Incredible Art Department
Story Tellers - "Passing on the Traditions"
It's important for young people to learn about their ancestry and the role of storytelling as a means of passing along traditions, information, and lessons. Based on what they already learned about Native American oral tradition,...
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Check My Writing
Use this resource as an evaluation tool, or have your class assess their own letter writing skills. They will use a checklist that they create during some interactive writing sessions as criteria for their self-evaluation. Teachers can...
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Sending E-mail
Middle schoolers learn about writing and sending e-mail. They discuss the differences between the ways messages may travel. Then, they learn and compare the writing process between e-mail and regular mail.
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Mapping Meteorites
After reading an article, "Cameras Capture a 5-Second Fireball and Its Meteorite's Secrets," space science superstars use the triangulation method to determine the location of a distant object. In-class activities and homework are...
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Enjoying the Adventure
Middle schoolers watch the video of "The Prince and the Pauper" and analyze, compare and contrast the characters. They write letters to a character from the point of view of another character and create a new ending to the play.
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Just Like the Old Days
Students examine customs of rural Mongolia. They read and discuss a letter, discuss families, locate Mongolia on a map, reenact scenes from the letter, and write a prediction of how life change in rural Mongolia during the next 50 years.
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In My Other Life
Students explore various cultural identities. They conduct Internet research, develop a questionnaire that profiles information from their selected culture, and write a letter to a pen pal in the U.S. explaining what life in their...
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To Your Health
Students read articles on health and read about how storks and other animals are cultural icons in bringing good health. In this health lesson plan, students also list ways to live a healthy lifestyle.
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Life in a Hurricane Zone
Students investigate the social effects of hurricanes. In this social studies lesson, students assume the persona of residents of the Dominican Republic and write diary entries and letters regarding the devastation caused by Hurricane...
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Africa Colors a Destiny
Students discover the peace corps and the culture of Chad. In this cultural awareness lesson, students watch a slide show and examine various primary sources from peace corps volunteers in Africa. This lesson includes web-links,...
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Day to Day Life in a Small African Village
Students analyze life in a village of Tanzania including its language, geography, health, and hygiene issues. In this African village lesson, students locate Tanzania and its capital city on a map. Students compare aspects of...
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Collecting Rocks
Students examine how rocks are formed, used, and how to collect them. They listen to and discuss the book, Let's Go Rock Collecting, sort rock samples, and collect rocks from home.
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Pizza Possibilities
Students create and interpret line plots, bar graphs, and circle graphs. The lesson assumes mastery of conversions from fraction to decimal to percent, construction of angles, and at least an introduction to graphs displaying data.
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Respect for Authority
Students develop cross-cultural understanding. In this democracy lesson, students discuss core democratic values as they examine the governance in their school and their local community. Students also discuss the effectiveness of...
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Sleuthing A Writer's Skills
Students read The Train Ride Home by Robin Solomon. For this literature response lesson, students will inspect the writing of Solomon to determine how she established a certain tone through her word choice and...
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The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
With The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry as the hook learners discuss the rainforest, the animals that live there, and conservation efforts. Then, students write a letter to the man in the story asking him not to cut down the Kapok...
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Defining Culture
Students examine the role that culture plays in forming beliefs and behaviors. In this culture lesson, students describe the attributes of their culture and explain how their culture shapes them.
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Think of an Ending
Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final lesson in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to each of their...
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The Art of Persuasion-Analysis of Argument
Analyze advertising techniques in order to pinpoint persuasive strategies that writers use. These same techniques are then examined in persuasive speeches. You will have to find your own advertisements, but speeches are included. Finish...
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Enough to Make Your Head Spin
Students investigate the world of nonverbal communication by analyzing body language around the world. In this cultural communication lesson plan, students research the Bulgarian language and how we could easily misinterpret their...
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Poem in Your Pocket Day: Ideas for Celebrating
First instituted in New York City in 2002 and recognized nationwide in 2009, "Poem in Your Pocket Day" is part of National Poetry Month (April) and celebrates poetry in everyday life. A brief news story includes 9 ideas about how to...
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Latin Roots grad, mot, and cad: Intermediate Synonym and Antonym Word Puzzle
Review synonyms and antonyms for 12 vocabulary words containing the word roots grad, mot, and cad using this interactive fill-in-the-blank activity. Learners select the correct synonyms and antonyms from a list provided and match them to...
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Word Roots NAT, TRACT, and SEQU Synonym and Antonym Word Puzzle
Review synonyms and antonyms for several vocabulary words containing the word roots nat, tract, and sequ using this interactive word puzzle. Learners select appropriate synonyms and antonyms from a list of provided words and match them...
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A Multigenerational Pen Pal Program
Students discover the benefits of writing letters to multigenerational pen pals. In this pen pal instructional activity, students identify a need for communication among the generations. Students begin a pen pal program with...