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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Forming a Research-Based Claim: Creating Stakeholders Charts

For Teachers 6th Standards
Present the facts. Scholars create presentations of their research on DDT using their Cascading Consequences chart and a Stakeholders Impacts chart as visuals. They discuss the term stakeholders and create a Stakeholders Impacts chart...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit 3 Assessment: Drafting the Newspaper Article

For Teachers 6th Standards
Choose your words carefully. Scholars continue looking at the creation of a newspaper article by examining word choice. They highlight key verbs, vocabulary, and descriptive words in the model article Sandy wreaks havoc across Northeast;...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Performance Task: Final Draft of the Newspaper Article

For Teachers 6th Standards
It's time for the grand finale! Scholars complete the final draft of their newspaper articles for the End of Unit 3 Assessment. They share their article with a classmate for peer critique. After considering all feedback and including a...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Organizing Research: The Inverted Pyramid

For Teachers 6th Standards
Bottom side up! Scholars complete an Inverted Pyramid handout to gain a better idea of how journalists organize information. They then look at the organization of a model newspaper article and gain ideas about creating their own...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Evaluating Eyewitness Accounts

For Teachers 6th Standards
That sounds like a plan! Scholars complete the Newspaper Article Planning graphic organizer to understand the process of writing a newspaper article. They also use what they learned about researching factual information and gathering...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing the Features of a Newspaper Article

For Teachers 6th Standards
There's more to newspaper articles than meets the eye. Scholars learn the different features of a newspaper article, including headline, byline, subheadings, etc. Pupils circle the features in an article as the teacher discusses their...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Making a Claim: Moon Shadow’s Point of View of the Immediate Aftermath

For Teachers 6th Standards
Body paragraphs are the building blocks of every essay. Pupils view and discuss a model essay using a rubric to evaluate one of its supporting paragraphs. Next, scholars use what they've learned to continue drafting their own literary...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Making a Claim: Emma Burke’s Point of View of the Immediate Aftermath of the Earthquake

For Teachers 6th Standards
Sharpen those pencils; it's time to write! Scholars begin writing the first body paragraph of their literary analysis essays. Additionally, pupils use graphic organizers to analyze a character's point of view from Laurence Yep's...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Qualities of a Strong Literary Analysis Essay

For Teachers 6th Standards
Read like a writer. Scholars read a model literary analysis in preparation for a similar writing assignment before annotating each paragraph for the gist. Next, pupils devise a list of qualities of a strong literary analysis essay. 
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Planning for Writing: Introduction and Conclusion of a Literary Argument Essay

For Teachers 6th Standards
Give a powerful introduction. Scholars analyze the introductory paragraph in the model essay "Are We Medieval?: Opportunities in the Middle Ages and Today." They discuss the key components the author includes and then walk through the...
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Lesson Plan
2
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Teaching Tolerance

In Our Own Words: A Story Book with a Purpose

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Academics turn into storytellers in an engaging activity on activism. The activity focuses on promoting social change in local communities with stories. Young historians plan a storybook to target a specific audience and social issue and...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Planning for Writing: Introduction and Conclusion of a Literary Analysis

For Teachers 6th Standards
It's all about the introduction. Scholars work on the introductory paragraph for their essays, connecting the theme of a myth and The Lightning Thief. They use a graphic organizer to help focus their work and then move to working on the...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Planning for Writing: Studying Model Writing and Determining a Theme in The Lightning Thief

For Teachers 6th Standards
A theme runs through it. Scholars analyze how a common theme runs through the myths they have read and The Lightning Thief. They complete graphic organizers and view a four paragraph model essay. They analyze the essay for structure and...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Planning for Writing: Revisiting “Key Elements of Mythology” and Determining a Theme in the Myth of Cronus

For Teachers 6th Standards
Refresh my memory please. Scholars quickly read over the Myth of Cronus to refresh their memories of the story. They then get in groups and write parts of the myth on sticky notes that relate to the elements of mythology, sticking their...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Drafting an Analytical Mini-Essay: Using Partner Talk and Graphic Organizers to Guide Thinking

For Teachers 6th Standards
Moving on up ... Scholars take a look at how the author of the model essay Elements of Mythology and Theme of Cronus moved up in the writing process from a graphic organizer to an essay. After walking through the writing process of the...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing the Model Analytical Mini-Essay: “Elements of Mythology and Theme of Cronus”

For Teachers 6th Standards
It's time to make a claim. Scholars learn what it means to make a claim by first looking at a model analytical mini-essay to determine how the author relayed ideas. Pupils then work with partners to discuss how the author might have...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Connecting Literary and Informational Texts: Cronus and “The Key Elements of Mythology”

For Teachers 6th Standards
Is there a connection? Scholars work to make connections between Myth of Cronus and The Key Elements of Mythology. First, they circle important words in the text and look for similarities. They then revisit the concept of theme and...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit 1 Assessment: Drawing Evidence from Text: Written Analysis of How Percy’s Experiences Align with “The Hero’s Journey”

For Teachers 6th Standards
Do your best on the test! Readers finish up by completing the end of the unit assessment. Using the assessment, writers describe how Percy's experiences in The Lightning Thief align to four parts of The Hero's Journey. After completing...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing with Evidence: Percy and the Hero’s Journey (Chapter 7)

For Teachers 6th Standards
Read, set, write! Scholars participate in the first fully independent writing task of the unit as they write about how Percy’s experience in The Lightning Thief aligns with The Hero’s Journey. To begin their writing, they complete a...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Selecting Evidence: “The Hero’s Journey” and The Lightning Thief (Chapter 6)

For Teachers 6th Standards
Take a closer look. Scholars learn how to read closely using chapter six in The Lightning Thief. While reading, they write the gist of paragraphs on sticky notes and stick them in the book. They then answer text-dependent questions over...
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Lesson Plan
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Jump, Glide, or Fly? Exploring Bird Evolution

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How have birds evolved from prehistoric animals? With the three-part instructional activity, small groups first research different prehistoric animals and determine whether they are birds. Then, scholars explore different bird...
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Activity
Newspaper Association of America

Celebrating Women’s History Month

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Examine the lives of four women—Blanche Stuart Scott, Madeleine L'Engle, Margaret Evans Price, and Sybil Ludington—in a 23-page activity packet. Each profile comes with a set of vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. Further...
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Unit Plan
Teachers & Writers Magazine

Persona Poetry and Mask-Making

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Looking to engage scholars in poetry with hands-on activities? What better way than making masks? Readers analyze literary devices in poetry, examine Native American masks, create their own masks, and then write poems to tell its story!
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Unit Plan
Penguin Books

The Curriculum Guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

For Teachers 5th - 10th Standards
The death of a parent can turn a child's world upside down. A curriculum guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy explores defining moments in the main character's life, including the loss of her mother. Chapter-by-chapter discussion...