Curated OER
When Things Fall Apart
Students examine the impact of colonialism on African nations, researching and analyzing post-colonial literature from those countries. They develop and present a creative display of their novel and its historic parallels.
Curated OER
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Collage Technique
First graders listen to the story The Hungry Caterpillar, then sequentially organize their own re-writing and re-creating of the story. They construct illustrations for their book using the collage technique Eric Carle used in his...
Curated OER
Transforming Fairy Tales
Students use the computer to write, draw, explore the Internet, and combine all of these elements. They write their own fairy tales, use computer software to create drawings of the characters for their tales and use the Internet to...
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Photoshop Brush and Shape Tools
Students are introduced to Photoshop and the tools to assess it properly. They are shown how to manipulate a piece of writing with shapes utilizing the brush tool. Each students writes an original haiku to describe their painting.
Curated OER
Unit Plan for Mark Twain and American Humor
Students create brochures about the humor of Mark Twain. In this literature-analysis lesson plan, students read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and other short stories by Twain. Students write analytical paragraphs and...
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Dealing With Death
Students watch and analyze a video dealing with the topic of death. They answer discussion questions, identify examples of how death is represented in popular media, write a poem, create a memory book, and write a letter to someone who...
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Altered Books
Students transform a discarded book into a creative art work of art that encompasses a theme and utilizes a variety of media and techniques.
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Introducing 'Communication Talent' with "Casey at the Bat"
Students listen to the poem "Casey at the Bat". They use their Forecasting Skill to answer questions and discuss the poem.
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Outer Space Creature
Students read poems by Shel Silverstein about planets and outer space. As a class, they compare and contrast his descriptions to actual facts which have been discovered through explorations. They write a description of an outer space...
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Where I Am From
Students study selected poetry to gain an understanding of influences on values and personal identity. They explore language terms such as personification, imagery metaphors and allusion. After reading a poem and discussing it,...
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Daily Actings
Students view clips of Anna Deavere Smith's work. They interview people on video or audiotape to learn their lines, dialect, and syntax to assist them in theater. They create a play which emulates the people in which they interviewed.
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Biopoem: Bud, Not Buddy
Young poets focus on one character from a story they are reading, collect details, and use a biopoem template to analyze this character. The activity can be used with any text.
Novelinks
The Good Earth: Biopoem Strategy
To gain a better understanding of characters in Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, kids create a biopoem for one of her characters.
Curated OER
October's Lesson Plan
Students listen to poetry about crocodiles. After discussing the relationship between humans and crocodiles, they make a list of ways humans hurt crocodiles and then write Prelutsky's poem from the crocodile perspective.
Curated OER
"The Block": Romare Bearden's and Mine
Students study Bearden's style of collage and create their own collage that reflects their neighborhood. They are read "The Block" and poems about neighborhoods and write one about theirs.
Curated OER
Memory of a Kiss
Third graders read, discuss, and memorize the poem "Jenny Kissed Me." as an example of lyrical poetry. They write a letter to Jenny reliving the memory of her kiss from an elderly person's point of view. They illustrate their poems.
Curated OER
Treasures of the Silk Roads
Students examine and discuss art objects from the Silk Roads. They analyze images of artifacts, create a word map, and develop and write a short story or poem based on the slides viewed.
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Out of the Dust (High School)
Fourth graders read Hesse's "Out of the Dust". They respond to questions about the novel and write a free-verse poem modeled after the author's.
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Language Arts: Lewin Project
Fourth graders read and respond to the poem, "When I Am Angry." They complete surveys by analyzing the most common feeling and draw a bar graph of their behavior, using different colors to identify the duration of various feelings. ...
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Fourth graders research and write an author report on Roald Dahl, including books written by him, birthplace, family life, and other information on his writing. Students read aloud chapters in the book. Students create a newspaper...
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Scribe of Self
Seventh graders read "Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank. In groups, they discuss the reasons why people would write an autobiography and identify their own identity crisis. After reading excerpts of other autobiographies, they...
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Greeting Card to A Character
Students create a greeting card from one character to another after finishing a novel. Individually, they use their imagination to write the paragraph using the text to support their ideas. They share their greeting card with the class...
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Thornton Wilder's Our Town: The Reader as Writer
Young scholars read a play and create their own play using Thornton Wilder's Our Townas a resource. In this play lesson, students analyze how theatrical elements contribute to a play's meanings and effects. Young scholars recognize...
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Native Americans During the 19th and 20th Centuries
Students explore major events in Native American history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In this American history lesson, students listen to lectures, examine photographs, and analyze music regarding Native American history...