Waunakee Community School District
Identifying Themes in Literature
If your language arts learners have a hard time determining the universal theme of a written work, use a straightforward learning exercise to help them find it. After reviewing a list of common themes, kids note the title, character,...
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Political Cartoons
Students explore political cartoons. In this government current events instructional activity, students analyze the visual language and symbolism present in five different political cartoons. Students discuss the event or...
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Dateline: 442 BC Antigone
Learners create and videotape a newscast about the events that take place in the play, Antigone. They perform scenes describing the main events, the main characters and their conflicts.
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Globalization: Darfur
Students examine the conflict in Darfur. For this global studies lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture about how history, geopolitics, and international law have contributed to the conflict....
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PowerPoint Short Story Report
Students make a Microsoft PowerPoint report from a short story read in class. They summarize and paraphrase a short story identifying the six story elements: characters, setting, plot, conflict, solution, tone/mood.
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Creating Music
Students explore the music soldiers listen to before and after battle. They attempt to develop an understanding of the role music plays in this conflict. They create their own lyrics to attempt to construct a pro-war and anti-war song.
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Roots of Religious Liberty
Students examine the First Amendment and consider the contributions of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. They review conflicts between the rights of Church and State and write a Madisonian argument on the issue.
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Picturing a Story
Students view slides from the movie "Hoot" and discuss characters, setting and the caption. They identify where in the rise and fall of the plot this scene takes place. They brainstorm elements needed to create a story from a picture....
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The Sunflower
Twelfth graders analyze the ethical and moral decisions made by people during the Holocaust. They role play a situation placing them in an ethical delima. They must make a choice and defend it to their peers. Readings and test...
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Protest Songs
Students analyze and perform an American social protest song. They describe its historical setting, consider the effectiveness of the music and recognize that popular music is a reflection of American culture.
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Cyrano de Bergerac Nose His Terms
Students use the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" to identify and analyze drama vocabulary, literary terms and elements of fiction. They write an original version of scenes from the play and develop a character analysis for the lead.
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How Can Children Make A Difference In Their World As Human Rights Activists?
Students define term activist, identify and analyze contributions of activists of the past, realize that students can make a difference in their world, identify personal characteristics of students activists, recognize impact on...
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Post Civil War Reconstruction
Students analyze the process of Reconstruction after the Civil War. In this U.S. History instructional activity, students discuss specific details about Reconstruction with the class, then complete a worksheet with multiple...
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"I Hear America Singing": Controversy and Music in the Mexican War
Eighth graders examine the Mexican War and its outcome through music. In this primary source analysis lesson, 8th graders analyze the lyrics of selected songs to consider the 2 perspectives regarding U.S. involvement in the war. Students...
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The Power of Fiction
Students explore fiction that moves individuals to social action. For this literature lesson, students read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and analyze its literary worth as well as its investigative journalism. Students investigate other...
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Satyagrah: Social Change vs. Social Transformation
Students examine the difference between social change and social transformation. they learn through discussion in order to be able to research and analyze a systematic social injustice. Students identify their part in a wider social...
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Across The Centuries
High schoolers analyze the American Bill of Rights, compare it to the English Bill of Rights and note the differences in an essay. They access websites imbedded in this plan to do their research, then present their findings to the class.
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A Letter Read 'Round the World
Students examine primary document to examine the concept of free assembly, and analyze Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's letter to the clergy to explain the rationale for this tactic to advance civil rights.
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Hope In The Hard Times - A Unit on the Great Depression
Young scholars examine the Great Depression through the analysis of the novel, 'Bud, Not Buddy.' They analyze photos from the National Archives website, complete a character analysis, and conduct research and summarize a topic from the...
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Cartoons for the Classroom: Saying it Without Words
For this current events worksheet, learners analyze a political cartoon that requires them to consider the power of symbols in cartoons and respond to 4 talking point questions.
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The Lorax Explorations
Students read and debate the purpose of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, analyze its story elements, and write their own The Lorax II.
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Comparative Genocides
Learners examine genocidal events throughout history. Using the internet, they research these events and compare and contrast them with the Holocaust. They analyze the amount of inhumanity towards others throughout history. In groups,...
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Violence On TV
Students examine violence on TV. In this data collection lesson, students explore TV violence. Students watch TV shows and fill out a checklist about the amount of violence. Students organize and analyze the information to make a...
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Founding Myths, Stories that Hide Our Patriotic Past
Students participate in a scavenger hunt using their textbooks to find information about historical events, people and places in US history during the Revolutionary Era. After creating their list of important people, students create...