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Ecosytems: Water Purification
Students explore how ecosystems purify water and what kinds of things humans do that alter these processes. They use a website to access information on local watersheds and develop a "river" newspaper
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History, Today and Every Day
Students assess, by analyzing historic New York Times front pages, how print journalism reflects the values and language of the society in which it is created.
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Introduction to Canada
Ninth graders investigate the country of Canada by examining their media in this geography lesson. They use the Internet to research Canadian newspapers and analyze a topic covered by both US and Canadian media sources. After comparing...
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Bill of Rights
Students work in collaborative groups to research an amendment of the Bill of Rights. They then design and present a skit that demonstrates and communicates the core values and concepts of the amendment to the class.
Smithsonian Institution
Solomon G. Brown: Letter Writing
Personal correspondence in the form of letters is not as common as it once was. This resource presents an opportunity for you to introduce your class to letter writing and cover topics in social studies. Learners read a letter written in...
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Project-Based Learning: Community Service
Community service is the basis for a project based learning experience. Your class participates in four weekly activities that require them to research community issues and contribute their time and talent to assist those in need. This...
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The New York Times: A Journalistic Institution Since 1851
Newspapers, cartoons, and editorials have a lot to offer your classroom.
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Easy Access: Creating Annotated Versions of News Articles
How can news coverage be made more accessible for teens? Model for your class how to use technology to annotate news stories containing unfamiliar references that hinder their interest in and understanding of a news story. Use the...
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Cartoons in the Classroom: Constitutional Amendments
Upper graders use this learning exercise to hone their analysis skills and gain a deeper understanding of various constitutional amendments. There are two cartoons to analyze, background information, additional resource links, and three...
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California Fights Sugar
Scholars read articles and have a class discussion on California's efforts to fight obesity. They will read and discuss the effects of sugar on the body and the soda tax that is being proposed in California.
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Journal Writing in American Studies
Students write their thoughts about political cartoons, photographs, and articles in their journal and then discuss them in class.
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Shasta Dam: How High is Too High?
Research water use in California, environmental protection laws, and the proposition to raise Shasta Dam by 200 feet. Researchers use their findings to build an argument which will be presented at a mock decision panel. Groups then...
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Bird Interdisciplinary Possibilities
Students explore birds, their territory, breeding, and seasonal movement. They research and collect information on birds through writing letters to ornithologists, reading in books, comparing web sites, and observing pictures. Students...
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Making an Argument: Effective use of Transition Words
Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...
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Drawing Political Cartoons
Students draw political cartoons. In this editorial cartoons lesson, students discover the history of the cartoons in America, analyze some cartoons, and then draw their own cartoons that make social statements.
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Climate Change
Students discuss global warming. In this global warming lesson, students read an article about global warming and list five things they learned. Students work in small groups to compare what they wrote. Students illustrate one of the...
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The World's Tallest Building
Young scholars investigate the world's tallest buildings. In this architecture lesson, students discover how humans change the physical environment. Young scholars read about and view pictures of famous buildings in the world. Students...
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The Political Dr. Seuss
Students discuss the role political cartoons have played in U.S. politics and public affairs since the 1700's. They analyze some of the political cartoons Dr. Seuss drew during World War II and discuss how these cartoons conveyed his...
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Newsworthy Fairy Tales
Third graders review common fairy tales and work in teams to rewrite the fairy tales as news articles. They answer questions using the 5 Ws (who, what, where, when, why). Student articles include eye-catching headlines.
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A Report From the 21st Century - Mark Twain
Students look at Twain, the humorist - considered America's favorite storyteller and the funniest man in the world at the time. Students stretch the truth about a personal experience, and consider how delivery affects impact.
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Interpreting Political Cartoons in the History Classroom
Students analyze political cartoons. In this historical perspectives lesson, students use the provided cartoon analysis worksheet to examine the political cartoons that their instructor shares with them.
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Political Cartoons
Students analyze and interpret political cartoons, then use this knowledge to create their own.
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The Secret is Out
Students explore ideas about journalism ethics as they relate to Watergate and discuss various issues related to an anonymous source being revealed. They write letters to the public editor of The NY Times about credibility and anonymous...
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Count The Letters
Students perform activities involving ratios, proportions and percents. Given a newspaper article, groups of students count the number of letters in a given area. They use calculators and data collected to construct a pie chart and bar...