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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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Life in Letters
Students explore the relationship between an author's life and their work. Students research the historical and personal events surrounding a Nobel Prize winning author and how they are reflected in the author's writing. They create a...
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I Spy Poetry
Students identify and interpret the rhythm and form of the I Spy poem.
They then integrate art, music, literature, technology, and writing with poetry. Students also write their own poem based on the picture they printed from the I Spy...
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What I Love about My Neighborhood
Young scholars explore what their neighborhood means to them. In this community lesson, students express what they like about their neighborhood. Young scholars examine neighborhoods and what is special about their neighborhood and...
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Mark Twain and the American West
Students analyze Mark Twain's "Western" voice. In this literature instructional activity, students read Roughing It by Twain and watch "The West." Students examine Twain's history and compare it to the history of America's developing...
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Oceans: A Sensory Haiku
Students create an ocean haiku. In this haiku activity, students use their five senses to write a haiku. Students watch videos about the ocean, make a sensory portrait, and create a class haiku.
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Techno-correspondent
Students play the role of a correspondent and write a news article about a famous landmark. In this correspondence activity, students use a computer template to build word processing skills. Students edit a story in order to...
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Pressing Cases
Students investigate famous criminal cases in which the media has played a significant role and reflect on how the news helps to shape attitudes and behaviors in their own lives.
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'Twasn't the Night Before Christmas
Students describe the elements that make up particular writers' styles. Small groups then choose an author, write something in his or her style, and invite other groups to play 'literary detective' in identifying whose style they have...
PBS
Being Heard
Examine the work of contemporary authors who use their writing to express opinions about the struggle against prejudice and oppression in our society. A short lesson on the Harlem Renaissance introduces learners to the most prominent...
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Poet Naomi Shihab Nye
Learners read and analyze poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye. They define stereotypes, view and discuss a video interview with Nye, present an oral reading of a poem, and write a persuasive letter to an author.
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Using Poetic Images to Initiate the Exploration of Resistance During the Holocaust
Students explore the role of resistance during the Holocaust. Viewing images, they complete a set of notes on the Holocaust and discuss the feelings they get from looking at the photographs. They identify the parts of speech used in...
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African American Poetry: Family and Traditions
Learners are introduced to the elements of African-American poetry. As a class, they are read different types of poems to discover there are different styles of poems and practice rhyming words. They share information on their family...
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Developing Good Written Communication Skills and the Word Processing Student
Learners are introduced to the skills needed to complete a word processing assignment. In groups, they identify the reasons why it is important to communicate in different situations and participate in role-playing exercises. They...
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Advising China
Students express their opinions about how growth and modernization affect nations. Reading an article on China, they discuss the causes and effects of exponential growth in a single town. They research how China has changed by writing...
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Falling Apples
Students practice identifying individual sounds in words by interacting with the phoneme /a/. They recite the tongue twister, "Abby had an apple in the bag," and play the game beware of the falling apples. Each student also reads the...
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Critic's Corner
Students role-play the role of book critics in their classroom. Individually, they write an evaluation on each book they reading along with a book review. In groups, they examine a variety of professional book reviews and share their...
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Public vs. Private
Young scholars watch two commericals from previous presidential elections on the topic of healthcare. After reading an article, they identify the position of the various candidates for the 2008 election. In groups, they brainstorm their...
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Literature Circle Role Descriptions
In this literature circle role descriptions worksheet, students identify the role they play in the literature circle. The different roles include: summarizer, vocabulary finder, questions writer, story mapper. Each role has three to...
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I Have a Dream Podcasts
Young scholars write dream speeches and record them as Mp3's. In this speech lesson, students watch Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, "I Have Dream Speech." They use the writing process to develop a dream speech which they rehearse. They record...
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One Room Schoolhouse
Students study pictures and artifacts of the one-room schoolhouse. For this compare and contrast lesson,students list similarities and differences in schools of today and one-room schoolhouses. Then students use this analysis to...
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A World of Myths
Students read and write myths. In this world mythology lesson, students read and analyze myths from various cultures and then recognize their attributes as they write their own myths to explain natural phenomena.
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Sounding out accuracy, Mix, Mix, Match
Students explore English by identifying segments of words in class. In this phonetics lesson, students utilize flash cards which contain letters and mix them in order to create a "match" word. Students sound out the words they...
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What's All the Fuss about Harry Potter?
Students complete a survey to explore the popularity of Harry Potter books. In this literature and controversy lesson, students examine why certain books are controversial or popular. Students write original plays about their...