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Missing May
Students listen to the first couple chapters in the book, Missing May by Cynthia Rylant and then sketch or write about a character or the setting, using words and phrases from the book as guides. They then discuss the chapters using the...
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Out of the Dust
Students examine 1930's America through literature. In this Dust Bowl lesson, students read Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust and set up vocabulary journals and question bookmarks to log their thoughts and impressions as they read the novel.
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Steps to Responsibility
Sixth graders explore the steps in decision making and responsibility. In this lesson, 6th graders analyze a scenario and decide what actions should be taken. Students write in their journals.
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Common Theme in Folktale: 900 Versions of Cinderella
Seventh graders examine various stories that have a Cinderella theme. In this Language Arts lesson, 7th graders compare and contrast stories. Students write various journal assignments in regards to the stories.
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You've Got to be Taught to Hate and Fear
Students explore themes of prejudice and acceptance. In this character education lesson, students listen and respond to several fiction books, poems, and lyrics with a similar theme. Students locate articles with the main idea of...
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Reporting in Letters
Students investigate the cultures and politics of different countries and write radio letters to listeners in those countries modeled after Alistair Cooke's "Letter from America."
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Varied Word Choice
Fifth graders examine how to use a variety of word choices when writing. They discuss how using more descriptive words leads to a more varied word choice, watch a teacher-created PowerPoint presentation, and using a Thesaurus replace...
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Searching Near and Far Learning
Students explore locating information on the Web. In groups, students research a variety of topics to determine the effectiveness of various search engines. Students write a review of their team's search engine.
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Getting Your Students Started
Third graders begin by either doing sentences for editing OR a gratitude journal. This is designed so students have a quiet activity which starts immediately at the beginning of class.
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What's Past is Prologue
Students examine a picture of a Cuban billboard and discuss what the billboard signifies. Students then consider the impact of the end of Fidel Castro's rule by reading and discussing the article ¿What Was Once Theirs.¿ Students...
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Lone Wolves
Students examine the reasons why some people do not support the protection of the wolf on the Endangered Species list. After reading an article, they discuss the controversy of delisting the wolves. As a class, they debate this issue...
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Social Studies: Bombing of Hiroshima
Students read a first person account of the bombing of Hiroshima written by a Japanese physician. By reading Michihiko Hachiya's journal, they discover the fatalities caused by the bomb itself and later by radiation poisoning. To...
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Collecting and Pressing Plants
Learners engage in a lesson that is concerned with the study of native plants and classifying them according to a kind. They press them into a journal while identifying them according to species. Students compile the samples into a...
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Out of the Dust: Open Form Poetry
Students write a description of their own life in the same style used in the first poem in Out of the Dust. For this Out of the Dust lesson, students discuss open form poetry and how the spacing and line breaks create a flow...
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Using Lists to Generate Ideas
Students create lists about a topic that they choose to generate ideas for writing without worrying about grammar or punctuation. In this lists lesson plan, students first create a list about snow with their teacher.
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Proper Perspective
Young scholars consider what makes a famous painting realistic, then examine a theoretical debate about how Renaissance masters created their true-to-life images. They create their own realistic drawings.
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Living the Dream?
Students consider the stories of two immigrants and translate their past, present and future into original pieces of writing or artwork.
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You Are What You Read
Sixth graders select a prose, poetry, or nonfiction excerpt from a book of their choice and share it by reading aloud to their classmates, who identify the genre and respond to related questions in their journals.
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The French in Texas
Fourth graders gain a broad understanding of early French exploration and settlement in Texas. They access websites imbedded in this plan. Using their notes, 4th graders work alone or with a partner to create an illustrated journal with...
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Letters from Rifka
Learners read Karen Hesse's book "Letters from Rifka" and explore how it presents the experiences of a Russian immigrant to America. They research and write reports on the experiences of various immigrants from different cultures, keep...
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All You Need Is Love
Young scholars discuss the differences between adult love and teenage love. After reading an article, they explore a relationship that began as teenagers and ended in marriage later in life. In groups, they create posters about famous...
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Mixing Metaphors with Politics
Students discuss different literary devices and use them to write summaries of New York Times articles dealing with international news. They reflect on the effectiveness and appropriateness of sports metaphors in the political arena.
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Legends and Lore
Students begin the instructional activity by responding in their journals regarding questions about their favorite fairy tales. They listen to a folk tale and answer questions based on the folk tale genre and then brainstorm aphorisms...
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Playing to Learn
Students brainstorm about video games that are designed to teach. They create and perform in small groups a live action "video game" that teaches a concept covered in class this school year.