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Identifying Clues to Help Solve a Mystery
Sixth graders find clues. In this mystery lesson students search for clues within Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett to solve the mystery in the story. Students record the details they find.
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Red Herrings
Students follow clues and find a hidden object that is really in plain sight. In this red herrings activity, students recognize that some reading clues are misleading. Students read Chasing Vermeer and search for misleading...
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Experience and Perspective
Sixth graders consider how one's prior experiences influence perspective. In this experience and perspective lesson, 6th graders discuss their personal experiences and examine those of a character in the text Home of the Brave. Students...
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Identifying Symbols
Sixth graders explore the meanings of symbols. After creating a symbolism match game, they work on analyzing symbolism in their reading. Next, they read text and record concepts that are being repeated through the story, and use their...
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The Similarities and Differences of Setting
Sixth graders identify components of the setting in science fiction text. In this compare and contrast settings instructional activity, 6th graders read Only You Can Save Mankind and identify similarities and differences between...
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Picture Talk
Students explain a picture or caption using events from a story. In this literacy instructional activity, students analyze a picture and make a connection to the text. Additionally, students share ideas about how pictures can form a...
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Lesson 4: Fact and Opinion - Rosa Parks: My Story
Sixth graders examine implicit and explicit opinions in a text about Rosa Parks. In this explicit and implicit opinions lesson plan, 6th graders participate in direct teaching, guided practice, and independent practice while reading an...
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Identifying Clues to Help Solve a Mystery
Sixth graders identify clues to solve a mystery. In this details lesson, 6th graders read from Sammy Keyes and The Hollywood Mummy and consider key details or items that would provide a clue to solve the mystery. Students write...
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Genre Lesson: What is a Mystery?
Students identify the characteristics of the genre of mystery. In this genre lesson, students discover the elements of a mystery story and begin recording the elements on a class chart of the book entitled Two-Minute Mysteries: The...
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Character's Motive
Sixth graders determine a character's motive while reading a text. In this motive lesson, 6th graders discuss motivation and how that can impact a character's actions. Students read passages about suspects and try to solve a crime while...
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Predicting a Mystery's Solution
Awarded the 1998 Edgar Award for Best Children's Mystery, Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief offers readers a chance to hone their predictive and deductive skills along with Sammy Keyes, who the Midwest Children's Book Review calls "the...
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Genre Lesson: Autobiography
Have your middle schoolers write a short story about themselves with an autobiography unit about Rosa Parks. They learn the difference between biographies and autobiographies, define the different types of autobiographies and determine...
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Pictures, Photographs, and Captions
"How do photographs contribute to an autobiography?" Laurence Yep's The Lost Garden provides learners with an opportunity to examine how photos and their captions contribute to and clarify events in a story. Class members use expressive...
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Genre Lesson: What is a Mystery?
Examine the elements in a mystery with The Westing Game. Learners unscramble words as if they had to put clues together. Additionally, they discuss terms used in mysteries. They practice the word using the context of the story, as well...
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Textual Analysis Lesson: Taking Stock of the Stock Market
In this reading comprehension lesson, 6th graders read and analyze the novel, The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. Students, after reading chapters 3-5, answer 8 reading comprehension questions about the stock market. Students add on to...
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Character's Motive
Create a list of possible suspects for a crime based upon each character's motivation. Middle schoolers discuss the motives of each main character in The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. This lesson is part of a larger unit on this novel.
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Lesson 3: Identifying Clues to Help Solve a Mystery
In this reading comprehension instructional activity, 6th graders read the novel, The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. Students practice exploring the process of drawing conclusions from details to solve a mystery. Students...
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Genre Lesson: Narrative Poetry
Sixth graders complete a worksheet. In this poetry lesson, 6th graders learn about the differences between narrative poetry and lyric poetry. Students read poems and determine which form of poetry they are as well as identify...
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Science Fiction
Do your sixth graders like science fiction? Learn to identify elements of the science fiction genre with a literature lesson. They read from Only You Can Save Mankind and identify the objects, words, and characters from the...
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For the Well-being of Our Citizens Lesson 2: Poverty And Human Rights
Young scholars investigate the definitions of poverty and impoverishment. They design a poster that show the Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that are violated by poverty. They write an article for the school...
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The Man, The Dream
Students discuss how one person's life can affect a community . In this Martin Luther King Jr. lesson, students read about Dr. King's life and contributions. They formulate ideas about how they can meet the needs of their own community.
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Sorting into Three Groups
First graders discuss categorizing items into different groups. In this language arts lesson, 1st graders read a story, chart three categories from the book and describe examples from the book that fit in each category.
Facing History and Ourselves
BPS Civil Rights
Include moments of heroism in a social studies module that includes three units. Focusing on the murder of Emmett Till, the movement of nonviolent resistance, and segregating schools in Boston, the units explore key events of the...
Advocates for Human Rights
Voices of Iraqi Refugees
The stated goal of this resource is to provide learners with basic facts about and build empathy for Iraqi refugees. To do so elementary classes develop a plan for how to welcome refugees to their classroom. Middle schoolers read...