National Endowment for the Humanities
Anne Frank: Writer
Students explore the writings of Anne Frank. They discuss how Anne did or did not change during her two years in the Secret Annex. Students take a stand on how much Anne has in common with contemporary young people.
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Gray Whales
Explore the majestic grey whale while deepening your understanding of animal adaptations. Grey whales from head to toe are specifically designed to fit their environment. Learners will examine the ways in which the flippers, head, body,...
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Collage Technique
First graders listen to the story The Hungry Caterpillar, then sequentially organize their own re-writing and re-creating of the story. They construct illustrations for their book using the collage technique Eric Carle used in his...
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Parodies of Shakespeare
Students view a video clip about parodies. They identify the characteristics of a parody in Mark Twain's work as well. They practice writing Shakepeare like verses.
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Regions Change
Students examine how geography can have an impact on change in a region. They discuss what their local area might be like in 50 years, and in pairs, select a situation and write a short story to describe how it changed from one thing to...
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Biographies
Learners read a biography and discuss what defines a biography. Students choose a biography of their own interest to read and write a report about one of the people in the biography. Reports are shared with classmates.
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A Court Case with Real Appeal
Students analyze the United States' current appellate process, with a critical eye focused on possible inequities within the system. They then write letters to a Manhattan district attorney giving their recommendations on how he should...
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Renewing a Contract with HBC
Learners are invited to use the ECO Exploration, the Fur Trade and Hudson's Bay Company, as well as other sources identified, to complete a table (see Student Handout) of words and phrases that describe the duties, responsibilities and...
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Aquatic Times
Students identify a diversity of issues related to aquatic organisms and habitats and develop their own opinions concerning some issues involving aquatic life and habitats. They investigate, write and produce a newspaper that features...
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Bronte and Rhys' Portrayal of Bertha
Students, while reading and discussing the two texts by Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys, compare/contrast the two main characters and juxtapose them as the same character told from two different points of view. They gain insight of how to...
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Activity Plan 5-6: Where Does the Water Go?
Students perform an experiment to discover what happens to water as it evaporates. In this early childhood lesson plan, students observe evaporation as they conduct an experiment. Students fill cups with water, then check it daily for...
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Reporting Live from the 20th Century!
Students read and write newspaper articles. For this newspaper article writing lesson, students collect and share current news articles, examine how they are written, then choose an event from the 20th century and write their own news...
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Mexico's Day of the Dead
Students explore global culture by researching a Mexican holiday. In this Day of the Dead lesson, students read assigned text which discusses the view of death in several different cultures including the U.S. and Mexico. Students write a...
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Do You Haiku? We Do!
Third graders try their hands at writing Haiku, a form of Japanese poetry. Haiku is usually 17 syllables in three-line form. This engaging lesson has many excellent worksheets and website imbedded in the plan. They share their finished...
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America Poems
Students examine examples of how other Americans have expressed their feelings about America through songs and poetry, and write their own poems to express their relationship with America.
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Scrapbooks, The Collecting of Creative Ideas
High schoolers examine the value and use of scrapbooks in writing and historic inquiry. They view and discuss online interactive scrapbooks by Mark Twain, and in small groups create a collaborative scrapbook that reflects the time and...
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A Life to Remember
Students test and discuss their ability to remember events in their recent and past history and reflect on cases of dissociative fugue and amnesia. They graph and analyze data to look for patterns in the ability to recall a list of...
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Alphabet Letter V Volcano Theme
Students are introduced to the letter v. In this letter v lesson, students discuss volcanoes, practice writing the letter v, color a v poster, and create a book. This lesson comes with many attached worksheets.
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Rock N Rhythm & Rhyme
Students explore rhyming and rhythm. In this rhythm and rhyme instructional activity, students listen to the song, "A-Hunting We Will Go" and add new verses to the song with words that rhyme. Students use an interactive tool to create...
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Halloween Literature Unit: Little Critter’s Halloween
Students are read Happy Halloween Little Critter, by Mercer Mayer. In this emotions instructional activity, students discover how their mood is often affected by their feelings. They discuss the story as a class and then work...
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Transportation Unit
Students maintain a journal and write about various types of transportation. In this transportation lesson, students write using flash cards to describe vehicles. Students listen to stories and sing a song...
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Comic Strip Context Clues
Second graders create dialogue for a comic strip using context clues to match the text to the pictures. They use comic blanks imbedded in this lesson. They write dialogue for each frame. Remind them to use the picture clues when writing...
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East Meets West
Students explore the influences of culture in food choices and customs. They compare and contrast information to create a menu using a Web site and Student Writing Center. Suggestions for creating an on-line graphic organizer as well as...
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My Family - Bookmaking for Social Studies
Students create family histories. For this book making lesson, students take digital cameras home for the night and take family members' photographs. Students use the photographs and text they write about their families to create a...