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As You See It
Students determine how they would describe their library media center to someone who has never seen it. They illustrate their favorite section of the center and write a paragraph describing it. They make a class book with each student's...
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Research a Poet and Explicate a Poem by that Poet
Using your school's media center, internet research, and a SMART board, 7th graders research a chosen poet and write a research report. Additionally, 7th graders explicate one poem by the poet within their report. Several resource links...
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Stop the Bus: Confronting Our Assumptions About Muslims in America
High schoolers explore Virginia Interfaith Center's A More Perfect Union "Misunderstanding" Ad Campaign, view two episodes of PBS America at a Crossroads series, examine historical context of colonialism and geo-political tensions in...
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Doing Dewey Decimal
Learners examine the Dewey Decimal System and locate books in the nonfiction section. They examine a shelf of books and try to determine how the books are arranged, then watch a short video "Media Mania." Students then match construction...
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Dewey Decimal Game
Engage all the upper elementary classes in your school in a game to learn Dewey Decimal Classification. On 5 or 6 consecutive visits to the library, teams from each class learn how the system works, locate books in each category, and...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Audacity of a Vote: Susan B. Anthony’s Arrest
Susan B. Anthony's speech "Is It a Crime for Women to Vote?" takes center stage in a instructional activity that asks class members to consider how they might respond to what they consider an unjust law. Groups work through the speech...
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Primary and Secondary Sources - 7th
A link to a beautiful Animoto presentation is included, giving examples of primary sources that a student might want to contact when doing research. Using the Topaz Internment Camp in Utah as a sample topic, middle schoolers view a slide...
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Library Treasure Hunt
Students conduct a scavenger hunt activity in their library. In this library research lesson, students use treasure hunt worksheets to locate various items on the library computers and in the library shelves.
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas
You can keep this printable idea sheet and use when you're in a tight spot. It contains cross-curricular ideas that span every subject while relating to the African tale, "Anasazi the Spider." Learners will act, write, move, count, and...
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How Do I Write an Article Critique?
Your middle and high schoolers have written tons of summaries, but can they give a strong critique of an article they've read? Identify the differences between summary writing and critiquing. Choose an interesting article and have...
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Fishing for Facts!
First graders visit the library or media center to research sea creatures using encyclopedia. They find two facts and research the Internet to find a picture of the sea creature. They create a class sea creature booklet.
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Literature in the Library
Students get familiar with their school library. In this library orientation lesson, students explore the layout of the library and challenge students to locate literature materials in a scavenger hunt activity.
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Signs Signs - Everywhere Signs
Students examine advertising techniques. In this media literacy lesson, students collaborate to create PowerPoint presentations that feature multimedia formats to share advertising that is present in their community.
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Propaganda
Ninth graders examine local examples of propaganda, such as election or political ads in order to identify types of propaganda and find examples of these in various media.
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Hamlet Research Paper: Find, Evaluate, and Select Appropriate Research Sources
Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....
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Massaging the Message: The Media Speaks
Students watch video of TV news clips centered on the House of Commons and then complete an information sheet.
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The Founders’ Library: Thinking as a Founding Father
Students analyze the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In this U.S. government instructional activity, students examine books, movies, and music that influence them today and then investigate writings that influenced the framers...
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Seeking, Locating, Accessing, and Using Information
Students complete reserach on a topic of their choice by following the Big Six research program. In doing so, students locate information and assess the validity and usefulness of sources.
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Recognizing Reference Sources
Fourth graders investigate five different reference sources in the Media Center: Atlas, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Card Catalog (Look Up Station), and the Internet. They decide which is the BEST source to use to answer specific questions.
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Orientation to the Library
Students design a library orientation that would be helpful for a new student. They explain the organization of their school library and demonstrate how to access information.
NASA
Space Station Research Explorer
Take a trip into outer space from the safety of your classroom. A great addition to the digital library of any science teacher, this reference offers a behind-the-scenes look at the research going at the International Space Station.
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OLYMPIC SHADOW BOXES
Students acquaint themselves with little-used library resources/reference materials and create shadow boxes to be displayed in the Media Center based on the research they've done regarding the Winter Olympics.
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Language Arts: Paraphrasing Research Material
Students visit the school media center to research their favorite historical figures. Following a discussion of paraphrasing, they find information in library materials about their figure. Once students compile their information, they...
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Animal Report
Fourth graders explore the variety of resources available to them at the library. They utilize many of these resources to create an animal report with a set criterium.