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A Soldier's View of the American Civil War
Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing lesson. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The lesson includes several options to complete...
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Paraphrasing
Sixth graders practice paraphrasing. In this paraphrasing lesson, 6th graders read a paragraph and highlight the important words. They write a summary sentence of the paragraph making sure not to copy any sentences.
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End of Unit Assessment, Part 1: Drafting Body Paragraphs of an Essay to Inform
Anybody can write a body paragraph! Pupils analyze the development of ideas in a body paragraph from a model essay. Next, using what they've learned, they draft the body paragraphs of their My Rule to Live By informative essay.
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Synthesis of Information
Locating and synthesizing information is an essential part of the research process but can be overwhelming for many young writers. Eliminate some of the stress and confusion, this resource suggests, by separating these steps. To focus...
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Freedom and You
Students research the American Revolution. In this Revolutionary War lesson, students research facts about the American Revolution, write an expository essay, and peer edit for good content. The paper is suggested to be written after...
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My Guide to Summing It Up
Students are broken into reading groups based on reading ability and rotate one group at a time reading with the teacher at a table. They discuss the function of the Table of Contents and find a story using it and predict what the story...
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Maize to Maquiladoras: Movement from Mexico to Arizona
Fourth graders label maps of Arizona and Mexico to show the people, goods, and ideas that have moved between the two places. In this Arizona and Mexico lesson plan, 4th graders summarize the effects of the movement on Arizona life.
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Reading to Learn
Pupils participate in a lesson plan that reinforces reading skills. Specifically, this lesson plan focuses on the skill of summarization. This strategy teaches students how to better comprehend written text.
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Remembering Reptiles
Students will learn to use outlines as a comprehension strategy. Summarization is the most important comprehension strategy, and should be taught to maturing readers. During this instructional activity learners use the story of a reptile...
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Do We Have to Do This?
High schoolers conduct Internet research, and read articles about education to determine why particular educational practices are used, and why they are important in terms of No Child Left Behind. Students create PowerPoint presentations...
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Story Pyramid And Comparison
Pupils investigate the details of a chosen story of literature. They use a pyramid graphic organizer to record information. The information is used to write a summary of the story. Students use a rubric while writing the summary to check...
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Evaluate the Main Characters? Problem-Solving Processes
High schoolers read passages from several sources and evaluate the text for various criteria. In this problem solving instructional activity, students evaluate character problem solving processes after reading passages. They will use a...
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Forming, Answering, and Scoring Open Ended Questions
Students explore higher level thinking. They develop their critical thinking skills by answering open ended questions. Students work cooperatively and make and explain connections between texts and their personal lives. Students use...
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No Plagiarism, Please!
Third graders listen to a lecture on how to take notes and discuss the skills of paraphrasing and correctly citing resources. They prepare note cards according to the format presented in class.
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Information Shuffle
Gather some information, print it onto sentence strips, and then have your class physically shuffle the cards to better understand the importance of organizational patterns in writing. Middle school learners examine information for a...
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Keywords: A Memorization Strategy
Here is a fabulous, five-page lesson plan on how keywords can help a reader with his/her reading comprehension. After a teacher-led discussion, pupils pair off with each other and work together to identify the main idea in a passage of...
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Cinderella Around the World
Fourth graders compare and contrast different versions of the fairy tale of "Cinderella" around the World. They find the difference and similarities of the different versions that exist of Cinderella fairy tales.
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Rights and the Wyandotte Constitution
Every state uses a set of rights to establish laws and regulations. Explore the Wyandotte Constitution as it was written in 1859 and compare it with how rights in Kansas have changed, especially those that pertain to gender and race. A...
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Vocabulary: Multiple Meaning Words in Context
Learners use context clues to define words with multiple meanings. After extensive practice with their teacher, learners read through six sentences, they then identify a word with a multiple meaning, and determine its meaning based on...
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Physical Geography- Climate
Sixth graders explore different climates. In this compare and contrast instructional activity, 6th graders look at the differences in climates of America and Europe. Students use KWL charts and graphic organizers to record information...
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Forced Potawatomi Migration
Fourth graders write about the forced Potawatomi migration. In this primary source lesson plan students are read journal entries from an emigrating party of Potawatomi Indians. Students reflect on the items the Indians might have taken...
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Why Is The State Called Kansas?
Fourth graders research how cities are named. In this states names lesson, 4th graders discuss whom the state of Kansas was named after, work with a partner to write down what they've learned about Kansas, research the origins of...
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Religious Dissent
Students perform a readers theater about Anne Hutchinson and her religious dissent. In this religious dissent lesson plan, students re-enact her trial through the reader's theater.
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Stone Fox Plot Frame
Fifth graders recall the major plot points of a chapter book. After reading the chapter book "Stone Fox," they students describe the plot framework through use of a worksheet. Students are then divided into group to act out selected...