Bantam Books
The Tempest: Fishbowl Discussion Strategy
Readers learn together with a group discussion activity. As they read William Shakespeare's The Tempest, high schoolers prepare for a fishbowl discussion in which three or four learners sit in the middle of a large circle and...
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Los Artistas Unidos
Young scholars explore the diversity of characters in popular television shows and movies, then investigate the backgrounds and careers of famous Hispanic actors.
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Curiouser and Curiouser!
Students imagine that they are casting directors for a student story-turned-movie, and assess considerations for making the book's characters as accurate, interesting, and fun as they are in the original piece.
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The Diary of Anne Frank-Clash of the Clans
Middle schoolers read selected passages from The Diary of Anne Frank. They, in groups, discuss the television / movie characters and create character webs involving these characters and those in the Anne Frank book.
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Pop on the Block
Young scholars consider what makes a movie, television show, musical talent, or artist a cult classic and create descriptive lists of items from these phenomena that may be sold at auction.
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Elements of Messages
Students examine media messages. In this media awareness lesson, students analyze political cartoons and identify the literary elements they incorporate. Students also use the Media Elements Handout to identify the elements in other...
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Tone Poem Composing Project
Students explore role of music in storytelling by watching and discussing effect music has on perception of scene from movie, and using Sibelius program to compose single excerpt of music, considering dynamics, timbre, and articulation,...
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The Days of Jane Eyre's Life
Learners watch the movie Jane Eyre and complete a viewing log. They take a test on their findings.
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Identify the Mood
In this reading worksheet, students identify the mood of a book, story, song, movie, TV show, or play. Students record words and phrases about the characters, setting, and plot. Students also describe their resulting feelings and thoughts.
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Creating a Digital Newspaper
Students create a digital newspaper. In this digital newspaper lesson, students review the sections of a newspaper and brainstorm ideas for their paper. Students complete a schools news report, student interview, opinion page, sports...
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Greed is Good?
From Mr. Merdle to Mr. Madoff? A viewing of the PBS adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Little Dorrit” launches an examination of greedy characters in literature and a study of greed, unfairness, and economic hardship today. The richly...
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Beyond Black and White
Students critically examine the portrayal of minorities in video games and other forms of entertainment and assess the role of racial stereotyping. They keep a log of media minority portrayals and respond to their findings.
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The Learning Network: Re-envisioning Classic Stories
Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...
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Introduction to Archetypes
Here is a full instructional activity with all the needed materials and PowerPoints attached! Introduce your class to archetypes by showing them the included presentation. The presentation gives definitions and examples of archetypal...
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Writing Diagnostics and Introduction to Literary Terms
Assess your new learners' writing abilities and knowledge of literary terms with these diagnostic activities. Part of a back-to-school unit, this is meant to provide the teacher with information about the ability levels of their class....
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Now That's Beautiful!
Your class experiences dozens of messages about beauty every day by reading magazines, watching movies, and listening to the radio. Have them analyze society's view of beauty in groups after discussing several resources, including...
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Got Character?
Students create an advertisement promoting good behavior. This character-development lesson plan from Boys Town High School involves students studying the history of the Got Milk?advertising campaign. After a discussion of marketing...
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Things That Make Britain Great
Take a trip to Great Britain with this fun reading lesson! Young learners read an article about many famous attributes of Britain - 101 of them, to be exact - and finish several comprehension and grammar activities about what they have...
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Let's Watch a Story
Fourth graders watch a silent movie and identify the elements of a story. They complete a worksheet attached to the lesson and discuss their answers.
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The Raid on Raters
Students read and discuss the article "Hollywood Rethinks its Rating Process." They discuss their views on the rating system. Students work in small groups to role play a "headhunting" company to find applicants for a new and improved...
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Plot Structure
Ninth graders review the parts of a plot sequence for a short story. They think of a famous Disney movie and plot the events of the movie in the correct plot sequence. They do the same for a comic strip, labeling the exposition, rising...
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Ad Awareness from Admongo.gov
Learners explore mass media by completing worksheets in class. In this consumerism instructional activity, students discuss the meaning behind advertisements and how they are used in television, the Internet and print. Learners analyze a...
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Producing Commercials for Videotaping
Students explore television commercials to classify them into categorizes. In this commercial categories lesson, students brainstorm about commercials that catch their attention. Students analyze the categories for commercials and then...
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The Influence of Advertising
Students analyze advertisements and develop guidelines for viewing advertising. In this advertising lesson plan, students discuss print ads, TV commercials, and other examples of ads. Students survey their friends or relatives about...