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Lesson Plan
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Equality and Human Rights Commission

Identity

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Is identity defined by genes, cultural standards, personal feelings, a combination of these, or something else altogether? Scholars learn about the complex topic of identity with a presentation, a game, and with a series of discussions....
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Lesson Plan
Consumers Energy

Conductors and Insulators

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Why did the orchestra director use a copper baton? She heard it makes a great conductor. Scholars select six items to test in a circuit to determine if each is a conductor or an insulator. Clear instructions for using electricity allow...
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Lesson Plan
Micron Technology Foundation

Forces of Motion: Rockets

For Teachers 5th - 9th Standards
Young scientists design a rocket to launch using Newton's Laws of Motion in order to discover for themselves the forces of motion. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

For Teachers 7th Standards
Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis skills. Learners...
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Lesson Plan
3
3
Curated OER

The Impact

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Learn about the destruction of the rainforest by analyzing statistics. Young learners make an original line graph showing destruction in the rainforest. Additional activities include making a collage, sequencing Dr. Seuss' The Lorax,...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Reflection

For Teachers 7th Standards
The tenth lesson in the 12-part poetry unit asks seventh graders to reflect on their learning about poetry and share their work with other poets.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

A Voice for Hard Issues

For Teachers 7th Standards
Ouch! The final lesson in the 12-resource poetry unit models for young writers how poems can be used to voice hard truths.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Poems and Resources for the Struggling Writer

For Teachers 7th Standards
The 11th resource in a 12-part poetry unit is a bonus lesson comprised of poems, activities, and resources that review the essential concepts of the unit.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Ballad

For Teachers 7th Standards
Young balladeers analyze examples of ballads and generate a list of common traits (story, quatrains, rhyme schemes, refrains, etc.), then identify these traits in Robert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and a ballad written by...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Concrete Poems

For Teachers 7th Standards
Concrete poems, or shape poems as they are sometimes called, are the focus of the eighth lesson in this poetry unit. Young scholars examine several examples of concrete poems and consider how the shape contributes to the poem's meaning.
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Lesson Plan
1
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Curated OER

Personification

For Teachers 7th Standards
Spongebob Squarepants helps teach middle schoolers about personification! After discussing the human characteristics demonstrated by the cartoon character, scholars identify the personification in poems by Emily Dickinson and Langston...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Poetic Devices

For Teachers 7th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to poetic devices with a activity that asks them to find examples of alliteration, anaphora, onomatopoeia, metaphors, similes, and personification in various poems. Young scholars craft examples of these poetic...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Mood

For Teachers 7th Standards
Young scholars learn how to distinguish between the mood of a piece of writing (how the work makes the reader feel) and the tone (the writer's attitude toward the material) in the sixth instructional activity in a poetry unit. After...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Theme

For Teachers 7th Standards
A study of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If," launches a lesson plan about theme. Class members read Kipling's poem and poems by other seventh graders to identify the themes.
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Lesson Plan
1
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Curated OER

Revision

For Teachers 7th Standards
Young poets learn the value of using a thesaurus when crafting and revising poems. They examine poems rich in figurative language and then a revised version with the figurative language removed. To demonstrate what they have learned,...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Tone

For Teachers 7th Standards
Identifying the tone in a piece of writing can be tricky. Readers don't have the advantage of studying the images and colors used in a painting or the instruments and sounds of a song. The second lesson in this poetry unit teaches tweens...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

What Is Poetry?

For Teachers 7th Standards
The first lesson of 12 in a poetry unit asks class members to develop their own definition of poetry. After crafting a response, they examine a variety of examples and decide if the resources are or are not poems.
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Thanksgiving with Richard Blanco's "América"

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Traditions, like the times, are a-changin'. Middle schoolers conduct a close reading of Richard Blanco's poem "América" and consider how Blanco's family approached his suggestions for adopting a new approach to their Thanksgiving meal.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Travels With Charley By John Steinbeck

For Teachers 7th Standards
A paragraph from John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley provides English language learners with an opportunity to practice strategies for answering guiding questions about the academic text. Class members locate keywords in the annotated...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

America’s Early Colonies: John Smith and Jamestown, Va

For Teachers 7th Standards
John Smith's 1616 letter to Queen Anne of England offers ELLs an opportunity to learn about a bit of early American history. The four-page packet includes the full text of the letter. In addition, the packet includes a worksheet that...
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Unit Plan
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Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 8: Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Joseph Bruchac's Code Talker tells the remarkable story of Navajo Marines' role in battles of the Pacific Theater during World War II. As scholars read the novel, they also engage in activities that expand their knowledge of Navajo...
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Unit Plan
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Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 7: Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Frequently banned, often challenged, a mainstay of middle school curriculum, Tales from the Secret Annex, is the featured text in the seventh unit in the Teacher Guide Core Knowledge Program. The 134-page guide includes an introduction,...
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Unit Plan
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Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 6: The Genius of the Harlem Renaissance Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Introduce your seventh graders to the Harlem Renaissance with a unit that explores this dynamic period's music, literature, and ideas. The 160-page guide includes a unit calendar, an introduction to the unit, 10 richly detailed lessons...
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Unit Plan
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Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 5: Realms of Gold - Vol. 2 Poetry and Short Stories Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Seventh graders have a golden opportunity to learn how to read poems and short stories with a unit that introduces them to the techniques writers use to craft their works. They examine poems by William Carlos Williams and Edgar Allen Poe...