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Plagued by Warfare
Students define "biological weapon" and explore why these types of weapons are so dangerous. They also explore the covert shift of American grant research money to an organization that once directed the Soviet Union's germ warfare...
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First Day in Grapes
Students read about a boy's first day in a new school. In this self-esteem lesson, students discuss the problems Chico has in his new school and how he faces them with courage and bravery. Students discuss people who migrate from other...
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Molly's Pilgrim
Third graders explore the multi-ethnic nature of America's citizens and examine the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty. In this Molly's Pilgrim lesson, 3rd graders discuss the poem "The New Colossus," examine vocabulary words...
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Dolch Homophones
In this effective language arts lesson, students study homophones and practice using the correct words as they fill in the blanks to sentences. Sentence ideas are provided in the lesson, as is a very nice 35-page booklet of language...
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Separate But Equal Opinions
High schoolers examine the ways in which editorials and Op-Ed pieces respond to current events. They write editorials in response to news items from the New York Times.
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Reviews Revealed
Students discuss the benefits or drawbacks in consulting movie reviews. They analyze movie reviews from The New York Times and create a list of features in effective movie reviews. They write their own movie reviews based on this list.
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A Good Government Is Hard to Build
Students explore the challenges that Iraqi leaders are facing while working to create a new government. They engage in a class simulation in which they create a new governing council to preside over their school.
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Dr. Seuss For a Day
Second graders brainstorm words to describe Thing One and Thing Two characters from Dr. Seuss computer program, use variety of adjectives to create descriptions, and create new set of characters, Thing Three and Thing Four, by drawing...
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Millennium Superheroes
Young scholars develop an understanding of the qualities that "superheroes," or people who have favorably influenced society, possess. They create a database with questions that pertain to what they want to find out about a hero of...
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Can We Switch Genders of Story Characters?
Students read and review the main elements of a story. In this language arts lesson, students predict what the story read to them would have been like if the genders of the characters had been different. Students write a new...
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Kenya Bees Save Elephants
Young scholars read, analyze and critique a newspaper article about a new study that helps to save Kenyan elephants. They assess key vocabulary terms found within the article, answer a variety of comprehension questions and then create a...
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Watch and Learn
Students explore a particular problem with the development of new television shows and create original reality-based educational programming.
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A Critical Role
Students read a New York Times review of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. They discuss the roles and responsibilities of a cultural critic, and prepare for a visit to a local museum in order to write their own reviews.
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Make It or Break It
Young scholars study about "breaking news" by analyzing the New York Times' coverage of the July 2006 bombing of seven commuter trains in Mumbai, India. They write their own breaking news stories for homework.
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Friendship
Students investigate the concept of friendship as part of a four lessons unit which integrates literature with language arts, family life, social studies, or religious studies. Peace, cooperation, social justice, and multicultural...
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Walking in Other People's Shoes
Students study the story of student journalist Casey Parks' September, 2006, journey to Central Africa with New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof. They then act as representatives to the tourism boards of developing countries and...
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Poetry: A Mirror in Which to See Myself
Fifth graders focus on their self-esteem and strengths while reading poetry. In groups, they research the contributions and achievements of African-Americans and discuss how they overcame obstacles. They are read a poem, define new...
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The Voices Within Theirs and Mine
Students create new words to convey their thoughts. They find, list and discuss the poetic devices used by the poet in creating his or her war poem and create their own war poems. They use sensory perception words and memory in...
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Current Contexts
Young scholars examine how they are affected by world affairs. After reading an article, they examine Otto Frank's attempts to immigrate to America. Using the New York Times, they identify examples of news, advertisements and...
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Nature in a Flick of the Eye
Students explore the visual information a diorama artist provides by thinking of all the details for the background of a location described by their teacher. They investigate diorama artists and their importance in creating the illusion...
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Jack Be Nimble
Students recite the poem "Jack Be Nimble". In this poetry lesson, students read the poem and discuss other action words to use instead of jump. They rewrite the poem using their own name and a new action word.
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Welcome to Our Classroom
Students create a brochure for new students. In this writing process lesson, students brainstorm, create and edit ideas for making a brochure for new students. Students use a word processor to make the brochure and edit, copy,...
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Vocabulary
Fifth graders review two or three chapters of a novel. In this literature activity, 5th graders list new words, write the definition of the word on the bottom of the paper and choose a picture in a magazine that represents that word.
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Nature's Superheroes
Students compare their prior knowledge about the relationship between sunlight and cancer with new findings. They research how different vitamins and minerals affect the human body.