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Heart (and Arm) of Darkness
Learners read and translate a 19th-century American ghost tale into a Japanese hanging scroll in this exciting lesson for middle-level Language Art classes. The lesson can be completed in four or five days.
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Folktales (African American, Chinese, Japanese and Korean)
Students participate in a variety of activities that are concerned with comparing different cultures through the literary genre of folktales. The stories are used to stimulate student interest and provide a context for how a society...
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Thornton Wilder's Our Town: The Reader as Writer
Students 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. Students recognize differences...
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Dawdle Duckling
Students read the book Dawdle Duckling and complete different activities about the book. Students research the wetlands, research ducks, complete an oil and water experiment, map a cove, and more.
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Rising Tensions Over The Nile River Basin
Young scholars analyze the concept of global commons dilemma. In this investigative instructional activity students read an article on the Middle East Media Research Institute and answer questions accordingly.
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Newspaper Stories
Middle schoolers examine the structure of the newspaper. In this newspaper lesson, students look at the different types of articles about giving, sharing, and acts for the common good. They realize the types of voice that are used in the...
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Fables and Trickster Tales Around the World
Students analyze fables and trickster tales from various cultural traditions. For this fable analysis lesson, students identify the elements of fables and trickster stories. Students read Aesop's fables and Ananse spider stories....
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Memior: The Stuff of Our Lives
Fourth graders reflect upon the significance of remembered events and to keep a "notebook" of their thoughts and feelings. They read books that exemplify memior writing. They write their memiors, taking it through the writing process.
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Break the Pentomino Code!
Students read and analyze the book, Chasing Vermeer. They discuss the main story elements, analyze how pentominoes are important to the story, use a pentomino code to decipher a message, and create a secret code of their own.
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Comparing Characters Across Two Short Stories
Ninth graders listen to a read aloud of two short stories focusing on literary devices. The write about the settings and realism of the stories, and decide each main character handles the conflict he faces with nature.
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Disease and Culture through Literary Time
Students select books to read that include disease as a plot or theme component. They fill out a matrix for the disease in their novel and write a five-paragraph paper about their book. Students use the rest of the week's classes to...
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A Little Trouble in Amsterdam
Students read A Little Trouble in Amsterdam and discuss their reading. In this reading comprehension activity, students complete pre-reading activities and post-reading activities for the book A Little Trouble in Amsterdam by Richard...
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Batter Up
Students explore personal achievement by reading a children's book. In this story analysis instructional activity, students read the book Batter Up, by Sue Muller Hacking and discuss the main character in the story and the actions that...
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What's the Point? A Lesson on Point of View
Fourth graders read the book, Good Dog by Alexandra Day. In this writing lesson plan, 4th graders re-write the story from a chosen character's point of view. This lesson plan can be used with many other wordless picture books.
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"you Can't Order a Poem Like You Order a Taco": an Introduction To Poetry
Learners explore what poetry is and certain aspects within it. They write their own knowledge and perceptions of poetry and the expand that knowledge and experience through listening to, reading, and writing poetry and exploring poetic...
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Chocolate Chaos
Second graders demonstrate the ability to examine the elements of a story (theme, plot, setting, mood) and characters, by discussing and writing about each. They have fun with chocolate related activities and enjoy reading about some...
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Setting And Plot
Pupils engage in study of plot and setting with the reading of many familiar texts. They identify the plot and setting with the help of a worksheet. The teacher works with the class for scaffolding and helps them to recognize the concepts.
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Poetry
Fifth graders preview different poetry selections form different poets to narrow their criteria for a favorite poem. They use the web and written sources to find a favorite poem and then give an oral interpretation of their poem in class...
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The American Dream Poetry
Students analyze how poetry can reveal themes of 'The American Dream.' In this poetry themes lesson, students discuss the elements of poetry and define imagery. Students read 'Lost Sister' by Cathy Song and complete a related worksheet....
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Five Parts That Contribute to the Whole
Students listen to and read an online story. Then they use a graphic organizer to learn the basic story elements. They select another online story and create a graphic organizer for its story elements.
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Developing Thinking and Reasoning Skills in Primary Learners Using Detective Fiction
Students are introduced to the genre of detective fiction. Based on their reading level, they are given a different series of books to read. For each story, they are to make predictions and practice decoding messages. To end the...
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Planting Clues in Short Stories
Students examine short stories to determine how clues are planted in story stories of the mystery genre. They look at how Edgar Allan Poe planted clues in "The Purloined Letter." They write an original short story in which they plant...
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Teaching the Bell Tetrahedral Kite
Students complete readings on kite making and kite flying. They analyze how the parts of a system interconnect and influence each other. Students identifies and uses color and form in a 3D artwork.
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Exploring Prejudice and Text-to-Text Relationships
Tenth graders use the novel To Kill a Mockingbird to analyze relationships in society. In this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders participate in a shoe activity where they bring in one shoe belonging to someone they know and a...