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Eugene O'Neill on Page and Stage
Students investigate the life and works of Eugene O'Neill. In this American theater lesson, students read biographical information about O'Neill and review Long Day's Journey into Night. Students then analyze the play in order to deliver...
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For Sale - Ageless Water
Learners discuss the topic of everlasting life after completing the novel, Tuck Everlasting. They examine advertisements for bottled water on the Internet and in magazines. Then they create their own advertisement for ageless water.
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Learning to Give
Students study philanthropy and point of view while reading the novel Gentle Annie. In this point of view lesson, the learner writes a persuasive letter from a character in the novel. Students work in small groups to act out a skit of...
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Setting Up Shop
Seventh graders investigate what goes in to starting a retail store. For this business economics lesson, 7th graders brainstorm products they would like to sell and use magazines, newspapers and real estate listings to bring their store...
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Stamp of Courage
Students discuss the attributes that a hero can have and what it takes to be a Distinguished American, and be commemorated on a stamp. In this courage lesson, students research an everyday hero that they know about and create a...
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Jackie Steals Home
Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...
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Chasing Your Dreams
Students define success. They analyze what makes people successful and develop their own plans to become successful people. After a class discussion about success, students analyze the story of a young adult who is working in the real...
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Social Studies: Heroes in American Culture
Students examine heroes and discuss their characteristics, values, and actions. They produce Powerpoint presentations on real-life and fictional heroes. Students interview veterans for an oral history project.
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Personal/Social Development
Middle schoolers use real life situations to use their problem-solving skills. They, in groups, explore why rules are a part of life.
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River through Time (A)
Students study the impact of humans on the environment of a river valley over time and recognize stewardship and the common good in a real life example.
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Evaluating Your Sources
Students practice making critical judgments about the sources sited when researching a topic on the internet and in real-life situations. They assess how sources vary in reliability and accuracy while reviewing a variety of source...
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Discovering Japan Through Cooperative Research
Search a variety of sources to create a multimedia or book project about Japan. Learners use the independent investigation method to plan and conduct research about Japan. They use the information they discover to create a computer book...
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A Presidential Portrait: Andrew Jackson
Eighth graders examine the role of intended meaning in Ralph Earl's portrait of Andrew Jackson. They, in groups, research periods in Jackson's life and use gathered information to create their own portraits of Jackson.
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Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Have your class explore the effects of war by reading Eleanor Coerr's story, "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." This is a story about a sixth grader who lives in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb is dropped. Learners answer questions,...
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Knights of the Round Table adapted by Gwen Ross
Everyone loves the tales involving King Arthur and his knights. After reading Knights of the Round Table by Gwen Gross, learners draw inferences and conclusions, analyze story elements, and discuss figurative language, including...
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Letters From Rifka
Small groups read assigned chapters from the book, Letters to Rifka, then work together to fill out comprehension worksheets associated with their chapters. This fine, 13-page lesson culminates with each group getting together to meet...
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Mavericks and Measurement
Students study the measurement formulas for area and perimeter in real-life situations. In this area and perimeter lesson plan, students design a bed and arrange furniture in a hotel room using area and perimeter formulas for a 7 1/2...
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Using Historical Photographs to Help Students "Live History"
Third graders grasp a deeper understanding of historical time periods when vicariously experienceing the situations and circumstances of real-life individuals and responding to them.
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Get in Shape with Geometry
Using geoboards, computer programs, and hands-on manipulative materials, elementary schoolers engage in a study of two and three-dimensional geometric shapes. This instructional activity is chock full of good teaching ideas on the...
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Shelley's Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Challenge your class with these essay questions based on Percy Bysshe Shelley's poetry. This resource includes 3-8 short answer and essay questions for each of 9 different poems by Shelley. Pick and choose the poems you would like to...
Chicago Children's Museum
Simple Machines: Force and Motion
Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion,...
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A Panel of Survivors
Students role-play real-life survivors in a panel discussion. They read a mini-biography about a survivor.
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Language Arts/Science: Genetic Diseases Simulation
Eighth graders engage inn role-playing activities as families caring for babies with genetic defects. A partial list of activities include: dressing the babies ( raw eggs), designing birth certificates, and recording a log of care,...
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Creating Plays from Children's Stories
Students explain how individual elements (e.g., plot, theme, character, conflict, etc.) comprise the structure of a play. They write an original one-act play with developed characters, specific setting, conflict, and resolution.