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The Movement of Ideas
Twelfth graders read and analyze the literary elements of Alphonse Daudet's "The Last Lesson" and Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. They compare the two works and write an essay describing the reasons they feel the authors...
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Letters from Lincoln
Fourth graders explore the childhood of Lincoln and pioneer life in early Indiana. Students respond to literature and write a story using historical fiction. Students explore the writings of President Lincoln and the pioneer community...
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Tuck Everlasting and Economic Decision-Making
Sixth graders use a decision-making grid and list the alternatives and criteria for deciding to drink the Water of Immortality. They examine advertisements and list the product for sale, where it is sold, and why consumers should buy it,...
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Reading to Learn Design: Soaring Through Summarization
Students are introduced to and practice techniques and strategies to master the art of summarization. They read, discuss and summarize chapter 3 in "Catwings," by Ursula K. LeGuin. Steps to follow for summarizing is included within this...
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Compare and Contrast with Pink and Say
Sixth graders complete a shared reading of the book Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco and character analysis Venn diagram. In this character analysis lesson, 6th graders read the book and work in groups to compare and contrast the two...
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Flat Stanley Letter
Fourth graders write a letter requesting that the recipient assist the student in his/her Flat Stanley project.
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Ancestor Project"
Young scholars research their family heritage and bring in photocopies of items representing their families. They create an attractive, artistic collage using these images.
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Pulse
Students determine a baseline pulse rate then chart the changes in rate with exercise. They describe the changes and develop a rationale for their observations. The task assesses students' abilities to make simple observations, determine...
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Honey ! I Blew Up The Bee!
Second graders complete a variety of bee-themed activities. They consider the importance of honeybees in food production, conduct Internet research, prepare foods using honey, complete puzzles and compile a portfolio of their work.
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Tell Me a Whopper!
Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...
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Creating a Multimedia Presentation
Students are divided into teams to make a presentation about their state. Each team is responsible for making one part of the presentation. At the end, all parts are combined to make one complete presentation. While creating the...
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Fictional Hereos
Students are introduced to the definition of a hero. As a class, they compare and contrast the difference between non-fictional and fictional hereos they have read about. They read a story, create a story map of one of the heroes and...
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Dwellings Around the Globe
Students explore dwellings around the globe and conduct collaborative research on cliff dwellings, igloos, longhouses, and yurts. They then explore how different dwellings reflect environmental and cultural conditions, and they create a...
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Maize to Maquiladoras: Movement from Mexico to Arizona
Fourth graders label maps of Arizona and Mexico to show the people, goods, and ideas that have moved between the two places. In this Arizona and Mexico lesson plan, 4th graders summarize the effects of the movement on Arizona life.
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Most Wanted Villians
Students review the characteristics of various characters in fairytales. As a class, they review the story details and create a concept map using a software program. They create their own wanted poster of the villians in the fairytale to...
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Exploring the Sonnet
Students research English/Shakespearean and Italian/Petrarchan sonnet forms. They write an original sonnet on their preferred form (English or Italian), write the poem on the wordprocessor and publish and post it on the net at the Sonnet...
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Story Retellings
Second graders complete story maps in order to retell stories to the class.
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Whodunit? Creating Mysterious Plays
Students examine mystery plays by reading a number of five-minute mysteries. They write and perform their own plays.
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The Land and the Water
Third graders read "The Land and the Water," a fictional short story and an article about John F. Kennedy, Jr. and compare and contrast fictional tragedy to a non-fiction tragedy. They fill out a Venn diagram and write an essay using...
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Could You Repeat That?
Students participate in an oral story telling activity designed to show how story embellishments occur. They read "Beowulf" and identify incongruities that suggest additions and embellishments over the years.
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Identifying Science Fiction
Students discuss works of science fiction that they read, highlight aspects that made each a part of science fiction genre, identify formal literary elements, and discuss ways each can be developed through science fiction.
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There's a World of Science to Read Today!
Learners read a current science article. They write a summary of the article, take notes, write and edit a summary, and print their work.
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Out of the Dust (High School)
Fourth graders read Hesse's "Out of the Dust". They respond to questions about the novel and write a free-verse poem modeled after the author's.
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Routing Explorers
Students read excerpts from an explorer's journal and then become investigators and navigators themselves. Students answer questions about the difficulties and time it took for the explorers to travel from Washington to New Orleans and...