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Number Lines
First graders examine the number line as an addition strategy. In this math lesson, 1st graders create a number line and use it to help them solve addition problems.
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Reading for Information
Students explore different strategies for reading with a purpose utilizing information before, during and after reading selections. They find out about a topic of interest and then find a text that contains that interest and analyze that...
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Remembering What We Read
Students discover strategies to help them better understand the stories they read. As a familiar story is read to the class, individuals practice answering basic questions about the main characters, settings, problems, etc. while...
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Night of the Twister
Young scholars use reading strategies for Night of the Twister. In this reading strategies instructional activity, students name five major catastrophes and books about each. Young scholars complete a vocabulary section, make inferences...
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What Begins With Bb?
Students demonstrate beginning reading strategies. In this letter recognition lesson plan, students match letter sounds to a variety of pictures using the program "Kidspiration".
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Preparing for Poetry: A Reader's First Steps
Students complete poetry analysis using William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 130" as a part of a study of figurative language. In this Shakespearean language lesson, students define literal and figurative language and practice paraphrasing and...
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We Can Eat Smarter
Students practice their reading skills. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read an article titled "We Can Eat Smarter," and then use the reading strategy described to note confusing passages and revisit them.
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The Main Man
Students explore visualizing stories by completing a graphic organizer. In this reading strategy lesson, students read the story Pecos Bill by Steven Kellog and identify the setting, main characters and their interpretations. Students...
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"How to Eat a Poem"
Eighth graders write a poem showing what they know about metaphors, and non-literal language to express ideas, convey meaning, and create images after they read Eve Merriam's "How to Eat a Poem".
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In a Pickle
Fifth graders listen to a story that uses homonyms and figurative language throughout the text. They illustrate the literal and figurative meanings of some figures of speech.
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What's Your Style?
Students examine and discuss the seven multiple intelligences. They take an inventory to identify their own learning styles and design activities that utilize their intelligences.
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Total Physical Response Storytelling
Fifth graders are introduced to the strategy TPRS (Total Physical Response Storytelling) for studying world languages. They utilize this strategy as a vehicle to storytelling and expand their vocabulary by contextualizing it in high...
Water
Global Water Supply Middle School Curriculum
We take a steady shower stream and clean drinking water for granted, but in many countries around the world, the lack of water or a clean water supply is responsible for higher sickness and death rates. Taking a closer look at the water...
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Press Review
How can word choice affect a political speech? Middle and high schoolers examine the text of the 1999 State of the Union Address, and then determine how newspaper articles and television reports describe and analyze the event. Use this...
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Magical Musical Tour: Using Music Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements
While music lyrics are often used to teach literary elements, the richness of this resource comes from the wealth of exercises, activities, and support materials provided in the packet. Although designed for gifted learners, the...
California Academy of Science
Optimal and Sustainable: Renewable Energy Revamp
More than 100 cities around the world have shifted from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Scholars investigate a city wanting to make this switch, but needs help determining how to make the shift. Groups consider all options,...
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Choose Your Words Wisely
Improve word choice! Writers use dictionaries and thesauruses to aid them in choosing exciting words to incorporate in their writing. They rewrite sentences and practice identifying words that can be replaced using a better word....
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The Red Badge of Courage: ReQuest
Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage provides the text for a reading comprehension activity that asks class members to develop questions based on the novel.
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Style and Voice
Develop the writing skills of your high school class. Writers consider their personal style and voice, read selections by other authors, and then write pieces that challenge them to experiment with their own style.
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Hide and Seek Vocabulary!
Third graders practice word recognition and vocabulary building. They find word cards in the classroom. Then they practice reading the words and using them in sentences. Additional practice is gained by writing the words and using them...
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The Kite Runner: The Pomegranate
To better understand the conflict between Amir and Hassan, two characters in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, readers assume the voice of one of the boys and craft a letter to the other that explains his feelings and concerns.
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From Photo to Printed Word: Getting Second-Graders to Write
Use photographs to entice your children to write! In this digital storytelling instructional activity, young scholars study the functions of digital cameras. They review their sentence-writing skills, then take digital photos and write...
Novelinks
The Book Thief: The Power and Influence of Words
To culminate a study of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, individuals craft a persuasive essay in which they assume the voice of a member of one of the political parties during the early 1920s, and advocate that their party offers the...
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Cartoon Vocabulary
Third and fourth graders complete a vocabulary log which includes a definition, and a sentence that demonstrates the meaning of the word. Then make an illustration that represents the definition of the word. The trick is that they may...