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Studying the Haitian Immigration: 18th and 19th centuries
Students read a narrative and conduct extensive research to determine how Haiti's population has had an influence on the social, political, and economic culture of present-day Louisiana. As a culminating activity, students write papers...
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A Little Mystery and Intrigue in Writing Short Detective Stories
Pupils read and analyze the twelve short stories in the novel "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." They create their own detective that has to solve a new kind of crime, and write and edit a short story with their original detective as...
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Responding To Literature
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections.  This package includes nineteen lessons, each covering a different reading selection.  Pre-reading and response activities are included for each instructional activity as well as...
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Exploring American Tall Tales
Students explore elements of American folktales and tall tales. In this literature instructional activity, students read examples of American folktales and tall tales and prepare a monologue or news report to present to the class based...
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A Nation of Nations Lesson Plan: Charting African Ethnicities in America
Pupils read a portion of the narrative, The Transatlantic Slave Trade, to explain the ethnic origins of enslaved Africans brought to the US. They create charts and bar graphs comparing ethnicities in the lowlands and tidewater regions.
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Thank You Ma'am Langston Hughes Process of Discovering Theme
Students identify the elements of the plot and identify and express this story?????™s theme.
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Rivers that Flow from the Continental Divide: The Journey of Two Rivers
Students explore river routes. In this social studies lesson, students trace the route of a river from its source and discuss the Continental Divide. Students draw the route the river takes and name the states it flows through. Students...
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Catch Me If You Can: Over and Under
Pupils read a story.  In this vocabulary skills lesson, students read The Gingerbread Man, use flannel cut outs to re-enact the gingerbread man running over and under.
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Using a Story: Miko the Monkey
Students discuss prior knowledge about monkeys with teacher and take a "Monkey Facts" quiz. In this language arts lesson, students make flash cards of vocabulary words and listen as teacher read Miko the Monkey. Students complete a...
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Word Pairs
Fifth graders practice the trait of word choice and create a narrative writing with appropriate word choices. They work in pairs to write a story using as many word pairs from their imaginations as they can.
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Art as Storyteller
Students examine how paintings tell stories. They read biographies about artists, analyze paintings, research and write the art history of a painting, write a creative story based on the painting, and create a painting in the artist's...
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Out of the Dust
Seventh graders read a book of poems called "Out of the Dust". In groups, they research the Dust Bowl and how it affected people living through the Great Depression. Using the text, they identify the theme and key turning points and...
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Voices of Tragedy and Horror: Remembering the Holocaust
Students consider the implications of the Holocaust. In this World War II activity, students read the graphic novel Maus at the end of a unit on World War II. Students discuss the impact of reading about the Holocaust as well as theme of...
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Writing Application: The Canterbury Tales
Students read stories from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and create their own tale. In this writing applications lesson plan, students read the tales and analyze the specific details that Chaucer use. Students work in groups...
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Story Writing
Students work in groups to create a story that will be presented to the class.  In this story writing lesson, students complete a project planning sheet, work together to create a story that includes a hero and at least two other...
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Chronicling the Journey
Students chart the order of events in literature. For this literature lesson, students read The Odyssey and summarize the epic journey in their own words. Students then write about journeys they have taken in their own lives.
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Writing Applications: Different Types of Writing and Their Characteristics
Twelfth graders rewrite a story in a different format to understand the effects of the author's style. In this writing style instructional activity, 12th graders read Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and...
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Harriet The Spy
Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...
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Literacy & Art: The Story behind the Quilt
Students examine the many ways quilts were used to chronicle the history and experiences of African slaves and African-Americans in America. They analyze a story quilt using the elements of storytelling, then create a class quilt.
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Critic's Choice
Third graders read three to five genres and choose one as a favorite. They write an essay persuading the class to read the genre. This lesson serves as a nice introduction to different styles of literature.
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Heaven, Hell, and Baltimore
This lesson allows learners to research and compare the city of Baltimore to other northern cities of interest during the Great Migration. After reading a narrative entitled Return South Migration and conducting extensive research,...
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Sheila Rae, the Brave
Students read Sheila Rae, the Brave, and make predictions about the main character.
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Movies in Your Mind
Students practice visualizing elements from a story. While reading a poem aloud, the instructor models what they see as they read the passage. Students draw a picture of a scene from the book "How to Eat Fried Worms" after reading it...
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American Literature, The Earliest Days
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes eleven lessons from the American Literature, The Earliest Days: Prehistory to 1750 each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response...