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Reading Plays
Students examine the role of tone in a comedy play. They also discover how to paraphrase a passage and explain a character's point of view.
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Recognizing Similes: Fast as a Whip
Students review basic knowledge of similes and engage with similes on a more abstract level. In this similes lesson, students define similes and identify examples. Students read and analyze the similes used in poetry by Derricotte,...
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Poetry in Motion
Students choose a poetry theme. They write a poem, illustrate it with digital images and record it using a digital video camera.
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Tell Me a Whopper!
Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...
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Contemporary Fairy Tales
Eighth graders listen Steven Kellog's, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Raymond Briggs, Jim and the Beanstalk. They use a Venn diagram to compare the two elements of the two stories. They write and publish an original contemporary fairy tale...
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Science Fiction Lesson Plans
Students can explore a literature genre through science fiction lesson plans.
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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.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Interactive Reading Project
Young scholars discuss books they are reading during the semester through e-mail with other students. They complete a reading interest survey, e-mail their partner weekly, and read and suggest six novels by the end of the semester.
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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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The Shakespeare Crowd
Students study the life and times of Shakespeare. They read and analyze one of his plays and use the Internet and videos to gain an understanding of how Shakespeare engaged his audiences, then and still today.
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Once Upon a Time
Students use Inspiration to Identify the defining characteristics of Fairy Tales, They create a literary web, study the basic structure of plot, and recognize that themes reoccur across literary works. They complete Once Upon a Time...
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What Do We Owe To Thoreau?
Students use this design as an electronic reading and writing guide to Henry David Thoreau's famous essay, "On Civil Disobedience." They use activities to familiarize students with the political issues of Thoreau's time. Comprehension...
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The Village and the Stars
Eighth graders discuss early school memories. They assess hopes and aspirations in greater detail and discover the importance of education as one of the shapes of our 'selves'. They observe parents' reactions to children growing up...
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Charlotte's Web
Students complete a variety of activities related to the book "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White. They create a comic strip based on the characters, setting, and plot of the story, and examine the author's writing process. In small groups...
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Animals, Animals, Everywhere
Fourth graders participate in a variety of activities dealing with animal characteristics and classifications in this multi-task lesson. They use graphic organizers, make booklets, and make models.
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Social and Cultural Issues in the Civil Rights Movement
Students watch videos, listen to speeches and analyze the information that is presented about the civil rights movement. They examine visual art of the period.
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Let's Trade! The Prince and the Pauper
Students read and analyze the novel, The Prince and the Pauper. They examine character development, discuss opinions using text, and develop and present a slide show demonstrating the development of a character from the beginning to the...
Museum of Tolerance
Music Evokes Memories and Emotions
Dim the lights, take a deep breath, and press play to explore the emotions and memories that music elicits. Class members begin using relaxation techniques designed to create a positive listening experience. As music plays, learners...
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Classical Music Connection-Popular Music - Connecting Pachelbel, Beethoven, and Mussorgsky to Disco and Rap
Students examine classical music and the "Art Rock" of 1967. They review classical themes in their original genre and discuss/analyze how pop musicians incorporate theses themes into a variety of pop music genres.
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A Picture Says a Thousand Words
Students create a writing selection with a well-developed plot. They use a personal photograph in which they are visible to base their autobiographical writing. They write a description of the events surrounding the photograph in the...
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Poetic Analysis
Students write a poetic analysis on a poem by Carl Sandburg. They take their previous knowledge of poetic devices and apply them to a piece of writing that displays their knowledge on a specific poem. They explain what they know about a...
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George Washington - A Graphic Novel
Students write and illustrate their own graphic novels. In this George Washington lesson plan, students collaborate to research Washington's life as surveyor, his involvement in the French and Indian War as well as the American...
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Jazz Talk
Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
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Family Traditions
High schoolers research their family traditions. They select a tradition that has meaning to them and write about the traditions. They retell the story to a partner and add details. They write a draft of their story to a partner and...