US Mint
Absolutely and Relatively: The Puerto Rico Quarter Reverse
How much does your class know about Puerto RIco? How much can they learn from the back of a 2009 quarter? Use the coin, part of a series of quarters that depict US territories, to teach learners about the geography, culture, and history...
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Doing the Right Thing
Students consider the payoffs of doing the right thing. In this philanthropy activity, students examine the virtue of courage in Jackie Robinson's life and in their own.
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Philanthropy News
Young scholars collect examples of local philanthropy and write a news article for a local newspaper. In this philanthropy lesson, students read Helping Out by George Ancona to gain understanding of what philanthropic acts are....
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Everyday Heroes Then and Now
Middle schoolers explore the concept of philanthropy. In this philanthropic heroes instructional activity, students read Kate Shelley: Bound for Legend and discuss the Industrial Revolution. Middle schoolers consider Kate Shelley's...
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Reading to Elementary Children
Students participate in a cross-age reading program. In this language arts lesson, students choose a class of younger children and read them the book The Legend of the Bluebonnet. Students reflect upon their service project in a journal.
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We Need Cash
Students describe charitable, religious, and civic services in their community, and argue for the value of these services. They write a one-page explanation as to why this service is important to the community and why it deserves $5,000.
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I Am the Words and Pictures I Create
Fourth graders develop a format for a community service learning project and become aware of the diverse ways that people communicate. They also connect experiences to perform reading and writing tasks.
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Interpreting the Evidence
Students find out about the social changes that caused the collapse of important ancient civilizations in Central America, Mesopotamia, the southwestern United States, and western Africa.
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Discovering Japan Through Cooperative Research
Search a variety of sources to create a multimedia or book project about Japan. Learners use the independent investigation method to plan and conduct research about Japan. They use the information they discover to create a computer book...
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A Walk in the Tundra
Discuss the environment of the Arctic tundra using this resource. The focus of this instructional activity is the story A Walk in the Tundra by Rebecca L. Johnson. The appealing illustrations are bound to captivate your class! After...
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5 Broken Cameras: How Storytellers Shape the Story
5 Broken Cameras, the award-winning documentary nominated for a 2013 Academy Award and winner of the Sundance 2012 Directors Award is the focus of a resource packet that includes a lesson plan, discussion guide, reading lists, background...
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Homophone Cartoons
A terrific lesson plan on homophones awaits your youngsters. First, pupils access a website that contains lists of homophones. Then, it's time to get creative! Everyone gets a piece of poster board and they create a homophone cartoon -...
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Sound/Story
Students combine creativity with the rigor of careful editing by adding music to their story. It forces them to focus on how they communicate the meaning of their story to the listener.
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Movie Books- Children's Stories
Students use iMovie to write, illustrate, and narrate a movie book to bring their story alive visually and capture the interest of and inspire nonreaders at their school.
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Literature Through Silent Movies
Students participate in an engaging, alternative assessment activity: making a silent film of an Edgar Allen Poe story. This project offers them an additional way to demonstrate their mastery of the topic.
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Introduction to Primary Sources
Young scholars explore the usage of primary sources, what they are and how they originate. Artifacts are compared and contrasted as part of this historical inquiry as questions are formulated and conclusions drawn.
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Celebrate Hispanic Heritage: Grades 6-8
To gain a better understanding of Hispanic heritage and culture, as well as to build informational comprehension skill, learners explore facets of Hispanic American History. They engage in a class discussion, research three facts, and...
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The Little Red Hen
Young readers access prior knowledge of how wheat becomes bread. Using "The Little Red Hen" story, learners make predictions of the events. Extension activities include singing a song about the story and making a list of...
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Privilege and Power
Middle schoolers examine the distribution of power and privilege in their own towns, provinces, and their country. They create a story based on a famous subject from one of Robert Harris' paintings. By the end of these lessons, learners...
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Dear Miss Florence: Writing Letters To the Boardinghouse for Artists
Imagine being one of the painters in 1910 at the Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut. Using the Florence Griswold Museum's on-line resources to gather information about the daily life of artists at the boardinghouse, learners write a letter...
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The Jacket: Journal Templates Teacher's Guide
Explore this story involving prejudice and racism to enhance learners' comprehension skills. The story The Jacket by Andrew Clements involves an African American boy who is falsely accused of stealing someone's jacket. This teacher's...
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Franklin D. Roosevelt
Discuss the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This story, called "Franklin D. Roosevelt" by Laura Hamilton Waxman, is used to explore comprehension skills. Some of these skills include identifying prefixes and suffixes, making comparisons,...
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The Poetics of Hip Hop
The Bard, Nikki Giovanni, Mos Def? “Sonnet 18,” Ego Tripping,” and “Black on Both Sides”? Sure! It’s the poetics. Class members compare the lyrics, rhythm, and rhyme in classic poetry to hip-hop in a richly detailed resource that...
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Goals and Perseverance
Define the word perseverance to have learners understand why it is important in reaching goals. Young scholars research how Martin Luther King needed perseverance to accomplish his goals. They write acrostic poems using the word...