The New York Times
The Horror! The Horror!
Gear up for Halloween by studying the horror genre with your class and analyzing films and texts to uncover the genre's traditional conventions.
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Loving Literature
First graders, after having "Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman read to them, participate in group discussions or independentally work to analyze a spreadsheet to identify essential elements in the story and graph their data. In...
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A Whale of a Tale
Students read "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" and discuss factual information in the book. They research whales and use information to write a narrative story. They take their stories through the writing process.
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Most Wanted Villians
Students review the characteristics of various characters in fairytales. As a class, they review the story details and create a concept map using a software program. They create their own wanted poster of the villians in the fairytale to...
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Titanic
Students conduct research with the purpose of writing a report about the Titanic. They use a variety of resources. The students produce a written document that has plenty of documented information. They also compare the information that...
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Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
Young scholars examine the life and works of Theodor Seuss Geisel. In groups, they compare and contrast the stories, characters and illustrations he used. They complete a book review on one of the books and share them with other...
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Nursery Rhymes
Students recall details of nursery rhyme read by teacher, identify main characters, and demonstrate knowledge of poem by creating concept map about story that includes title, clip art, and changes in font and color.
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Language Arts: A "Perfect" Lesson
Pupils read "Be A Perfect Person in Just three days," and participate in a host of activities. Connected to technology, they use online sources to create word searches and puzzles from vocabulary words. In addition, students create...
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The Story of a Bracero
Learners study a first person account written by a migrant worker from Mexico. They write a reaction to it. They discuss immigration to the US and how it effects labor patterns.
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Jack and the Beanstalk
Third graders examine a reading selection. In this fairy tale lesson, 3rd graders read Jack and the Beanstalk. Students are divided into groups and each group lists the elements of a fairy tale and writes a script for a puppet play of...
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Greek Origins and Character Development
Seventh graders examine words of Greek origin and discuss character development in fiction. They read a list of Greek word parts and create words on a worksheet. Students then read and discuss an informational handout about character...
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Cooperative Jigsaw Expert Report of Fables
Students research literary elements of fables. In this literature lesson, students analyze literary elements of fables. Students work collaboratively using a jigsaw strategy to analyze literary elements.
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Nina Bonita: Culture and Beauty
Pupils read Nina Bonita by Ana Maria Machado. In this reading comprehension/ geography lesson, students recall various parts of the story and create a map of where the rabbit traveled throughout the story. They participate in group...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Oral and Literary Strategies
Readers are first introduced to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart by making a map of Africa. They will better understand the novel's historical and literary contexts, European and African literary traditions, and how...
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Family Traditions
Students 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...
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LETTER FROM ONE CHARACTER TO ANOTHER
Fourth graders read stories and pick one with characters they find interesting. Then students create a dialogue of writing a letter from one character to another. The letter must relate to the original story in some way that can easily...
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Forensic Detectives: Who Did It?
Students explore forensic science and its uses in criminal investigations. They solve a fictional crime by identifying and analyzing the fingerprints, strand of hair, and thread samples for evidence. After completing charts for each,...
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Outline a Travel Narrative
Fourth graders are taught how to outline a fictional narrative essay. They review the definition and structure of narrative essays. Students use the activity to brainstorm specific ideas for narrative essays. They are given a...
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African-American Autobiography for the Middle School Student
Pupils are introduced to the characteristics of an autobiography. For each author, they research their life and works and discuss why it reflects different time periods of African-Americans. In groups, they brainstorm characteristics of...
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Tall Tale Introduction
Students explore folk tales by completing a graphic organizer with classmates. In this tall tale lesson, students read the famous story Paul Bunyan and identify the many characteristics of a fictional tall tale story. Students complete a...
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It's a Mystery to Me
Middle schoolers read a variety of mysteries to improve their reading and comprehension skills. Using a worksheet, they define and practice using new vocabulary. In groups, they read stories from Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and write...
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Evaluate Problem-Solving in the Context of Culture and Time-frame
Students examine literary elements in non-fiction literature. In this problem solving lesson, students read Rosa Parks, My Story and Beyond the Limits. Students make oral presentations based on the causes and effects, conflicts, and...
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More Than Mock Elections
Middle schoolers create a presidential campaign story. In this presidential campaign lesson, students produce, direct and act in their own campaign story. Stories focus on setting, characters, context, critical incidents, and concluding...
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Because of Winn Dixie: Water Management Practices
Fourth graders read the book Because of Winn Dixie and define the characters, setting, and plot. In this Winn Dixie lesson plan, 4th graders also identify quality water management techniques addressed in the story.