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Volcanoes
Second graders review the characteristics and aspects of volcanoes. Using this information, they write a creative story and draw illustrations to accompany the words. They use geographical terms to describe a location and the physical...
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Prepare for a Field Trip
Students write a journal exercise that relates to preparing for a trip. They make a visual map to generate ideas about things to see, do and learn during the field trip. They assign roles for different tasks that need to be performed...
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Ask the Oracle
Students invent an imaginary character that has the ability to time travel to China and create stories in the tradition of a traveler's tale, whereas their characters visit China's capital city, Beijing, and go to the Great Wall of China...
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Myth Connections
Ninth graders present tales and myths in the oral tradition. They discuss the African method of telling a story where each member of the group tells a part of the story. They make up a composite hero and write a story that describes...
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Who am I?
Students develop their writing skills by creating a character sketch about themselves. Students read character sketches, view portraits by famous artists, select one personality traits, and affix a mug shot of themselves into a famous...
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Oregon Trail Diary
Students write a diary. In this writing and creativity lesson, students pretend they are moving west and keep a diary about their adventures. Students study real-life scenarios about families who made the trip out west before writing...
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Symmetry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Students examine knightly virtues and will measure Gawain's strength in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In this poetry analysis lesson, students identify the bob-and-wheel poetic form and analyze symmetry in the poem. Students...
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Spain and Bullfighting
Middle schoolers research Spain and bullfighting. They use the Internet and other reference materials. Spain's bullfighting festivals and activities will be used as a springboard for inspiring students to write creatively.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Pupils read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." After observing the illustrations and previewing chapter titles, students predict what will happen in the story. They research and contact chocolate companies to gather information on...
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Multicultural Fairy Tales -- The Stuff of Magic
Third graders are introduced to the characteristics of fairy tales. After being read some examples, they write their own fairy tale based on their adventures on a magic carpet ride after making a chart to organize their thoughts. To...
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Summarizing
Students use their note-taking skills to write summaries of information. In this writing skills lesson, students use the notes they have taken in another lesson to write adventure stories by implementing the Rule-Based strategy.
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Forging Freedom
Students read the story Forging Freedom by Hudson Talbott about the holocaust. In this holocaust lesson plan, students also answer discussion questions.
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The Land and the Water
Third graders read "The Land and the Water," a fictional short story and an article about John F. Kennedy, Jr. and compare and contrast fictional tragedy to a non-fiction tragedy. They fill out a Venn diagram and write an essay using...
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Frog and Toad
Second graders use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast buttons after listening to the story, A Lost Button.
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Then What Happened?
Students complete activities about the story "Diary of a Worm", by Doreen Cronin. In this reading comprehension lesson, students make predictions and apply prior knowledge about the topic of the story. They actively listen as the book is...
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The Odyssey: A Deeper Appreciation
Students read "The Odyssey" and identify the ways it relates to their own lives. As a class, they also examine the history of the story and identify the various Greek gods and goddesses. In groups, they focus on the geography of the...
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The Bear Facts About Summarization
Students practice summarizing techniques in this lesson. They listen as the teacher reads from a non-fiction article, and the class creates a story map to highlight the most important facts from the article. They use the map to write a...
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Who am I?
Students practice their writing skills by creating a character sketch of themselves. After viewing portraits, they select one personality trait and put their own picture into the painting of their choice. They include a conversation with...
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Adjectives
Students list adjectives to describe Anakin, his cloak and the mood of the poster to write an adjective-rich description. They then sort the adjectives into categories of what they describe: people, places, or things.
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Movie Music
Students discover film making by participating in a music performance. In this performance arts instructional activity, students perform music and physical acting to convey an already written script for their peers. Students...
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Safety at Home
First graders identify safety hazards in the home and learn ways to prevent home accidents. In this home safety lesson, 1st graders discuss ways to keep a home safe by brainstorming and then reading a story about home safety. They make...
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Moby-Dick
Students take on the persona of a sailor or a captain of a whaling vessel in New England in the 1800s and write five journal entries as that person. In this Moby Dick instructional activity, students research the whaling...
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The Appliance of Science
Students delve into science fiction. In this Doctor Who lesson, students discuss the success of the British television show and then create pieces of writing and art that characterize Doctor Who. Students also visit selected websites to...
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Alliteration
Third graders explore the use of alliteration. They discuss alliteration and examine various examples of alliteration in various stories. Students discuss the examples of alliteration and create their own examples of alliteration using...