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Making a Treasure Your Own: Lesson Two
Students write an essay describing the Curtis Center and what they learned there. In this descriptive writing essay, students discuss the five paragraph essay and review sensory discoveries from their trip. Students draft an outline and...
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Tapping into the Experiences of Senior Citizens
Through casual talk and structured interviews, 6th graders tap into the wealth of their senior pals' experiences. They write descriptive essays and narratives based on conversations with relatives or neighbors. They read selected...
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In Search of Shakespeare . Images of Othello: A Shakespearean WebQuest | PBS
Students look closely at the text of "Othello." They use an online dictionary, and use various search engines. Students use an online Shakespeare concordance and make intelligent decisions about character. They write an intelligent...
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Specialty Crop Production/Orchids
Twelfth graders explore the fascinating world of orchid production including propagation, care, culture, and finishing. They complete market research and design a production schedule for an orchid crop of their choice. They write a short...
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Elements and the Periocic Table
Eighth graders draw the structure of an atom. They construct atomic models, list parts/locations of an atom, organize parts of the periodic table and write a descriptive report about an element.
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Pictures of the Past: I Remember When...
Young scholars, after discussing and analyzing the value of reminiscence for people of all ages, write a reminiscence essay on their own lives and then create a story form the perspective of an older person.
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Short Story Framework
The class gets creative after listening to a short story containing a definitive structure. They are required to think about character, relationship, and setting, while attempting to show rather than tell, in their writing. Dialogue,...
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Paragraph Building
Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...
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Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
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Civil Rights Video Essay
Students research an event or a person from a decade in American history when the civil rights movement was an important focus. They create a multimedia project based on the research.
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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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Learning About Hurricanes
Students write a research paper on hurricanes. In this weather lesson plan, students use a science text book to write down facts about hurricanes on note cards and then outline their essay. Students use the outline to create an organized...
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Characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Stories
Students read literature by Nathaniel Hawthorne and write an essay comparing the main characters in the two stories. In this character analysis lesson, students read the stories Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil. Students...
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Structure and Support
Eighth graders read copies of The Declaration of Independence, United States constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They write an opinion about the document they feel is most important in the history of the united states. This is their...
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Comparing or Contrasting Two Books
Students compare two pieces of literature. In this literary comparisons lesson, students read 2 books that they personally select and then compare and contrast the literary elements of each in a comparative essay.
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Fahrenheit 451: Social Criticism
Students write a four paragraph essay that tells about two things in society that Ray Bradbury criticizes in the book, Fahrenheit 451. In this social criticism lesson, students develop a thesis based on their reading of the book and...
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Of Mice and Men: Persuasive Paper
Students write a four paragraph persuasive paper on Of Mice and Men. In this Of Mice and Men lesson, students take a position on whether or not George should have killed Lennie. Students are given a paragraph-by-paragraph guide to assist...
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Lost Treasures of Tibet: Mandalas
Students examine the history of mandalas from Tibet. After reviewing the Designing a Mandala handout, they use geometric symmetrical shapes to create their own examples. Next, they write poems or essays and explain the meaning of the...
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A Historical Career Search
Students analyze the use of language, including non-standard written and oral English. They write persuasive, descriptive, narrative and/or evaluative pieces in response to the story read and keep reflection journals. Finally, students...
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Activity Analysis #3
Ninth graders, before being introduced to the novel "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry, experience of variety of activities dealing with raisins and dreams. They begin by writing a short essay predicting what they think will...
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Make Mine Turkey
Young scholars compare foods available for the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving with contemporary Thanksgiving foods. After reading information about the first Thanksgiving, pupils create a menu and compute the cost of a turkey dinner, using...
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A New Word Everyday
Hobbits, dwarfs, wizards, trolls, and goblins. Readers track these fantastic creatures through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit noting passages of character description and habitats. Using specific passages from the novel, class...
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Expository Journal Prompts
Stuck for a journal topic? Download CAHSEE’s 21 “Expository Journal Prompts” as a pdf handout for yourself or class. A great resource for your writing program, print it up and add it your curriculum library.
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Basic Paragraph
Explore basic paragraphs. Young writers compose a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. This lesson is intended for use with a SMART Board, a software technology web link is induced.