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News Watch
Eighth graders explore the concept of human rights. In this US History lesson, 8th graders research newspaper articles that deal with human rights and prejudice. Students write a summary of their article and share it with the...
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Secrets of Lost Empires II-Pharaoh's Obelisk
Young scholars identify and analyze how levers work by raising a brick with a shish kebab skewer. Students present their work, explaining what did and did not work, including illustrations of the lever lift from different angles. Young...
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Weather Reporter
Fourth graders generate an oral presentation on the weather. In this weather lesson, 4th graders watch the weather for a week and record the data on a chart. Students give a weather report at the end of the week.
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EARLY CIVILIZATIONS
Middle schoolers compare and contrast the monuments of four ancient cultures and draw conclusions about the origins, construction, and purposes of these structures.
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Indiana Courts: How Do They Work?
High schoolers identify the branches of Indiana's judicial system and determine the differences between the different courts and different types of cases. Students create a flow chart showing how a court case works its way through the...
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From the Heights to the Depths
Students create a relief map of Asia and Australia. They work in small groups on sections of the map to make one complete map of the continents.
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Ballad Blast
Students write epic poems, songs, or ballads to describe adventures of their own. They discover that storytellers often told stories as epic poems, songs, or ballads. They share and discuss some of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.
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Convince Me!
Students analyze advertisements meant to persuade a reader to purchase a certain product or service to find out what stands out about the ad or what it is about the ad that persuade readers. They complete an analysis chart, and discuss...
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Be an Advice Columnist!
Young scholars take turns writing to an advise columnist and replying to those letters. They solve the problem by writing letters that solve the problem.
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News Watch
Students examine newspaper articles that deal with human rights issues, prejudice, ethnic wars, antisemitism, racism, and inequality.
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What's the Story?
Students explore how the same news story can be presented differently through various journalistic styles. They discuss the unique characteristics of each style and find articles on the same event in each of the different styles.
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Problem Solving and the Sports Page
Fourth graders create and solve sports-related word problems.
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A Report From the 21st Century - Mark Twain
Students look at Twain, the humorist - considered America's favorite storyteller and the funniest man in the world at the time. Students stretch the truth about a personal experience, and consider how delivery affects impact.
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Understanding James Madison The Father of the Constitution
Students research James Madison and create a table of his strengths and weaknesses. In this James Madison lesson, students read Jean Fritz's, The Great Little Madison, while developing their research skills, vocabulary strategies, and...
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Literary Newspaper: Candide
Prejudice? Religious intolerance? Political sedition? Class distinction? Plight of women? Voltaire satire, anyone? A literary newspaper offers an opportunity for readers of Candide to make text-to-self and text-to-world connections as...
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Vocabulary Building
A fabulous language arts instructional activity has readers focus on the vocabulary in the key words, expand and build new vocabulary, and practice three grammar concepts. They recognize key words as they relate to communicating at work....
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Fort Life in the Green Bay Area, 1816-1841
Ninth graders examine from the perspectives of military personnel, Native Americans, families of soldiers, and civilians who lived and worked in the region during the era. They create a 2-page scrapbook layout from at least two of the...
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Short But Sweet
After analyzing and evaluating news summaries found in the New York Times "Week in Review" section, middle schoolers study the steps for summarizing a news article briefly and accurately. They write two news summaries: one on a newspaper...
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Unforgettable...
Middle and high schoolers remember their most memorable experiences, and then connect their own narrative with an exposition about the topic associated with their experience. This New York Times lesson would be a great addition to...
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Cold War Era Film Censorship: High Noon- a Slice of Americana Or Communist
Young scholars study of the effects of the Cold War on the home front. They analyze the film High Noon according to an abbreviated version of the standards that films were judged by in the early 1950s and determine whether or not High...
PBS
The Media and the War: The Penny Press, Walt Whitman and the War
The Mexican-American war marked a significant moment in United States history, as well as in the history of American media. The mid-nineteenth century saw the introduction of the Penny Press, which provided many American citizens with...
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Forecasting the Path of Mudflows
Students watch a demonstration to introduce them to the consistency of mudflows and how they move. In groups, they compare and contrast volcanic avalanches and mudflows. They create their own model of a volcano, simulate how it erupts...
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Persuasive/Argumentative Essay vs. Opinion writing
Reinforce persuasive and argumentative writing skills with this instructional activity, which utilizes SchoolNet News Network's website/SNN Monthly magazine. Young writers review journalism writing styles that help them explain that...
Newseum
Editorials and Opinion Articles
Reading the news is fun, and that's a fact! With the lesson plan, scholars differentiate between fact and opinion as they read editorial articles. They complete a worksheet to analyze the information before writing their own editorials...