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Celebrating Halloween through Language and Literature
Use the theme of Halloween to spice up campfire stories, journal writing, and presentations in your classroom.
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Researching the Past
Learners research the western movement in order to learn note taking strategies with nonfiction texts. They use the Internet to search for important information about the western movement using the Cornell Notes note-taking system. They...
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Journal Writing Idea - Pets
Carve out some time for your youngsters to write in their journal. Today, they write a story about pets. They learn the value of a journal and how to keep up with it, and they enhance story development by planning their story before...
Virginia Department of Education
Writing Effective Dialogue
Spend a productive hour in the classroom with this tutorial where junior high writers discover how to create snappy dialogue. The learning begins with an analysis of sample writing and discussion on the effectiveness of each piece. The...
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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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"Tongue Tangle"
First graders engage in a study of phonics that focuses on the beginning sounds with an emphasis upon varying types of genres that includes songs, speech, and poetry. They recognize the beginning sounds of words and make physical...
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A Graphic Scene
Third graders discuss the advantages of using various graphic organizers including Venn Diagrams and T-charts. They use the organizers to compare and contrast different versions of classic mythological stories.
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Grammar and Mechanics Review
Students review and edit writing pieces for grammar and mechanics. They view sentences and discuss how they feel about them. They collaborate in small groups to revise and edit sentences and present them to the class.
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Tell Me That You Love Me 5-7-5
Students listen to several examples of Haiku poetry and discuss the strict format. Then students create and edit their own Haiku poems and enhance them with ink designs.
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Yes, We Can!
Students examine a situation of striking workers in Los Angeles. They answer questions related to the story. They also interview people involved if time allows.
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Roxaboxen
Students create a model of a community building that contributes to a class neighborhood layout. They explain the purpose of his or her individual role and community building, and how it fits into the class model of a neighborhood.
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Convergence with The Cay: Exploring Geographic Concepts Wrapped in a Story
Here's an awesome unit that uses The Cay as the anchor text. The 16-page packet is loaded with teaching ideas, activities, and suggested adjustments.
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Playing with Language
Try these parts of speech games and activities that will help your learners tackle using correct grammar.
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Arithmetic
Mr. Wormwood, one of the characters in Roald Dahl's Matilda, is not the most trustworthy of characters. Have student groups take on the roles of car salespeople and play a game to see who can make the most profit by selling refurbished...
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Five Senses-Introduction
Students explore the parts of the body that are used to develop the five senses. They conduct a nature walk. Students identify the things they see, hear, smell, and touch. They create a graphic organizer to organize their answers.
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At the Crossroads
Third graders explore where South Africa is and then research details about the country to fully assess the background to the book, "At the Crossroads." They receive a map of Africa and color in the country of South Africa and list five...
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Creating a Classroom Magazine
Second graders examine different types of magazine writing, and discuss how to develop topics into information that is suitable for short magazine articles. They write, edit, and compose a monthly classroom magazine.
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A Hero Biography Project
Fourth graders study historical significant people born in January and February and note their accomplishments. Using given websites, 4th graders collect biographical information and participate in activities about a specified hero. ...
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Watching the Clock: An activity to build media-savvy students
Students analyze time constraints on broadcast news. They apply data collecting and data display skills. They identify the difference between news progams and the evening news.
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Writer's Workshop
Fifth graders explore and examine the book, "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs," by Jan Scieszka. They assess that an author's voice and individual style is an important part of keeping a person interested in a story. Each student,...
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Extremely Personal Narrative
Seventh graders practice the skill of writing a personal narrative. They bring in an object that is related to themselves. Then students discuss the importance of the items and then write a personal narrative about the objects. As an...
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Speech in the Virginia Convention
“. . .different men often see the same subject in different lights. . .” but the great orator Patrick Henry used all the skills at his command to craft a speech to convince listeners to see things as he did--that liberty was worth dying...