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That Was Then, This is Now: When I Was Puerto Rican
Students explain how geographic/cultural setting influences identity by comparing/contrasting Esmeralda's Puerto Rican self with her American self. They closely read text to pinpoint when Esmeralda was no longer Puerto Rican. Students...
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Newspapers in Cyberspace: Journalism's Digital Future
Ninth graders complete a unit of lessons on how the Internet is used as a resource for journalists. They visit a newspaper office, conduct Internet research, conduct an interview, and write a newspaper article using their researched...
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Predicting Our Way to the Top
Fourth graders make predictions. In this prediction lesson students enter quotes into their journal as they read. They write down quotes from each chapter that they feel make predictions about the story.
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I Am . . .
Eighth graders read Eloise Greenfield's novella, 'Sister'. They write their personal responses quickly, foregoing concern about usage, spelling, and punctuation at this point. They write about their day, or may write about any...
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Have a Backone
Students create a visual organizer that describes different groups of vertebrates in this pre-writing activity. They view and discuss a video on descriptive writing and then form small groups to research vertebrate classes using the...
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Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Words
First graders write simple sentences based on historical figures they find in pictures. In this simple sentences lesson plan, 1st graders search for pictures in Microsoft Word and write simple sentences about them. These pictures and...
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Observation Skills
First graders observe a spider and write sentences about what they see the spider doing. In this writing lesson plan, 1st graders draw what they see, then make an edible spider out of marshmallows and twizzlers. A fun, delicious lesson...
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Celebrating Heroes That Surround Us
Students investigate the concept of a hero. They write in journals to find definitions and create hero symbols. Also students conduct research to create a banner of quotations made by famous heroes who fall under the definition generated...
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Survivor Vs. Canterbury Tales
Eleventh graders participate in activities that compare and contrast The Canterbury Tales with the television show, Survivor. They write a compare and contrast essay, and create a festival table and PowerPoint presentation.
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Graphs
Eighth graders analyze graphs on a worksheet and in newspapers and magazines. In this graphs lesson plan, 8th graders also record their thoughts in a journal.
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Describing Our Senator
Third graders find the narrator or speaker in a story. In this story elements lesson, 3rd graders listen to the story My Senator and Me and answer comprehension questions. They complete a descriptive writing piece from different...
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Understanding What Makes a Good News Story
Students explore the news sources at their school in order to write stories that reflect what's going on in all communities and to identify what makes a good story. In this news writing lesson, students journal about what makes a...
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Bible: Creation
Students compare and contrast the two creation stories of Genesis 1-2:3 and Genesis 2:4-5. In this creation accounts instructional activity, students work in small groups to outline the two stories, noting similarities and...
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Energy Conservation
Students explore the topic of energy conservation. They identify energy sources, complete a chart and a questionnaire, and write two paragraphs summarizing the lesson information and ways to conserve energy.
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Oceans and Coasts
Students explore the topic of marine pollution. They define key vocabulary words, list examples of marine pollution, complete a true/false handout, read an article, and participate in a class discussion.
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Build a Journal
Learners prepare for field journaling at Yosemite Institute. They create and decorate their Institute journal giving them both a place to journal and ownership of it.
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Electronic Journals about Latin American Folktales
Learners exchange folktales with a key-pal using dialog journal writing. They write out a folktale from their own cultural background and exchange it with students of another. They record their impressions of each other's folktales.
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Writing About Estuaries
Students use the internet to research an aspect of interest to them about the Tijuana Estuary. After the unit on the estuary is completed, they reflect on their experiments and thoughts in a paper. They also participate in a field trip...
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E.T. Write Home
Students read the book, The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System, and discuss the planets visited by the characters in the book. They write journal entries from the viewpoint of E.T., writing letters home describing his travels in...
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Key Pals
Second graders analyze the proper form of friendly letters and write emails to a key pal. In this friendly letters and email lesson, 2nd graders discuss sending friendly letters and view examples of the letter format. Students then...
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Waste Management
Students explore the topic of waste management. They define key vocabulary words, take a pre-quiz, complete a questionnaire, evaluate their own waste reduction habits, and write a short summary.
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Air Pollution
Students explore the topic of air pollution. They complete a KWL chart, answer discussion questions, and define key vocabulary terms.
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Blogging
A fun, modern twist on journaling! Instead of responding to prompts in their composition notebook, writers use the Internet to complete blog entries. A sample blog (with prompts) is shown here, and writers are assessed on conventions and...