Ball State University
Dear Pen Pal
Keep your class in conversation with others across the country or across the sea by writing letters to pen pals. The activity calls for students to be pan pals with pupils in Africa; however, the listed steps could be used for any...
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Cultivating Caring - Filling Buckets of Caring Carrots
Students practice compassion. In this character education lesson, student read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. Students discuss the book as well as ways to demonstrate they care for one another. Students fill buckets...
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The Week That Was
Students complete a weekly writing assignment that documents their writing progress throughout the year. Each week, students write a paragraph in response to a prompt or a synopsis of the week's events.
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Civil War Diaries
Fifth graders examine excerpts from a diary of a Confederate soldier and his experiences in a Union prison camp. After receiving character cards, they write diary entries from the perspectives of their Civil War identity. As an...
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Active and Passive Listening
Eighth graders practice passive and active listening skills. They discover listening skills help them communicate more effectively. Students analyze the benefits of having someone to listen to them actively and the benefits of being an...
Brain Targeted Teaching
Tuck Everlasting Novel Study
The broad ideas included here provide clear ideas on how to use brain-targeted learning, what activities work best with Tuck Everlasting, how to apply the knowledge gained from their reading, and ideas for evaluation. Not teaching...
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Radio Program #3: Company Towns
Students analyze the characteristics of company towns. They locate former company towns on a map. Students classify the perspectives of residents of company towns. Creative writing unfolds within this lesson.
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Listening to Airplane Announcements in Movies
Third graders listen to and practice in comprehending airplane announcements. They determine the predictability of these announcements.
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Peer and Self-evaluation in Spoken Tests: Tools and Methods
Students, in groups, each take a different role and are to either ask or answer questions. They explore how to effectively evaluate themselves and others.
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Extended Families
Students examine the various combinations that contemporary extended families take on. They identify how strong communication skills are important to the health of the family after reading a an excerpt from a first-person fictional journal.
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Friday Forum
Students research controversial issues and formulate their own opinion. They defend their position with supporting data and evaluate arguments from opposing viewpoints. They present their stand both verbally and in the written form.
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Words from the Wise
Students explore how famous people, through newspaper Op-Ed articles, often inform the public about issues of national importance. They write Op-Eds in the voice of famous people on current news topics.
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Ask An Expert
Students invite community members to visit the classroom and interview them about water in the community. Students prepare for, conduct, and follow up an interview and record their responses in their Water Journals.
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Dilettante Artists
Students investigate their personal heritage. They research and record iand organize nformation in journal notes. Students create folk art using a variety of techniques and media.
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School-Home Links: Writer's Notebook
In this writing journal activity, students find a notebook to keep track of their writing ideas. Students decorate the notebook and begin writing down their thoughts. Parents or guardians must sign the activity.
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History: Impact of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Students formulate theories about the Lewis and Clark Expedition about its purpose and impact on America. They write position papers supported with facts discovered in their research. Students include quotes, factual references, maps,...
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Irish Step Dancing
Students explore Irish step dancing and the importance of the types of shoes that are worn. They draw pictures in their journals of the two types of Irish step dancing shoes and view pictures and samples of the types of shoes.
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Historical Events in Utah History
Fifth graders choose a topic they are interested in related to the history of Utah. Using the internet, they research the topic making sure to cite where they gathered the information and take notes. To end the lesson, they write their...
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American Literature: An Oblique Introduction
Eleventh graders research journals and periodicals of different accounts of Columbus and Latin America. They examine indigenous civilizations and design their own curriculum based on the information they have gathered.
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Intergenerational Life Writing Lesson Plan
Young scholars meet with an older adult to complete a writing assignment. Using a topic suggested by the teacher, they each write a story about their own lives and compare and contrast their perspectives. They share their viewpoints...
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How We Have Changed!
First graders practice using their writing skills. They create memory books through the use of daily journal writing questions of the day. Students respond to story prompts and write autobiographies of themselves and another classmate.
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Beginning Research
High schoolers begin the research portion of their project after they have chosen a topic. Using their peers, they provide feedback to others to help them stay on track. They compare old research papers with new ones to show student...
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Exploring Heroism
Students research heroism online. In this heroism lesson, students use the documentary of Heroes of Ground Zero to explore the theme of heroism. Students complete five days of activities to research and participate in activities that...
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Why Be An Independent Learner?
Learners discuss why research skills are important to have as a skill in life. As a class, they identify their prior knowledge when it comes to researching a topic and discuss why it is important to be an independent learner. In...