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The Decisive Moment
Students explore Henri Cartier-Bresson's life and photographic work. They think about Mr. Cartier-Bresson's famous "decisive moment," and reflect on their understanding of decisive moments through photos they capture from their...
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Group blame after 11 September
Students read the story What does it feel like to be blamed for something you didn't do? Students discuss how they feel to be blamed for something that they did not do. They are given a list of interview questions that they ask each...
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Pump it Up
Students explore the rising cost of gasoline and how it impacts people around the world differently.
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Virus Tracker
Sixth graders will simulate the spread of a virus such as HIV through a population by "sharing" (but not drinking) the water in a plastic cup with several classmates. Although invisible, the water in a few of the cups will already be...
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Scaling Down Art
Learners change the scale of a work of art using ratios, percentages, and proportions. While this is technically an art lesson, there is quite a bit of mathematics involved in converting to the correct scale.
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Writing Mythological Narratives
Students compose a creative writing piece based on a painting of a mythological scene. For this creative writing lesson, students write about the scene in the painting and tie in their original stories into tales from the...
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Harriet Tubman: An Informative and Impressionistic Look
Learners examine artwork depicting Harriet Tubman. In this Harriet Tubman lesson, students review her life and how she impacted the Underground Railroad. Learners view impressionistic artwork showing her life. Students then create their...
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Show Me the Story
Learners examine the elements of a story, read a review of Chris Rock's new sitcom, "Everybody Hates Chris" and create original sitcom episodes based on their own lives.
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Song Writing
Students write an original song using music composition software such as Music Time. By doing this, students identify another use for the computer besides word processing and games.
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Lesson Plan on Family History and Past Generations
Second graders listen to The Keeping Quilt and through class/small group discussion relate this story to beliefs, customs, and traditions of their own families. They make a class quilt based on these discussions.
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Sea No Evil
Students research the characteristics of marine life at different ocean depths. They use their findings as the basis for a classroom 'Life Under the Sea' museum exhibit.
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Everyday Objects
Students reflect in their journals about an everyday object they take for granted. After reading an article, they examine what a cook's tools can reveal about their life. In groups, they research everyday objects and write a museum...
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Tall Tales Today
Students explore the attributes of American tall tales. In this folklore activity, students read several tall tales, describe the elements of tall tales, and then use hyperbole to write their own tall tales.
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Spacing Out
Students explore environmental and geological conditions on other planets in our solar system, comparing their findings to information about Earth. They propose technologies that might assist in supporting human life on those planets.
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Teen Angst
Young scholars gain a broader understanding of new scientific research about the life cycle of the Tyrannosaur, and translate their knowledge into the creation of an illustrated studenT book produced and created by the entire class.
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Learning through The Duke
Students examine the important contributions made by Duke Ellington to the field of jazz, as well as some of the factors that led to his involvement in the field. As they explore the language of the 1920's, connections will be drawn...
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Social Studies: Where I Come From
Students research the countries of their origins and examine life there today. They write family travel logs by interviewing family members about their heritages, and they visit the Xpeditions Website for online resources about their...
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"Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Students complete a variety of activities that revolve around the book "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen. They view and discuss stills from the move "Hoot" and compose original storylines, conduct Internet research about the life of Carl Hiaasen,...
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One Stage at a Time
Students explore the psychological coping mechanisms of cancer patients and relate individual cancer survivors' stories to Dr. Kubler-Ross' stages of grief. They use first-person accounts, discussion and journals to explore these concepts.
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This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land
Young scholars explore the difficulties, and some absurd situations, caused by repeated land subdivisions in the rural areas of poor and overpopulated regions.
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Pop Secret Information
Students design procedures for increasing the popping rate of a set amount of popcorn kernels. They propose and test a "secret" addition to the corn popping procedure which they expect would increase the popping rate and then write lab...
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Cut and Paste Biographies
Learners explore the influence of African-American artists, writers, and musicians on American culture. After researching different figures in these areas, they create collages representing each person's life and legacy.
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Helen Keller- Book Marks
Students learn about the life of Helen Keller. In this cultural and disability awareness instructional activity, students read a biography about Helen Keller and discuss the differences in her life and theirs. Students discuss which...
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The Amazing Maud Lewis
Students investigate cultural art from Canada by reading about Maud Lewis. In this Canadian history instructional activity, students identify the work of Lewis by visiting her magazine website. Students identify other heroes...