s. They compare and contrast the...
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What makes a Southern Colony a Southern Colony
Eighth graders answer questions put to them by the teacher that are intended to help them understand the different lives of slaves and indentured servants in colonial times. They make a list of Aristocrats and Farmers from their text...
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Feminism Does Not Have to be an F-Word
Students analyze social activism messages in music. In this feminism lesson, students explore selected music that expresses sentiments voiced in the women liberation movement in the United States. Students compare the lyrics of the songs...
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A Closer Look at a Fairy Tale
Students read fairy tales to study the role of male and female characters. In this fairy tales lesson, students discuss the elements of fairy tales. Students discuss morals and lessons in fairy tales. Students use the worksheet 'A Closer...
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The Art of Nonviolence: Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, and Concepts of Nonviolence in Indian Art
Students make connections between nonviolent ideals and art. In this visual arts lesson, students discuss the successes of the American Civil Rights Movement and discuss Gandhi's influence on the movement. Students then examine images of...
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Heroic Images: Visualization and Media Messages
Students examine media messages. In this media awareness lesson, students analyze online messages about heroism as they complete a jigsaw reading activity.
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Cartoon-Truth or Tale
Students examine Nazi propaganda. In this Holocaust lesson, students investigate the power of symbolism as they examine Nazi propaganda cartoons and then create their own cartoons using propaganda regarding current events of their choosing.
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What Does This Song Really Say?
Young scholars investigate communication by analyzing lyrics from a song. In this music arts lesson, students discuss slavery, the Underground Railroad and African American traditions while listening to a song called "This Train." Young...
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Rockin’ the World: Rock and Roll and Social Protest in 20th Century America
Pupils explore protest songs. In this interdisciplinary lesson plan, students examine issues-based music by summarizing lyrics and revealing inferences, generalizations, conclusions, and points of view found in the songs.
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A death in the Royal Family: Dealing with Loss
Young scholars read and discuss the story "Prince Talks About Magical Grandmother." They list ceremonies of traditions associated with emotional times in their lives. Students prepare a script for a video message to Prince Charles...
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Lesson 5- Robert Rauschenberg: Reinventing Art
Students examine how Robert Rauschenberg influenced popular art and how art is influenced by politics, social and cultural messages. They design a new art movement and create art that is indicative of that movement.
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Train Cinquain
Fourth graders write cinquain poems showing an understanding that people cannot outrun trains. They examine safety messages concerning tunnels, bridges and trains.