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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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What's So Important?
Pupils work to develop comprehension strategies. They focus on the five 'w' questions for summarizing: who, what, when, where, and why? Through modeling and guided practice, they apply these questions to summarize several passages in...
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Summing It All Up in a Nutshell
Students observe and demonstrate a variety of summarization strategies. They discuss the process of asking the five W questions, and apply then to a passage from the book "Sarah Plain and Tall." Students then finish the chapter from...
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Spermatogenesis versus Oogenesis
Learners compare and contrast the processes of spermatogenesis and oogenesis. This lesson uses the KWL+ strategy to promote reading. The + used here is the Venn diagram.
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WHAT, IF ANYTHING, IS A ZEBRA?
Students read the essay, "What, If Anything, Is a Zebra?" following a teacher made reading guide. They investigate cladistics, shared derived characteristics, with further online research to enhance their study of evolution and...
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Peer Pressure
Learners talk about how their peers can influence their behavior. In this peer pressure instructional activity, students complete a KWL chart on peer pressure, read a handout on peer pressure and break into groups to discuss the...
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Proofreading
Fourth graders explore the proofreading process. They practice proofreading for errors in sentence structure, usage, and mechanics. Students develop strategies for proofreading and differentiate between commonly confused words.
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Writer's Workshop: Mood Endings
Students listen to a story, "My Mama Had A Dancing Heart." They discuss the feeling they had after reading the story and define "mood." Students brainstorm a list of moods and discuss the mood of each character. Afterward, they write a...
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Watsons Go To Birmingham--1963Patricia Wachholz
Students research the 1960s to prepare for reading the book, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis. They watch a documentary, create a timeline, and listen to music from the 1960s.
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Enrichment Activities - "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH"
Fifth graders read the novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." They discuss the various characters in the book, and the different types of conflict that take place within the book. They also research owls and rats to make comparisons...
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Shaking Things Up In Summarization
Students practice several techniques and strategies to become better at summarizing a piece of writing. They emphasize the five "W's: who, what, where, when and why. A book of Earthquakes is read and then summarized by each of the students.
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Summarization
Pupils summarize a selected piece of text using the five Ws. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a selected piece of nonfiction text. They write a summary paragraph using a process outlined by the instructor.
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Wolves
Students utilize several different sources to research wolves, after completing the K-W-L process.
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That Was Then - Persuasive Essay
Student explain how geographic and cultural settings influence a person's identity. They compare and contrasting Esmeralda Santiago's Puerto Rican self with her American self by participating in a close reading of the text and writing a...
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There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Fourth graders examine the new vocabulary associated with the book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly before listening to a teacher read aloud of the book. They complete a choral reading of the story, sequence it, and write...
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Sheila Rae the Brave
First graders practice summarizing with the book Sheila Rae the Brave by Kevin Henkes. In this summarizing instructional activity, 1st graders read the story over 3 days and answer comprehension questions. They write a summary about what...
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Whole Language Approach in Solving Word Problems
Learners explore the concept of word problems. In this word problems lesson, students read a version of the Three Little Pigs. Learners discuss what math vocabulary words such as 'in all' and 'many more' meant in the story.
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Solving Mysteries!
Students solve a mystery. In this lesson on journalism, students learn how writing an article is like solving a mystery by answering the 5 "W" questions. Students solve a mystery provided to them on an attached worksheet.
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Congress of Vienna
In this Congress of Vienna study guide instructional activity, students read a brief overview pertaining to the topic and then respond to a reflection question.
Ms. McLaughlin's Homework Page
Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences
Find out just how much your pupils know about simple sentences, subjects and predicates, sentence fragments, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, compound sentences, complex sentences, and more! This review page includes...
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Crisis Management
Students research the issues facing President Bush and write short political commentaries predicting what course the president take. For homework, they write editorials stating what they think the president should do to best serve the...
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Context Clues Lesson Plan
Students are introduced to four strategies of context clues. While reading, they use all four strategies in different sections of the reading to determine the meaning of words they are unfamiliar with. To end the lesson, they share new...
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Contrivances: Orchids and the Panda's Thumb
Middle schoolers read and discuss selected and edited excerpts from the essays of Stephen Jay Gould on the subject of contrivances.
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Wondering About Saturn: A Short History
Students read an article about the history of Saturn. They complete reading comprehension tests. They examine what has been discovered on the planet.