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A Historical Career Search
Young scholars 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,...
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Philanthropy News
Students collect examples of local philanthropy and write a news article for a local newspaper. In this philanthropy lesson, students read Helping Out by George Ancona to gain understanding of what philanthropic acts are. Students...
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Learning Grammar Through Wordplay
Students use wordplay to investigate the grammatical components of a sentence. They read a New York Times article by analyzing the writer's use of nouns and verbs in the article and then constructing original sentences using those words...
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Middle East Related
Eighth graders find a current event related to the Middle East. In this current event instructional activity students write a brief summary of a new story related to the Middle East. They give their opinion and tell how it affects their...
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Feeding the Soul
Students share memories of a special meal. They research, write and peer edit a newspaper column about a favorite food associated with Thanksgiving (or other holiday or celebration).
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Flights of Fancy?
Students reflect on the dynamics of human flight and how objects fall through the air and how science principles are used in flight.
They create a How-It-Works poster diagramming the science behind one method of flying. In addition,...
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The Weather
Students explore earth science by reading articles in class. In this weather identification lesson, students analyze weather science articles on the Internet and view their own local weather patterns as well. Students define a list of...
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Getting the News about the Stamp Act
Learners review opinions of the Stamp Act as stated in colonial newspaper articles of the 1760's. They compare colonial newspapers to those of today. They take a side regarding the Tax Act and write a note to a friend explaining their...
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Creative Writing
Eleventh graders write a persuasive letter to the editor using the writing process.
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Elaborating the Main Idea, Using Supporting Details
A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...
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Second Sun
Explore the elements of newspaper from the view of the front page. Young analysts create a front page of a newspaper geared toward teen readers. They use their inference skills to determine why some front pages are more eye-catching than...
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Getting Well
Scholars share ideas about health topics relevant to teens. They read posts on Well, the Times health blog, and produce their own health blog featuring teen health issues. In addition, they read and discuss the article "Well: A Times...
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Quidditch Sports Report
The students pretend they are the school newspaper's sports reporter, they write an article on quidditch. Students create a newspaper layout for the story that includes headings, newspaper branding and logos, advertising and accompanying...
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Short But Sweet
After analyzing and evaluating news summaries found in the New York Times "Week in Review" section, middle schoolers study the steps for summarizing a news article briefly and accurately. They write two news summaries: one on a newspaper...
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Introduction of Primary Sources
First graders are introduced to photographs and newspaper articles to be used as primary sources. Using a projecter, they are shown photographs of a famous person to prove they were real and not make believe. In groups, they use...
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The News Knows!
Sixth graders examine three national parks and focus on what makes them special. Working in small groups, 6th graders create a small newspaper in which each of them writes an article that expresses the concerns of their park.
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Editor Travels U.S. Fixing Errors on Signs
An interesting article on editors helps young writers understand the conventions of written English. They read a news article about an editor traveling America correcting spelling and punctuation errors on signs. They discuss...
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Weather Records
Students write newspaper articles based on weather records set around the world. Students read and discuss weather records and their results, then write a newspaper article about how the weather records have affected people around the...
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Weather Records
Students write newspaper articles using a "weather record" worksheet and information they find in newspapers.
National First Ladies' Library
Jefferson's Legacy: A National Library
Students examine the creation of the Library of Congress. They investigate reasons why Thomas Jefferson sold his personal collection to the Library. Employing various research resources, students write newspaper articles about the sale...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Tea Overboard
While less well known than the event in Boston, the Yorktown Tea Party was equally decisive in turning community sentiment against Great Britain. To gain an understanding of why the colonists objected to the Tea Act, young historians...
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Be the Press: Local Interviews, National News
Students examine two formats for newspaper articles, the "straight news" article and the "in depth" news article. formats for newspaper articles, the "straight news" article and the "in depth" news article. They write a newspaper article.
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News Watch
Eighth graders explore the concept of human rights. In this US History lesson, 8th graders research newspaper articles that deal with human rights and prejudice. Students write a summary of their article and share it with the...