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The Middle Passage
Fifth graders explore slavery conditions by viewing a video clip on the Internet. In this slave ship lesson, 5th graders discuss the transportation of black men and women from Africa to the United States in the 1700's and how poor the...
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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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The Raven: Creator of the Universe?
Students explore biology by researching birds in class. In this raven identification lesson, students utilize the Internet to identify the anatomy, habits and habitat of ravens. Students write descriptive paragraphs about ravens and read...
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Understanding Immigration Through the Use of Triante Poetry
Third graders read a book about emigrating to America. They create and illustrate a triante poem using sensory words, depicting something they liked about the story.
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Outer Space Creature
Learners read poems by Shel Silverstein about planets and outer space. As a class, they compare and contrast his descriptions to actual facts which have been discovered through explorations. They write a description of an outer space...
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Build Your Own Adventure
Sixth graders write a narrative. They choose options for plot and climax within the context of an outdoor survival story.
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Folktales
Fourth graders read a Haitian folktale. They study main characters in Haitian folktales and explore multicultural information about Haiti. They clarify understanding by retelling a sentence (paraphrasing) and a passage in their own...
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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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Praise for a Color
Students discover the 5 senses by analyzing poetry. For this poetry lesson, students read a poem with their class and analyze how each sense plays into their understanding of the poem. Students write a poem based on a specific color...
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Proverbs
Fifth graders listen to a fable that ends with a proverb. They infer the meaning of the proverb. Students examine proverbs and predict meaning. They write a skit that shows the appropriate usage of the proverb.
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Lost on a Deserted Island
Third graders practice brainstorming with their classmates as they discuss a role-play situation. In this group discussion lesson, 3rd graders must present ideas of ways to survive on a deserted island by discussing with their...
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A Creative Presentation
Students read chapter books by Gary Paulsen. In groups, they identify imagery presented in the book. Students locate 10 quotes, categorize each quote into one of the five senses, and then organize it and create a display of their three...
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Memory of a Kiss
Third graders read, discuss, and memorize the poem "Jenny Kissed Me." as an example of lyrical poetry. They write a letter to Jenny reliving the memory of her kiss from an elderly person's point of view. They illustrate their poems.
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Representing Text Story Web: Pretest
In this story web worksheet, students answer multiple choice questions about how to make and use a story web. Students complete 10 questions total.
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Poetry on the Prairie
Students explore the history of the Nebraska prairie by looking at different pieces of art. Using the art, they write a poem that captures the essence of a prairie. They use their senses and any feelings or emotions they get from the...
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Describing Words Lesson (Lesson 2)
First graders create a computer slide show. They select pictures from the gallery, write descriptive words or phrases about the pictures, and develop a three slide presentation.
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An Ancient Egyptian Journal Entry
Students, after watching W?hat Does This Show, describe everyday life in ancient Egypt by writing an entry in the journal of an ancient Egyptian man or woman.
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The Class Garden Essay
Fifth graders use a class garden as inspiration for a specific writing assignment. They conduct research into different types of flowers in photo images taken with a digital camera. Students write a creative essay and draw a picture to...
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Character Sketch
Students view a PowerPoint presentation about Character sketches, and write a four paragraph character sketch. Emphasis is placed on topic sentences having one main idea per paragraph and elaborating. They study and discuss ways to write...
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Italy
Students read stories about Italy and identify main events and characters. They take an imaginary trip to Italy and write a story about their adventures. In addition, they practice several italian words and phrases.
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A Day During Colonial Times
Fifth graders participate in read aloud activities of three books about life in Colonial times. They compare their life to that of children of Colonial times using a Venn diagram. They draw a picture and write about what a day in the...
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Narrative Strategies
Sixth graders explore strategies authors use to make characters and setting seem real to readers. They develop characters and describe setting in original narratives. Students read myths and determine common themes found in myths from...
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The Thrill of Big-Wave Surfing
Students view a PBS Nature program about big-wave surfing and participate in a class discussion about their experiences with surfing, body boarding, or body surfing. Students create a drawing based on a reading and post their art around...