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Putting Writing Skills To Work
Tenth graders reinforce their knowledge of the format and elements of business letters by writing a request letter. A review of effective letter writing is provided prior to an independent assignment. This helps with scaffolding the...
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To Go Solar or Not to Go Solar!
Middle schoolers imagine that they are on a panel to consider if a solar energy system would be advantageous to a new school as it is being built. They read the included handout and then each play a role as a participant in a community...
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Women in Texas Politics: Winning the Vote, Three Pioneers, and Serving the People
Fourth graders study women's involvement in Texas politics. In this US history lesson, 4th graders discuss woman suffrage, examine three Texas female pioneer legislators by reading biographies, and explore women's issues by generating a...
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Hammurabi's Code of Laws
Students explore why the need arose for laws to govern society, comparing and contrasting hunter/gatherer societies vs. agrarian societies. They write letters to the editor of the Babylonian Times, discussing their opinion of Hammurabi's...
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A New Spin on Letter Writing Lessons
Letter writing lessons can provide a way to introduce students to this important mode of communication.
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The 8th Amendment: The Death Penalty
Students take a closer look at the death penalty. In this U.S. government lesson plan, students watch a Discovery video about capital punishment in the United States and then compose letters to the editors of newspapers about their...
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Match the Umbrellas
In this uppercase and lowercase letter matching worksheet, students cut out the umbrella cards and match the uppercase letters to the correct lowercase letters. This worksheet covers all of the letters in the alphabet and there are some...
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Learning To Get Along With Classmates: A Discussion of Bullying And Intimidation At School
Students discuss cliques, intimidators, support systems and how it feels to be victimized, and discuss ways to deal with hurtful people.
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Debating the Over-the-Counter Sale of the "Morning After" Pill
Students examine the controversy at the F.D.A over Plan B. They read an article, answer discussion questions, conduct research, role-play a panel of experts at a mock conference, and write a letter to the editor their own opinion about...
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Creative Writing - I AM A FISH
Ninth graders write a letter to the editor about the impact of people on marine life from the point of view of a fish.
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Navajo Code Talkers
An engaging lesson focuses on the contributions of the Navajo people during World War II. Learners read the book Navajo Code Talkers by Andrew Santella, answer a series of comprehension questions about the text, and write a letter...
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The Rights of Bike Riders
Students write a letter to the editor of a newspaper about the bicycle helmet safety issue. They gather statistics about bicycle helmet use and discuss the statistics as a class and explain how to interpret the numbers accurately. They...
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The Campaign: Issues and Strategies. What do you think?
Students research a candidate in an election and discuss how the media portrays that candidate and how the media influences voters. In this candidate lesson plan, students also distinguish fact from opinion, look at political cartoons,...
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Government Reform - Term Limits
Students consider the need for term limits. In this U.S. government lesson, students read selected articles about the pros and cons of term limits. Students then survey their class regarding their opinion of term limits. Students...
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Impact of the Progressive Era
Eighth graders examine the impact of the Progressive Era on the state of North Carolina. Using primary source documents, they discover the reason for the creation of schools during this time period. After reading news articles, they...
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Rotation in Office
Eleventh graders explore the concept of the spoils system. In this presidential history lesson, 11th graders examine Andrew Jackson's Inaugural Address as well as a letter to him from Mary Barney in order to gain an understanding of the...
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Writing a Query Letter
Students examine how to write a query letter to a publisher. They plan a short story they would like to write, conduct Internet research about possible publishers, and write a sample query letter.
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Tricks of the Trade A Collection of Concrete Poems-for writing concrete poems
Students explore concrete poetry. In this lesson about poetry, students read A Poke in the I, by Paul B. Janeczko, and are introduced to concrete poems. Students read several different kinds of concrete poems including single-word, and...
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What is a Puppy Mill?
Students consider community and legislative efforts to stop puppy mills. In this animal welfare lesson, students discuss the needs of pets and determine how puppy mills do not meet the needs of animals. Students research animal...
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Immigration Reform: Understanding the Issue From Different Points of View
Students examine the topic of immigration reform. They conduct research on groups representing various viewpoints on immigration, write and perform a role-play, and write a persuasive essay or letter to a state senator on their views of...
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Denial on Trial
What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking lesson...
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Justice Is Blind, Colorblind That Is
It's so interesting to see kids respond to articles about education. To start the day, prompt learners to discuss the words colorblindness and diversity. Then, split your class in two and have one side read an article from 2007 and...
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Editorial Writing: What's On Your Mind
Young scholars write an editorial column for a newspaper. For this journalism lesson plan, students discuss and analyze editorials in print and broadcast media. Young scholars will compare the differences in these two formats...
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Civil Rights after MLK and RFK
Students are assigned to groups representing minority populations who produce a research project in a digital format from the list. A few of the choices are: speech, letter to the editor, editorial cartoon, etc.