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Propaganda: Making a Commercial
Seventh graders study different propaganda techniques. In groups, they write and perform a 60-second TV or radio commercial. Classmates rate the effectiveness of the commercial and whether or not they might buy the product.
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Media Awareness: the Basics of Advertising
Students explore marketing techniques. In this media awareness lesson, students watch instructor-selected advertising and identify the marketing techniques used in each of them. Students then create advertisements for products.
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Five Paragraph Essay
Students create a standard outline, using a word processing tool, while they are learning about the basic writing device of the 5 paragraph essay.
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MUSICAL ELEMENTS OF THE LITTLE PRINCE
Students demonstrate knowledge of musical instruments and the families of the orchestra. They acknowledge different voice types found in opera. Students interpret emotional expressions through listening. They compose sounds to express...
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Expository Journal Prompts
Stuck for a journal topic? Download CAHSEE’s 21 “Expository Journal Prompts” as a pdf handout for yourself or class. A great resource for your writing program, print it up and add it your curriculum library.
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Snowflake Bentley
Students explore crystals through the story Snowflake Bentley and then create crystal pictures of their own. In this interdisciplinary instructional activity, they create a crystal web chart on chart paper, design artificial snowflakes,...
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Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense: There Once Was...
Students recognize poetic devices including rhyme, syllabification, and meter. They identify the characteristics of a nonsense poem and of a limerick. They write their own limericks.
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Haiku
Fourth graders create a haiku. They use a digial camera and file management techniques to save work. They also use a photo editor to manipulate the pictures. Finally, they create a PowerPoint presentation of their Haiku.
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Water Cycle - A SiteMaker Presentation
Have your young scientists explore a single element of the water cycle and write a report to explain findings. Your class can take their writing through all the steps of the writing process and publish it using a Web-based multimedia...
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Figurative Language
What is figurative language, and why do we use it? Introduce your high schoolers to some examples and discuss the importance of including this element in your writing. After studying a text and searching for examples, writers will...
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Accurately Weighing Pennies II
Drawing from a scenario of the history of the penny, learners write and solve a system of linear equations from a context.
Overcoming Obstacles
Communicating Constructively
Some types of verbal communication are just more difficult that others. High schoolers engage in a series of activities that are designed to help teens make difficult conversations easier and more effective.
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For the Birds
Second graders observe, identify, and document birds sighted at the library feeder station. They observe and document birds in order to begin their birder's life list. They apply scientific concepts and principles by using library...
Shutterfly
Shutterfly Photo Story Lesson Plan
A reading of Peggy Parish's Amelia Bedelia launches a study of idioms. Groups then select several idioms, write the meaning of the expressions, draw or select images, and use GIMP or Photoshop to create an idiom book.
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Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"
Your class examines F.D.R.'s speech for examples of repetition, alliteration, emotionally charged words, etc. They listen to the speech and interview a person who heard it delivered. They finish by writing an article about the experience.
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Giants of the Century
Middle and high schoolers study significant people who shaped the 20th-century history and are introduced to database tools. Researchers use the Internet to research five 20th century history makers. They write a short biography of five...
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Tangerine: Vocabulary
Here's a great way to make vocabulary words drawn from Edward Bloor's novel Tangerine memorable. Kids create a word square, and in one quadrant write the word. A picture goes in a second quadrant, the definition in a third, and a...
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Analyzing the Use of Irony in a Short Story
Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...
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Characterization in Literature
High schoolers discover characterization techniques and methods. In this characterization lesson, students choose favorite fiction characters and discuss what makes a character come alive. High schoolers then describe a family member or...
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What is an Atlatl?
Let's go an an archaeological dig! Prepare your kids with a list of vocabulary terms relating to archaeology, including different types of items that one might find. They study pictures of each item and play a memory game based on the...
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Papier-Mache Masks
Read about, and then make culturally inspired masks. Learners watch the video, "Masks and Face Coverings," then design and make a mask with cultural significance out of papier mache. Tip: Have small groups research, write about, and make...
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Finding My Pathway
Eighth graders engage in a activity that is concerned with the acquiring of skills necessary to make informed career choices. They examine the type of language that should be acquired for communication in the workplace. They also have...
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EFL Lesson Plan: How to Teach EFL/ESL Students Interview Skills
Explore communication in this interview skills lesson. English learners identify the techniques native English speakers use when speaking directly to a potential employer. They read handouts detailing seven steps to improve an interview...
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"Self-Portrait with a Cartoon"
Here is a really fun way to integrate self-portraits, cartooning, and basic computer skills. The class learns to use Photoshop to manipulate a hand-drawn, cartoon, or photographic image of themselves onto a separate background. They...