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The Unofficial Guide to Middle School
Sixth graders use Inspiration, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, digital camera, scanners, and video camera
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How Safe Is Your Cafeteria Food?
Students explore how the school has done during recent food inspections. They write an article that explores the situation. Students create a chart of violations and corrections.
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Checking Out Community Preparedness
Students research storm preparedness in their community. They interview city officials to determine the current emergency plans, warning systems, etc. Students write an analysis of the situation.
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Destressing: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Students interview peers, teachers, counselors, parents and local health providers to see how they identify "good" stress and suggest teens cope, write news feature about stress, complete with extra boxes, such as list of signs to spots,...
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Values and Images Reflected in TV Commercials
Pupils view commercials from American and Latin American cultures and discuss the values and selling strategies used in each commercial.
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Mapping Perceptions of China
Pupils discuss what types of things are included on a map. They compare and contrast maps of China with a map they create and practice using different types of maps. They write analysis of their classmates maps.
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Truth in Advertising: When to Ask Questions
Young scholars view different commercials and ad campaigns that present opposing notions of "truth." Students use these commercials to evaluate what makes an effective public service announcement (PSA) or advertisement, then choose a...
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Speak Up for Recycling
Are you looking for ways to enhance a persuasive writing or speech unit? Use this lesson to prompt your young writers to investigate a school recycling program. After conducting research, they present a persuasive, well-organized speech...
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Tell Me A Story -- Feelings
Practice using feelings as a way to reflect on past experiences. The poem The End and the text Tell Me a Story Mama are used to identify feeling words. As an extension, pupils participate in a service learning project and...
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Teaching "Theme" with Children's Literature
In this exercise, learners examine the difference between a theme, topic, and moral. After a class discussion on the definition of literary themes, the instructor reads The Cello of Mr. O by Jane Cutler. Next, individuals analyze the...
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Romeo and Juliet
Learners survey the characters in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet. Using Inspiration software, students create individual character webs for both Romeo and Juliet. Learners describe the two main characters.
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“Pardon This Interruption-Columbus Has Landed!!!”
Students research, design, rehearse, record, and present a 60 second Public Service Announcement, based on Columbus' arrival in the America. The students, working in groups, utilize the design process in creating their PSA. This lesson...
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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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The Great Debate
Groups of learners investigate the persuasive genre of writing as they research and present on an issue. They research the Internet (possible websites are included) for a topic and locate information to present to the opposing team. In...
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Do Spiders Live on the World Wide Web?
Explore the parts of a computer and discover that words have multiple meanings. Your class will verbally identify the parts of a computer including the mouse, screen, window, net, and keyboard. They will also complete a KWL chart,...
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Courage: Hero Traits
What does it mean to be a hero? Who qualifies as a hero? In groups, middle and high schoolers brainstorm a list of heroes and create a list of characteristics that a person must possess in order to be a hero. Extend this instructional...
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Romeo and Juliet
Use this SMART board activity to review the familial relationships in Romeo and Juliet. Review the characters from the play using descriptions first, then in the context of the other characters. The SMART board file (included) guides...
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Satchel Page
Bring a lesson about Negro League Baseball to your Black history unit, or any other research unit throughout the year. While the lesson plan itself is simplistic, there are several good ideas that you could use, such as creating trading...
San José State University
MLA Formatting Guidelines: Ellipsis for Omissions
If you would like a concise overview of MLA formatting, this two-page handout provides it. It addresses page layout, parenthetical citations, and works cited (including when and how to use ellipses to indicate an omission), but it does...
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Non Fiction Posters
A set of very useful posters (in PDF) describing different types of non-fiction texts is here for you. While there isn't an activity, per se, in these worksheets, they could be used as a handy reference for learners who are engaging in...
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Jimmy Carter: Civic Action, Lesson 1
Inspired by the humanitarian work of President Jimmy Carter after he left office, high schoolers explore the history of civic action in the United States and generate ideas about problems at the local, national, and international levels....
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Family Tree Community Project
Fifth graders answer questions such as: Where does my family come from? What was it like for my ancestors to grow up as America developed? What differences in society were present then? What was similar to today? students conduct...
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Historical Travel Brochure
Fourth graders answer the question, Where in America did history take place? Through investigation as a travel agent, they discover that history is not an isolated event. They use a wide variety of technological resources to create their...
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Scribbleboy
Fifth graders are introduced to the text, SCRIBBLEBOY, discussing the cover page for clues to the genre. They discuss the ordinary surroundings contrasted by the graffiti and the words and phrases used to provide information about the...