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All About Me
Middle schoolers complete various biographical and autobiographical writing activities. They write an autobiographical essay, biopoem, biographical essay, and design and decorate a bag presenting character traits.
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Leapin' Landmarks: Locating 10 man-made landmarks around the world
Third graders engage in a lesson which addresses their curiosity about some of the outstanding people-made landmarks of the world. They explore the geographical themes of location and place through literature.
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Space and Science Fiction
Use the Franklin Institute's exhibition "An Inquirer's Guide to the Universe" to have students research ideas for a science fiction story. After completing their research, writers will compose science fiction stories that incorporate...
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On The Go! Forces and Motion
Students create a car using physics. In this forces and motion lesson, students create a car and test which changes in design change the performance of the car. Students complete a graphic organizer with the different changes...
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Behind Closed Doors
Young scholars explore different types of doors from an artistic point of view. In this creative thinking lesson, students look at different types of architectural doors and doorways and analyze them. They create a project of a door as a...
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Academic Achievement
Academic goals can lead high schoolers toward bright futures. Get your class to think about where they want to be in 20 years and what they'll need to do to get there with this lesson plan. Learners fill out a brief questionnaire about...
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Evaluating the Strength of Scientific Evidence: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
A happy discovery occurred in Arkansas in 2004: a woodpecker, believed to be extinct since the 1940s, reappeared! Or did it? Middle to high school ecologists examine scientific evidence and use critical-thinking skills to determine...
Beauty and Joy of Computing
Unsolvable and Undecidable Problems
Try as you might, some functions just cannot be computed. The lab introduces the class to the possibility of unsolvable problems. The fourth lesson in a series of seven begins with a logic problem, then progresses to looking at functions...
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Writing a How-To Paper
Students discover that when writing a how-to paper, they are telling readers how to do something such as cook a particular recipe. They then choose one of the provided topics and write their own how-to paper.
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Writing - Story Ideas
Middle schoolers write their story in first person as a non-fiction story, or they can write the story in third person as a fictional story and use different characters. They can choose an idea from one of the story starters provided.
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A Soldier's Valentine
Students create Valentine's for soldiers in Iraq. They review how to write a friendly paragraph and discuss the military and duties of soldiers in Iraq. They create postcards and write reasons why they are rpoud of the military and how...
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Writing and Editing a Research Report
Students research report on their severe weather pattern for presentation to the class.
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Animal Research Pamphlet
Fourth graders perform research on an animal of choice. The reading of a novel is done prior to the research in order to establish context for the lesson. The use of the library for research is a key skill for this lesson.
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Practice Makes It Better
Use the Internet to expand the audience for portfolio writings and motivate young writers to edit their work. Have your class members select a piece of writing from their portfolios to be polished and published on the World Wide Web....
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A Day in the Life: Studying Ancient Rome
Class members use their knowledge of Ancient Rome to write articles for an online newspaper. Using WebBlender, learners craft articles that feature Roman politics, culture, and leisure activities.
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Dinosaur Stomp
Second graders write a dinosaur poem using information from a research activity. In this dinosaur poetry and music lesson, 2nd graders listen to the book Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp in music class. They work in small groups to...
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Amazonian Travel Brochure
Learners create a brochure. In this Amazon research lesson, students research a tourist attraction in the Amazon and develop a travel brochure.
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Giving and Taking Directions
Learners write set of written directions from their craft area in either chart or paragraph form, and give the directions orally to a third party who will listen to the directions and complete the task.
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Life Cycle of Butterfly
Second graders investigate life cycles of insects by writing a story. In this butterfly life lesson, 2nd graders create a checklist of the many steps a caterpillar takes before growing wings and flying. Students utilize...
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Persuasion and Use of Language
Students discuss connotative language, hyperbole, allusion, and rhetorical question. In small groups, they read one section of the "Speech to the Virginia Convention" and analyze these devices. Groups present their results to the class.
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Photo Essay
Learners examine the process of writing a photo essay. They examine and select a personal photo or photo from a magazine, and brainstorm a story that can go with the photo. They identify an emotion to go with their picture, then write...
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What's So Good About Popcorn?
First graders use a thinking map to organize a paragraph. They write and edit their paragraph about popcorn and type the final copy on the computer.
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Adopt a Highway
Third graders write a letter to a community company asking for a donation to their adopt a highway project. In the letter, they include the reasons they want to adopt the highway and thank they store for their time. They word process the...
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Publishing Pupils
Second graders are guided through the writing process and then given time to use the skills they have acquired by writing a story and publishing it using a computer.