Ms. Amber Nakamura's Mathematics Website
Algebra Project
What would your dream house look like? A cottage? A medieval castle? High schoolers enrolled in Algebra design the perfect house while using slopes to write equations for various aspects of the project.
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Celebration of Trees
Second graders listen to various, grade appropriate stories about trees. They create their own construction paper trees and discuss the importance of trees to the ecosystem and the importance of taking care of them. Finally, 2nd graders...
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Branding and Brand Names
To examine advertising and expressing opinions, learners create an original brand or product. They rank their favorite brands and discuss what they like or do not like about the brands, following a brand name investigation. This...
Computer Science Unplugged
You Can Say That Again! – Text Compression
Compression, the process computers use to store information, is the focus of a resource that presents two different stories that describe the concept of compression by eliminating repeated letters and replacing them with a...
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Weather Watchers WebQuest
Students explore a variety of weather websites, and complete a Weather WebQuest worksheet. They read and analyze weather data, prepare a weather forecast and daily weather report, and predict the weather for the next two days.
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Arts Impact and Math
Third graders incorporate math into dancing. In this algebra lesson, 3rd graders identify different shapes and patterns using dance movements. They relate the different creations to polygons as they incorporate the use of stretchy bands...
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News
How does broadcast news differ from accounts reported in newspapers? On the radio? Through the Internet? Middle schoolers discuss the news and speak about the differences between news in print and broadcast news. Given a list of six...
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Telling a Story
Writers explore storytelling and focus in on verb tenses. They will work with a partner to generate a story and then switch partners and retell the story. They also complete past perfect continuous and past continuous verb tense worksheets.
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Probability and Applications of Simulations
Middle schoolers apply properties of probability to the real world. For this probability lesson, learners simulate the construction of empirical distribution. They collect and analyze data using central tendencies.
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Experimental Probability
While just a simple lesson, this activity on experimental probability could provide a way to connect this concept to real life. Learners begin by participating in a probability activity using a coin, and then move on to create their own...
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Folic Acid Health Campaign
A prewriting prompt, a class discussion, a website visit and accompanying worksheet, and a culminating group project make up this lesson on public health awareness. The topic is folic acid and how its absence in the diet may influence...
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Hand Vase: Ceramics
Ceramics can be a wonderful medium. The class creates fun and funky hand shapes vases inspired by Aboriginal art forms. This would be a great project to do just before Mother's Day.
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Native Design Coil Vase: Ceramics Lesson
After a quick study of Native American art, symbolism, and pattern design children make a ceramic vase. They read about the use, production, and design of Native American vases or pots, then use clay to create one of their own. Tip:...
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Mini Coil Pots: Ceramics Lesson
Art is a wonderful way to teach historical or cultural concepts. Here, learners view a series of coil pots that have been created throughout history by a variety of civilizations. They then create and decorate a pot of their own that...
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Little Oyster: Ceramic Lesson
Children will love researching and then creating a bottom dwelling mollusk of their own. They watch clips describing the ocean ecosystem and how oysters fit into their environment. Next, they research what oysters eat and how they look....
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Octopus Project: Ceramics
Kids make an octopus out of clay. They practice their sculpting and modeling skills such as pinch pot and slurry technique while sculpting an octopus.
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Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
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Tree House Escape!
Students participate in a role play in which they use simple machines to do the work of retrieving their sibling from a tree which lost its ladder. They investigate how work is accomplished when an object moves in the direction of the...
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China is Unique
Sixth graders study the culture of China by comparing it to that of the United States. They write all questions and notes in a journal. The students access the internet to obtain the information and internet sites are suggested in the...
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Reader Response
Fifth graders reflect upon different concepts of Language Arts while reading literature. In the novel Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, the characters discover a spring of eternal youth. After reading the first several chapters of...
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Writing about Internal & External Conflicts in Lois Lowry's The Giver
Seventh graders examine the internal and external conflicts that Jonas faces in "The Giver" in an essay. Students use SMART Board and Inspiration to organize their ideas graphically before combining them into their paper.
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Good Health from the Ground Up
Students examine healthy food choices and the benefits of growing their own food for consumption. They read the story "Favorite Things" and illustrate 5 favorite things. Students discuss types of foods that are healthy choices and why it...
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George Orwell's 1984
Eleventh graders engage in a literature study that is concerned with the strengthening of reading comprehension skills while they practice using context clues to arrange meaning to the text. The total assessments for this unit includes...
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Put the Mountains on the Map
Students discuss what they know about the regions where snow leopards live. They observe the worksheets to see if they can identify any of the mountain ranges and then use atlases to check and complete the country identification worksheet.