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From Mark Twain to David Bowie: The Artistic Persona vs. The Individual
Students explore the concept of public image. In this public persona lesson, students discover what public image is and discuss the role of an author's life when interpreting pieces of their work.
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Snowy Day
Students investigate the concept of reading comprehension while focusing upon the sequencing of a story. They read the story and use the cutouts included in the instructional activity to put the story in order. Students also engage in a...
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Language Arts: Twinning At-Risk Students
Students at-risk in high school and primary grades pair up to read and write together. They create books modeled after authors and illustrators. They hold a parents' day to display their completed books.
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Pioneers Heading West
Students research Pacific Northwest Pioneers in order to create a bio-web poster about the author in which they illustrate and write facts about the pioneer. Students then create a book page about their pioneer to add to a class book of...
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Spiders
First graders complete a variety of center activities to study spider characteristics and facts. They solve math problems, identify spider body parts, and study vocabulary words to use in creative writing about spiders.
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Author Study of Patricia Polacco's Family Stories
Students describe factors that influence relationships with family and friends.
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Let's Celebrate Ramadan!
First graders explore the holiday of Ramadam. They listen to stories, create a class penny jar to collect pennies to give to a charity, and write a class letter to parents explaining about Ramadan and the penny jar.
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Let's Celebrate Christmas!
Students explore the celebration of Christmas as part of an investigation into the multicultural experiences of celebrating holidays. The story written by Richard Paul Evans, "The Light of Christmas" provides the basis for the exploration.
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Enchanting Egypt
After reading the Magic Tree House book Mummies in the Morning, learners talk about Ancient Egypt. They identify the plot, characters, setting, etc., explore vocabulary terms, and construct a pyramid. This will motivate your class...
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Consumerism and the Consumer Society
Pupils read an article titled "How Much Is Enough?" by Alan Durning. They work in small groups to summarize the author's main point for each paragraph and then identify and discuss further questions they may have in response to the...
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Library Curriculum: What Would a Wonderful Library Be Like?
Second graders complete a KWL chart about libraries. They create a book using writing patterns of a particular author. Students decide criteria for awarding the Second Grade Librarian Award to books in the classroom library, and use a...
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Elvis
In this excellent music and history activity, 1st graders watch movies and listen to music sung by Elvis Presley, then draw and write as if they were a famous singer. This entertaining and inventive activity has a terrific assessment...
Novelinks
The House on Mango Street: List-Group-Label
Encourage close reading of the text and a focus on how Sandra Cisneros' develops her characters with an activity that asks teams to sort, group, and label character descriptions from The House on Mango Street.
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The Magic Apple
A fun and delicious lesson plan can help your kids learn about plural nouns and story sequencing. After reading The Magic Apple by Rob Cleveland, kids match pictures to story segments and add s to nouns to make them...
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Harriet The Spy
Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...
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Family Pictures
Fourth graders, after reading the story, "Family Pictures," discuss the format of the story and then recall a favorite family experience of their own. They then write a paragraph as modeled by the author describing that experience with...
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Babushka Baba Yaga
Students read books by the author Patricia Polacco and complete different activities for the 4 books. In this language arts lesson plan, students read the books Babushka Baba Yaga, Boat Ride With Lillian Two Blossom, Pink and Say, and...
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Where Do We Come From? who Are We? Where Are We Going?
Students are responsible for producing works for, coordinating (with the teacher?s assistance) and mounting an exhibition to be presented at a parent-teacher open house. They examine literature by Henry David Thoreau and other writers....
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Pass It On: African American Poetry to Inspire Writing
Students read through poems in a book called Pass it On. There are 19 poems from famous African American poets contained in the book. The poems are specialized for children and after the children have learned about the author and about...
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Stars and Bars Forever?
Students investigate icons, monuments and places that serve as symbols of American history, assessing how and why the meanings of these historic symbols evolve through time to acquire new or different significance.
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Did Jack break the law?:
Students identify the process for settling a legal dispute, identify key players in a legal dispute (who presents the facts; who makes the final decision) and determine what makes a decision fair.
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That's MY Pencil: Simplified Mock Trial
Learners identify the process for settling a legal dispute, identify key players in a legal dispute (who presents the facts; who makes the final decision), and determine what makes a decision fair.
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Fear Factors
Students explore their own childhood fears. Then, by reversing the scenario and considering how the objects of their fears might in turn also be afraid of them, students confront these fears and create a student books that help younger...
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Keeping the Dream Alive
Students explore the life and works of black American playwrights to gain insight into how their works reflect and influence the black American experience.