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Writing Author's Purpose
Write in all three authorial purposes (persuasive, informational, entertaining) with this instructional activity. Young writers consider a time when a friend of theirs helped them out and gave them advice on something. They write a short...
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Measures To Combat Mad Cow Disease
Learners read an article at CNNfyi.com about Mad Cow disease. They identify and explain bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. They formulate ways to combat mad cow disease.
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Functions - Intro and Inverses
Define the terms domain, range, function, vertical limit test, and linear function notation with your class. They can then, graph several equations applying the vertical line test to determine which are and which are not functions, write...
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Formal versus Informal Language
Engage in an activity that focuses on the concepts of formal and informal language use. Middle and high schoolers compare and contrast each style by using a Venn diagram that includes some examples. They read and hear a passage of lyrics...
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Persuasive Writing II
Help your young writers use logic in their persuasive writing. Discuss the characteristics of a persuasive paper, and have pupils work together to explore and solve a syllogism. They will write a short persuasive paper which includes a...
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Persuasive Writing I
Examine the characteristics of an effective persuasive paper. In a group, eighth graders discuss the analogy of a debate being like a persuasive paper. After brainstorming topics, they write an argument and then debate it. Secretly, the...
Mascil Project
Circular Pave-Stones Backyard
Pack the instructional activity into your plans. Young mathematicians learn about packing and optimization with the context of circular paving stones. They use coins to model the paving stones, and then apply knowledge of circles and...
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Oral Presentation
Practice your speaking skills! Using a chosen visual aid, pupils present a previously written essay to the class. During the oral presentation, the listeners identify and write down the author's purpose and a question for the author. At...
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Writing For Different Audiences
Evaluate the use of vocabulary in written paragraphs to make the determination of its appropriateness for a particular audience. As a class, seventh graders develop a fictional team and write three paragraphs to different audiences based...
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Grammar Review
Review grammar rules for simple and compound sentences. Learners diagram sentences and identify conjunctions, interjections, and prepositional phrases. As a class, they study their notes and complete pages in their grammar book to...
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Irony
What are the three types of irony? High schoolers engage in a lesson about the use of irony while reading O.Henry's short story "Gift of the Magi." They'll discuss rising action, climax, and resolution in the text before highlighting the...
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Identifying author's purpose
Why is it important to know an author's purpose? After reviewing the three main purposes of writing, seventh graders write a persuasive letter to convince why summer school is better than taking the summer off. They can then join in a...
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SATP Informative Essay I
Young scholars explore the basic steps of writing an informative five paragraph essay. Using a hamburger as an analogy, students discuss the five part method of writing and, given blank hamburger sheets, they fill in the main parts of...
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Solving Systems of Equations
Students, using algebraic operations, solve and check linear equations. At the beginning of class, they write a paragraph comparing the solving of math problems to solving real life problems. Students observe solving systems of two...
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Prewriting
As a class, 7th graders observe examples of brainstorming and then complete brainstorming worksheets themselves. They compose and describe planning strategies. Prior to writing an essay, they identify the purpose and the audience.
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7th Grade Scientific Notation
Middle-school mathematicians identify the need for scientific notation. Learners convert large and small numbers into scientific notation. Students review the powers of ten and write them on the board in standard form and scientific...
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Connotation: "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke
What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...
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Area Of A Circle
Students investigate the concept of area and how it can be applied to a circle. They use the right formula in order to solve different problems. The teacher leads the class through different examples and serves as a resource during...
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Equations Lesson 1
Middle schoolers engage in a study of equations and how they are solved using algebraic methods. This overrides the fact of guessing as done in earlier grades. They cover the concept of inverse operations as the main way to manipulate...
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Endocrine And Reproductive Systems
Students investigate the hormonal levels that are created with the endocrine system and tie it to the act of sexual reproduction. The lesson discusses how the respiratory system is organized as a comparison to the endocrine system which...
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Gift of the Magi
While reading O Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," your class will define and identify situational irony and allusion. Use a study guide (not included, but easy to produce) to record and discuss examples of allusion as you read. Map the...
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Gift of the Magi Lesson Plan 3
Explore the literary concept of theme through the The Gift of the Magi. Starting with a class discussion, the concept of theme is explored through examples from famous stories and movies. Next, the class analyzes the possible themes of...
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Main Idea
What could you pack for a trip if you don't know the destination? After writing a list of items they would want to bring, fourth graders learn that the "trip" is to the South Pole - revealing the need to understand all available...
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Mean, Median, Mode, Range
Learners engage in a study of mean, median, mode, and range in order to represent data in tables. They are also exposed to the results of data that is skewed because of the outlier.