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Themes in Literature - Langston Hughes "Thank You Ma'm"
Eighth graders study Langston Hughes, "Thank You Ma'am" to discover the elements of plot, character motives and reactions. They express the effects of trust and kindness by writing a reflective personal narrative. They illustrate the...
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View: Visual Inquiry/Experience in Writing
Students discuss the importance of having good observational skills. Using artifacts, they discuss what can and cannot be told about previous cultures. They use their observations to write a paper about the culture and use the internet...
Novelinks
Tunes for Bears to Dance to: Concept Analysis
Considering using Robert Cormier's young adult novel, Tunes for Bears to Dance to for book circles or as a whole-class anchor text? Check out this overview of the key concepts and issues raised by the novel.
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Educator's Guide: Holes
You'll be a star at your next grade level meeting with an educational unit on Louis Sachar's Holes. Based on both the novel and film, the lessons include applications to language arts with character studies and movie reviews; social...
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Where the Red Ferns
Where the Red Fern Grows provides the text for a study of the literary elements of plot, character, and setting. Discussion questions and vocabulary lists are referenced but not included.
Student Achievement Partners
Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston's "Farewell to Manzanar"
Passages from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar provide the context for a study of the historical themes of experiencing war, resilience during war, and understanding the lasting trauma of war. Appendices include extension...
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Bennington Battlefield
Students explore the characteristics of the area around the battlefield and the groups who participated on both sides of the battle. The relative importance of manpower, motivation, and leadership in the outcome of a military conflict is...
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Character Analysis
Students analyze the motivations behind characters. In this character analysis activity, students reflect on conflicts from previous stories and watch a clip from 'East is East.' Students answer questions for the movie and watch the...
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Number the Stars Chapter 15
Students analyze the theme of bravery in the book Number the Stars. They create a list of possible themes in Number the Stars. They review elements of a story, focusing on climax. They debate over the climax of the story.
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Ellis Island: The "Golden Door" to America
Students write a narrative from the perspective of an immigration inspector or European immigrant. In this Immigration lesson, students read an online history of Ellis Island and evaluate its significance by writing answers to discussion...
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Plot Development
Students identify the elements of plot and write a script with a strong plot. In this plot lesson, students identify elements of plot in examples by completing a chart and a graphic organizer. Students then create plots from...
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Using Words to Work Things Out
Students recognize a problem and how to resolve it. In this lesson, students listen to The Hating Book and discuss the events of the story. Students answer comprehension questions and relate to their own experiences. Students role play...
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The Spanish American War (1898-1901)
In this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer questions about the Spanish American War. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.
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Writing a Storybook
Students explore language arts by creating their own stories in class. In this book making lesson, students read the story City Pig in class and create storyboard illustrations in order to analyze the story. Students utilize these...
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Mock Trial
Students rewrite a traditional fairy tale to represent the viewpoint of the villain. They participate in a mock trial of that villain in which all regular court participants (judge, jury, defendant, witnesses, plaintiff, etc) play roles.
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It's Mine Lesson Plan
Students read a book called It's Mine! In this lesson about three frogs and sharing, students explore how what they do affects everything around them. Through a series of seven different activities, students interpret the frogs and their...
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Wonderful Westerns
In this book report worksheet, students choose a novel about westerns to read and then completes six various assignments dealing with the novel of their choice.
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Understanding Character
Students are introduced to literary elements and definitions in the worksheet Understanding Character but reading through each of the elements and definitions aloud. They read the story, "La Bamba" and identify examples of the literary...
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Rabindranath Tagore's The Home and the World
High schoolers read Tagore's novel and discuss questions of personal development, its influence from culture and tradition, and the conflicting allegiances of family, marriage, friendship and politics. Students research swadeshi and...
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Folktale Quilt
Students read several selections of folktales from different historic periods and different cultures. Then they incorporate a folktale theme into a modern day story, using elements that parallel those from the original version.
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Improvisational Setting - "Where are You?"
Second graders explore setting through improvisations. In this theatre lesson, 2nd graders perform a variety of improvisations in different settings and chart how they established the setting in the different environments.
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A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Students, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of ideas...
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fantastic Characters
Students study stories. In this writing instructional activity, students discuss the three aspects of a story, read stories focusing on the characters, write a story as a class about a character made up by the class, and write a story...