Anti-Defamation League
"What is it Like to be an Outsider?”: Building Empathy for the Experiences of Immigrants
This lesson highlights the struggles of immigrants and the importance of showing empathy. Beginning with a read-aloud of a book in another language and a poem, scholars take part in a thoughtful discussion. Then, the class examines a...
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Strong Descriptive Writing: James and the Giant Peach
Support your writers! Clear procedures and appropriate support make this a superb resource for elementary writing instruction. Ready your class to compose original descriptive paragraphs inspired by the episode in Roald Dahl's James and...
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Berlioz the Bear
Young children read the story, Berlioz the Bear and complete various reading and writing activities. They learn about fiction and non-fiction, and complete graphing and writing activities for the story. Youngsters draw the bear and use...
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The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Second graders listen to the story, THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF and in pairs, discuss the theme of the book and two things that they liked about it. They then read the book OOPS and discuss the theme of the book identifying the things they...
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Fact Versus Opinion
Students differentiate between fact and opinion. They define fact and opinion, then listen to and identify examples of each. Students identify different books where facts and opinions can be found, and cut out newspaper and magazine...
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All Aboard
Explore the U.S.S. Nevada. Researchers use primary sources, secondary sources, children's books and websites to study the naval ship. Their study commences with a class alphabet book on the ship. Intended to be part of a lesson plan on...
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Coming Home:From the Life of Langston Hughes
Third graders listen to the non-fiction book: COMING HOME: FROM THE LIFE OF LANGSTON HUGHES. They identify examples of metaphors and similies within the book and understand how this figure of speech is used in writing. They then create...
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Prairie Find Outdoors
Students take a field trip to a local prairie. Using identification books, they identify various forbs and grasses in the prairie. As a class, they discuss the importance of forbs and grasses to the ecosystem and review the various types...
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Narrative Writing
Students create new sentences using adverb clauses identified from a book. In this narrative writing lesson, students write new sentences from some of the dependent clauses used in a book read to them by the teacher. Students...
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Realism and Fantasy
Second graders listen to the story, Bruno the Baker, where some parts seem real and some seem fake. They must identify the parts of the story as realism or fantasy. An interesting way to teach young readers these two concepts.
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Arthur and His Pals
Arthur, the main character in Marc Brown’s books, is the star of this lesson. Pairs of researchers select one character from the Arthur series and use the internet to access Brown’s web site and learn more about their chosen character....
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A Tree-mendous Project
Seventh graders use their observation and measurement skills to identify trees. Using a tree diagram, they label the parts and discuss the functions of the tree. They practice using a dichotomous key to identify trees as well.
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Going Buggy
Students identify the parts of a dragonfly that they drew. They write a very short non-fiction story (mainly with pictures) about the adventure of a dragonfly. They interview a person dressed as a dragonfly to find out some things about...
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Lesson Plan 2: Good Novel, Bad Novel
What are the characteristics of a good piece of writing? What makes a story interesting? Give your pupils a chance to define the qualities of good novels and what they see as the qualities of bad novels. Class members record these...
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Whales
First graders investigate two different types of whales; toothed and baleen. They describe what the different types of whale eat. They listen to a cassette of Dyan Sheldon's, The Whale Song before making stick puppets to dramatize the...
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Research Skills: Information Retrieval and Evaluation
Focus on research skills, specifically identifying key words and concepts on a specific topic and evaluating information for relevance and authority. This is part of a multi-step lesson on Ancient Rome; however, it is useful for any...
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What Is An Insect?
Students find and classify insects. They collect insects, study them with a hand lens and identify its body parts. Afterwards, they discus various types of insects and thier Orders such as beetles, butterflies and moths, grasshoppers, etc.
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The Emperor and the Kite
Fourth graders develop critical listening skills and answer four questions related to the story, THE EMPEROR AND THE KITE. They identify the main idea and recall a question that involves making a judgment.
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The Grapes of Wrath: Scrapbooks and Artifacts
Young scholars complete research to enhance their reading of "The Grapes of Wrath". Using the text, they identify and locate cultural artifacts and discuss their symbolic connotations. As a class, they create a museum exhibit of the...
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Reading Examples
Young writers read excerpts from Gary Paulsen's memoir to identify figurative and literal language that contain sensory details. They determine which selections are examples of sensory language and fi the language is used literally or...
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Immigration: Creating Change
Students explore how immigration has changed the culture of America. After identifying the foods and diets of Europeans and Native cultures, students create a map indicating where foods came from. Students design a restaurant menu,...
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The Magic of Cranberries
Young scholars research climatic and soil conditions for growing cranberries and illustrate how cranberries grow. They research how cranberries are used past and present and create an a-b-c book on cranberries.
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Where Do People Move To Or From?
Students identify countries of origin of their ancestors, graph patterns of migration to the U.S. and Hawaii, then utilize oral history as a primary document by interviewing their ancestors or parents to explain why they moved to their...