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Icky Icky I

For Teachers 1st
First graders review the letter "i" and use popsicle sticks and cotton balls to make upper and lower case "i's". Volunteers make the capital and lower case "i" on the board and then the class discovers the short sound that letter "i"...
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Partner Match Up

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students are randomly paired up. Then using cards they start to find their match as a partner for the day. They then return their cards as soon as they've found their match. Examples of matches can be: states-capitals, upper-lower case,...
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Letters from Rifka

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders read Letters from Rifka and discuss the feelings of people forced to leave their homes and countries.  For this migration lesson, 4th graders relate their feelings about moving from their home forever. Students trace...
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Poetry and PowerPoint

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders read and discuss the poem, "April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes. After brainstorming examples of vivid verbs, figures of speech, language patterns, and imagery used in the poem, 3rd graders write a poem on a topic of...
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Postcards from California: A Unit on Geography, Social Studies, History and California's Resources

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine patterns that influence population density in the various regions of California. The unit's three lessons utilize graphic organizers for the interpretation and presentation of data.
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Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Analyze the use of balanced sentences and parallelism in a narrative. Included in this resource is a narrative about serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan titled, "The Train Ride Home". Middle and high schoolers review...
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How Cultures Differ "Two Different Perspectives on the Same Event

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read excerpts from Peter Hessler's River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze and discuss his difficulties in learning the language, cultural clashes and how cultural perceptions shape our understanding of the world.
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The Eagle Has Landed: Aztecs Find a Home

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the Aztec civilization and locate it on a map. They explain the legend of the city of Tenochtitan and investigate the symbolism of the Mexican flag.
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Broken-Heart Matching Game

For Teachers K - 12th
Students use this fun game to practice, reinforce, or apply a wide variety of skills around Valentine's Day. Each students receives half a heart with zig-zag cuts made of pink construction paper with a piece of information. Their job is...
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Introduction to China

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Compare and contrast the distinctive characteristics of art forms from various cultural, historical, and social contexts, and describe how the same subject matter is represented differently in works of art across cultures and time...
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How a Writer Conveys Descriptions With a Wallop Lesson 3 for Running (From River Town)

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine strategies an author uses to provide qualitative and quantitative aspects of life in China. They apply the strategies to their own writing.
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Letters From Rifka

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students demonstrate their understanding of how people feel when they are forced to leave their homes and countries. This is done while students read and reflect upon reading letters sent by students from other countries.
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The Current Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Examine recent events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Three lessons, multiple excerpts, evaluation questions, and activities are all included to make your class globally aware.
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The Importance of Being Flexible and Open-minded as a Visitor to Another Culture: Lesson 2 For "The Train Ride Home"

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the advantages of being flexible when visiting or living in a different culture. They read and discuss a first-hand account by a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan, and write a letter from the point of view of a...
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Sleuthing A Writer's Skills

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read The Train Ride Home by Robin Solomon. In this literature response lesson, students will inspect the writing of Solomon to determine how she established a certain tone through her word choice and...
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The Rigors of Learning a New Language

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the experiences of a Peace Corps volunteer learning to speak Chinese. They read and discuss an essay written by the Peace Corps volunteer, analyze a map of China, and discuss the author's difficulties in learning the...
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Confronting Two Challenges--One Physical, One Intellectual

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the challenges of a new language and culture. In this cultural lesson, student read Running by Peter Hessler and discuss obstacles faced, including the language barrier. Students write an essay about a time they...
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How Cultures Differ - Two Different Perspectives on the Same Even

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the effects of culture through the story Running by Peter Hessler. In this geography and cultural lesson, students act as newspaper reporters covering the story of the race. Students write newspaper articles as reporters...
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Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago - Chicago Blues

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Watching Great Performances’ Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago launches an investigation into and discussion of how the electric guitar and guitarists have changed the sound of the blues over time. An engaging way to...
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Alaska

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students describe and explain variations in Alaska's physical environment including climate, landforms, natural resources and natural hazards and compare how people in different communities adapt to or modify the physical environment.
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The Federal Reserve

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students explore the role of government in the economy market. In this economics lesson, students analyze the decision making and how it takes into consideration additional cost, benefits and public awareness of what they are trying to...
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Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the story for use of balanced sentences and parallelism-two literary devices-and then practice using those devices in writing of their own. They combine the simple sentences grammatically into one correct sentence. A. I...
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Sleuthing a Writer's Skills

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars examine the author's lively text to determine how she achieved her many literary effects. They discover the author's techniques in describing people and events, in setting tone, and in establishing pace. They reflect about...
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Crime Time

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine fundamentals of American criminal justice by analyzing each step of the criminal process. They follow the process of a well-known or publicized criminal case in The New York Times, and keep a journal of its newspaper...