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Half Man, Half Limping Rabbit
Students explore culture and change through reading "Half Main, Half Limping Rabbit" by Nina Porzucki. In this literature and cultural lesson plan, students discuss Dracula and other folk stories from Romania. Students identify the ways...
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Team Activity
Students sequence the events of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, after first being read a biography. The facts are on strips of paper, which are later glued end to end.
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Comparing Good and Bad Character Traits of Historical and Current Figures
Students create a chart with two columns. In one column include good and bad character traits of historical figures in biographies and historical fiction. In the second column include good and bad character traits of current famous...
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The Lansing Old Stars Trading Card Collection
Students study about the first people that came to the Lansing area. After reading a series of stories students have gained an examineing of how people in the 1800s and 1900s dressed. They design trading cards to portray their settler...
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The Power of Mental Images: Visualizing Literature
With a chapter book in hand, readers practice visualizing the events and characters of the story. The lesson gives suggestions of novels that are rich in detail to help facilitate the process. Drawings from what they read act as the...
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Speaking Out Against War
Students discuss the affect the Iraq War has had on citizens taking advantage of their right to express themselves through non-violent protests and pledges of resistance. They research and discuss local community and school events and...
Marion County Schools
Popcorn Literacy
Popcorn is a tasty part of a culminating activity designed to motivate readers to share important literary elements. The popcorn fills the inside of a white paper bag that is transformed on the outside into a presentation tool with the...
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Slavery issue and view North versus South around 1850s
Students critique actions based on information from both sides of the argument. They analyze impact of slavery on both sides. Students recognize governmental attempts at pacifying the situation. They examine sources and critique them and...
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Cultural and Social Transformation since 1865
Students research the evolution of cultural and social issues in areas of Westward Expansion, Immigration, and Civil Rights. They practice writing clear details with supporting evidence and examples and evaluate ways of improving drafts...
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Political Cartoons
Students examine a variety of historical cartoons. They recognize a political cartoon and identify the main idea, symbolism, exaggeration and caricature in political cartoons. Students analyze a political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin.
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The Furry News: How to Make a Newspaper
Students investigate the process of making a newspaper using children's literature to create context for the lesson plan. The readers are asked to predict the events of the story as it is read to them. Then the teacher uses guided...
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Espionage and Sedition Acts: Mock Trial
Bring to life the severity of the Espionage and Sedition Acts through a mock trial. Learners have prior knowledge of WWI and the context of these acts. An anticipatory set gets the class discussing the ethics of wartime dissension, and...
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Chuck Close Up Close
Students practice the art of storytelling using realistic art. They pick one illustration of a character in the book and create a story about the possible life he lived. The important details that are needed is the name, occupation,...
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Searching for Meanings Beneath the Surface of the Poem
Students analyze poetry. For this cultural perspectives lesson, students read the poem "Soccer Until Dusk" by Mark Brazaitis. Students analyze the poem and consider the cultural perspective it reveals.
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What is Good Use of Time?
Students analyze the best uses of time in other cultures. In this time use lesson, students read the poem 'Soccer Into Dusk' and 'The Meaning of Time' as analysis of time usage in other culttures. Students complete a discussion, journal...
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Matter
First graders are read a story about the various stages of matter with a focus on gases. Using a ziploc bag, they capture as much air as possible and discuss how it takes up space even though it is invisible. To end the lesson, they blow...
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The Portrayal of the Witches
Eleventh graders discover the importance of the fortune teller in Shakespeare's Macbeth. After watching two interpretations of the play, they examine and compare the portrayal of the character. They create their own modern adaptation of...
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Characteristics of Anne Frank
Eighth graders read selected passages from The Diary of Anne Frank. Working in pairs, 8th graders determine what qualities and characteristics they would assign to her from their selected diary entry.
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What is a Seed?
Students share experiences they have had with different types of seeds. After being read a story, they are given a lima bean in which they split apart and examine the inside. To end the lesson, they share their own ideas on how they...
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Set the Scene
Third graders read the story "A Bargain for Frances" and make predictions about the unfolding plot of the story. In this set the scene lesson, 3rd graders examine the three parts of a story; the beginning, middle, and end.
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What's the Big Idea?
Students choose a paragraph from a book of their choice, identify the main idea, and draw an illustration of the main idea. They write original paragraphs, illustrate them, and trade with a partner, identifying the main idea of the...
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Symbols of a Life
Young scholars identify the narrative elements in a work of art and write their own narrative. In this narrative and symbolism lesson, students interpret narratives depicted in the given works of art and write a biographical narrative...
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Remember the Bridge: Poems of a People
Fifth graders explore poems of African Americans. They research a famous African American, write a report, create a timeline of events in African American history, create a map of the New World, and research Molly Walsh. After...
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Being Treated Equally
Second graders study the dates and events that pertain to Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. They discuss and then write a journal entry about what it means to treat other equally. They place important events of Martin Luther King's life...