Media Smarts
Making Media for Democratic Citizenship
Pupils analyze global issues. In this video podcasting lesson plan, pupils research Internet and print sources regarding selected global development issues. Pupils plan and create video podcasts that feature their research findings.
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Graphic Novel/Comics with Josh Elder
Students read about graphic novels and complete related activities. In this graphic novels lesson, students read about the genre and author Josh Elder. Students complete novel analysis activities for the lesson.
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Gender and Media Introduction
Students analyze media clips and discover how the media helps us form ideas about men and women and their roles in society. They discover some of their own preconceptions about these roles and answer questions.
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The Dream Factory
Students compare postcard samples from Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX. They examine them to find common elements they share (tone, mood, romanticized themes, artistic elements, etc.) They create postcards to show the "real" Austin.
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Arthur and His Pals
Arthur, the main character in Marc Brown’s books, is the star of this lesson plan. Pairs of researchers select one character from the Arthur series and use the internet to access Brown’s web site and learn more about their chosen...
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Newspaper Poems
Ninth graders appreciate the value of words, review the parts of speech, create original poetry, shape the poem, and write an explanation of the images he/she has created.
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Sonnets
Learners examine the structure of sonnets. They compare and contrast them with modern day poetry. They write their own sonnet after changing the language in another sonnet to see why the author choosed certain words.
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Genre Jeopardy
Students participate in a game-like format to identify characteristics of genres. They categorize stories into genres bases on story summaries after a class discussion of the characteristics.
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The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Students listen to story The Hundred Dresses, and use adjectives to describe each character.
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Fantasy, Fables, Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales
Students identify the differences between fantasies, fables, myths, legends and fairy tales. In groups, they create their own versions of the different genres. They practice identifying the examples, as well.
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What a Relief!
How are disasters addressed by the Federal Government? This New York Times lesson, based on the article "Disaster Aid: The Mix of Mercy and Politics," prompts middle schoolers to discuss the idea of using a disaster declaration as a...
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Comedy Across the Curriculum
The New York Times Learning Network provides the resources that permit pupils to examine and then write and perform a fake news broadcast in the vein of “The Daily Show” or “Saturday Night Live” Weekend Update. The generated reports...
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Thinking Ahead to Next Year
End your school year in reflection. Ask your class to leave advice for those who follow in their footsteps, or write informative letters to the teachers who teach them next year. This is a great way to gather memories, improvements,...
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A Famous Speech
Students explore the rules of direct/indirect narration. They identify and use proper punctuation marks in a given write-up and change the narration according to the rules.
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Review Games
Boggle, Jot Thoughts, Trading Cards, Commercial Breaks, Snowball Fight, Bingo, Draw it! Here’s a bunch of review games that would make a great addition to your curriculum library. The games can be easily adapted to address the Common...
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Macbeth: Denouement/Falling Action
Readers of Shakespeare explore denouement in Macbeth and track the play's falling action in Act IV, Scene 1. They complete a worksheet/table noting the content and significance of each of the three apparitions granted Macbeth by the...
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Getting the Word Out
Discuss and generate blogs in this technology lesson. Middle and high schoolers explore examples of blogs and create their own blogs. Use this lesson throughout the year to reinforce concepts from your language arts class (or any class)....
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Random Acts of Kindness for Kids
Students examine the concept of kindness to others. They define kindness, listen to various stories about random acts of kindness, and create an e-mail chain describing their own acts of kindness that is sent around the world.
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Write Me a Story
Second graders use the writing process and submit a story to www.kids.com. In this story writing instructional activity, 2nd graders choose a topic for a story contest. Students develop their stories. Students complete a her...
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Picture It: Teaching Descriptive Writing
There are many fun and effective ways to teach students to write descriptively.
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Language Arts: Awesome Authors Website
Students examine the writing techniques of professional authors and apply them to their own work. In pairs, they email authors to discover the tricks of the trade. Students create their own Website for their work.
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Haiku Wrap Up
Students create a haiku about the land formations they've studied. In this haiku lesson, students identify the metaphor and meaning of a given haiku, brainstorm comparisons for a landform photo as a class and choose one to use in a...
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Transportation Unit
Students maintain a journal and write about various types of transportation. In this transportation lesson, students write using flash cards to describe vehicles. Students listen to stories and sing a song about transportation.