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Children's Books
A challenging lesson on writing a book for children awaits your fifth-graders. They must use laptops, document cameras, and a projector to create and present an original piece of writing. A checklist that has all of the requirements for...
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Writing Prompts for High School
Here’s a great teacher resource - thirty-five writing prompts designed for high school writers. Categories include cause and effect, definition, expository/informative, persuasive, how to, descriptive, narrative, biographical narrative,...
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Chew On This!
Learners develop pamphlets for a dental health mentoring program that educates younger students about caring for their teeth. They recall experiences at visits to dentists and consider why some students may have poor dental health.
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The Cat in the Hat is 50!
Have your class react to a number of statements about The Cat in the Hat, then read a news article about a special event honoring the birthday of the popular book. The teacher introduces an article with a discussion and vocabulary...
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The Cowboy Life
Travel back in time to the 1800s and research the Old West! Elementary and middle schoolers work with a partner to complete at least four activities from a list provided by the teacher. They use these activities to present their...
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Teaching Social Studies in English
Case studies, an examination of images, and readings of passages from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are used to spark conversations in ESL/ELD social studies classes about this highly-charged topic. Using a variety of...
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Palace Adventure
Young language arts learners write and illustrate a short fantasy story based on the book Corduroy. First, learners need to develop a character. Then, through their writing and illustrations, they take their characters on adventures...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Picture It: JFK in High School
Elementary schoolers learn about young John F. Kennedy. After a teacher-led discussion about his high school years, pupils examine a photograph of Kennedy and four of his friends taken on the grounds of the Choate School in Connecticut....
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Write a Description
Finding the central idea is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers write descriptions of different animals using details and descriptive language. They watch a video of kids using descriptive language, and then use showing language...
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Children of War
Take a closer look at the impact of war in this language arts and social studies lesson plan. Middle schoolers use primary sources to conduct research as they relate to the effects of war on children. They compare and contrast the...
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Imagining China through Words
When Europeans first came back with tales of China, they provided vivid written accounts and minimal visual imput. This resulted in art rendered mostly from descriptive language. Learners explore this phenomena by listening to...
BBC
The Patchworker - Sentences Making Sense
An entertaining and educationally sound lesson on sentence structure is here for you. Young readers play an online game called "The Patchwork Game" where they must patch together a series of words in order to create a complete sentence....
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Writing About Art: Subjective vs. Objective
Explore objective and subjective writing in this interdisciplinary lesson plan, which brings language arts and visual art together. Middle and high school learners examine the sculpture Head with Horns by Paul Gauguin. They then analyze...
John F. Kennedy Center
Baila! Latin Dance in the Spanish Classroom
One, two, three. One, two, three. Invite your language learners to practice the steps for researching and presenting information. Each small group has the task of explaining one Latin dance in full detail.
Discovery Education
Is Our Community Influenced by the Opioid Epidemic?
Opioid abuse is becoming a national crisis, but combating the influence of opioids requires examining the ways it affects individual communities. A thorough teacher guide provides step-by-step instructions about implementing an...
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Alphabet Photo Book
Learners use iPhoto to create a class alphabet book. After the teacher reads several alphabet books to the class, students brainstorm the names of objects that start with each letter of the alphabet.
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Exciting Expressions
Elementary schoolers observe and demonstrate a variety of strategies for reading with expression. They listen to the teacher read A Fine, Fine School with and without expression and discuss the differences. Then in pairs, read the...
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"Your Son, Your Only One" - The Sacrifice of Isaac as a Motif in Holocaust Poetry
Class groups examine a series of poems that use Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac as a motif in Holocaust poetry. Included are questions, notes to the teacher, and bibliographical information on each poem. The activities could be...
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Civil War Literature Circle
Historical fiction can be a valuable asset when learning about the past. Integrate several novels written about the Civil War into your social studies unit, with groups of four working collaboratively to comprehend the novel from...
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Child Safety
Explore reading comprehension and child safety in this young adult literacy lesson. High schoolers practice using context clues to figure out word meanings after observing a teacher model this process. They read an article about child...
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Managing Medical Conditions
Your scholoars practice organizing and presenting information through written language. They gather information about a medical condition and share it with someone else. They then use a format where they organize their information using...
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It's All About Expression: Growing Independence and Fluency
In an engaging anticipatory set, the teacher uses several different strategies to activate prior knowledge about reading with expression, including using sentence strips (that must be prepped ahead of time) to show different moods. The...
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Poetry As Oral Performance
Reciting poetry is a great way to build oral language skills and build classroom community. Pupils look at the text elements of poetry and choose a poem to read aloud. They focus on rhythm, fluency, and expression. This is a great way to...
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Islamic Faith and Discrimination
After the events on 9/11 many Muslim-Americans experienced discrimination because of their ethnicity and faith. Help break the cycle of ignorance by educating your students on the history, religion, and beliefs of a different culture....