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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson 1: What Are Barriers?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier possible.  
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Activity
Spreading Gratitude Rocks

A Gift of Gratitude

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Words of appreciation make great gifts for special occasions, but people can't tie them up with a bow ... until now! Using the lesson plan, learners write gratitude messages to a chosen recipient. Next, they fill a box or paper bag with...
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Lesson Plan
Spreading Gratitude Rocks

Token of Gratitude

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
What would the world be like if everyone expressed gratitude? Pupils explore the concept by watching a motivating time-lapse video. Scholars express appreciation by handing out tokens of gratitude, and then write about their experiences. 
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Lesson Plan
Spreading Gratitude Rocks

Gratitude Bank

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Money isn't the only type of currency that fills a piggy bank. Learners practice filling their banks with the the things that make them grateful. Pupils write about their talents, relationships, challenges, and life skills, making...
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Unit Plan
Northern Lights Special Education Cooperative

Lessons from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of  Sean Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens learners write autobiographical e-mails, hold discussions, create a collage, and compose a personal mission statement. Pupils then have a chance to...
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Lesson Plan
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Facebook

Online Presence

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What happens when an online post gets the wrong kind of attention? Learners evaluate the good, the bad, and the occasionally ugly side of social media posting with a instructional activity from a vast digital citizenship series. After...
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Activity
Peter Bunzl

Cogheart and Moonlocket

For Students 6th - 10th Standards
Peter Bunzi takes readers to the Victorian era with two stories, Coghaert and Moonlocket. Accompany the literary time warp with a companion packet that offers a plethora of exercises. Learning opportunities include activities for before,...
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Lesson Plan
Ogden Museum of Art Education Department

Literacy and Landscapes

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
As the saying goes, art often imitates life ... and literature! A series of activities designed to accompany a visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art encourage writers to find inspiration in various landscapes. The lesson includes a...
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Lesson Plan
Alberta Learning

Creating Authentic Diaries

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "What is history but a fable agreed upon?" A series of lessons encourages learners to look beyond the basic fable agreed upon related to events in history and consider multiple accounts of the event. The...
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Activity
Novelinks

Words by Heart: Level 3 Writing Assignment

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Get in touch with the emotional side of writing by reading Words By Heart. The writing assignment helps learners make personal connections with the text and hone their writing skills by exploring a time that they had to forgive or be...
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Assessment
Pearson

Practice Test English Language Arts: Grade 8

For Students 8th Standards
As teachers, it is our job to encourage learners to stand up for what they believe in and help them learn lessons from life's events. A set of practice questions designed for the ELA MCAS assessment features passages that teach positive...
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Activity
Novelinks

Words by Heart: Guided Imagery

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Sad, depressed, miserable, inconsolable, forlorn: so many synonyms have a lot of variety with their connotations. Through the guided imagery activity, writers explore the use of connotation and its influence on imagery and description by...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words: From Image to Detailed Narrative

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A picture's worth a thousand words—and even more inspiration! A visual activity uses photographs to inspire writers. The process teaches aspects of narrative writing, such as point of view and characterization.
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Unit Plan
ReadWriteThink

Scaffolding Methods for Research Paper Writing

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Rome wasn't built in a day, but researchers can be with proper scaffolding. This writing unit has scholars write a research paper through scaffolding of various parts of the process. Learners begin with identifying a topic and crafting a...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Thomas Jefferson and Monticello: An Introduction to Writing Historical Fiction

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Thomas Jefferson is one of the most recognized names and faces in America—but is there more to the third president of the United States? Upper elementary and middle schoolers conduct research on Jefferson, his famous home at Monticello,...
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Lesson Plan
Candace Fleming

Ben Franklin’s Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman’s Life

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.
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Writing
The New York Times

650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
An extensive list of narrative prompts is just what you need to inspire young writers to tell their stories. Arranged by topic, the questions are sure give them something to talk about.
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Lesson Plan
J. Paul Getty Trust

Looking and Learning in the Art Museum — Lesson 3

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Curator, artist, art handler, archivist, conservator-restorer, guide. Who would have thought there were so many different kinds of museum professionals? After a visit to an art museum, class members reflect on the role of the museum in...
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Lesson Plan
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Nemours KidsHealth

Drugs: Grades 6-8

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What happens to your body when you use drugs? What do you do if your friend wants you to start using? Learn about the signs of addiction and the ways to withstand peer pressure with two classroom activities. After storyboarding the...
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Handout
Nosapo

Family Titles, Pronouns, Writing about a Person

For Students 4th - 12th Standards
How is your grandmother related to you? How is your cousin related to your grandmother? Learn about family relationships and pronouns with an activity that guides pupils to write two short narratives about members of their families.
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Lesson Plan
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Channel Islands Film

Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 2

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in her...
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Lesson Plan
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Channel Islands Film

Cache: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 4-5

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
After viewing the West of the West's documentary Cache, individuals craft either a newspaper article chronicling the discovery of the cache on San Nicolas Island, a historical narrative of the placement of the cache in the cliff side, or...
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Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Beautiful Brain: Strangest Dream

For Teachers 5th - 9th Standards
Do words change or add meaning or interest to a work of art? The final lesson in a four-part series on the beautiful brain as a work of art focuses on art analysis. Scholars write a story about exploring art from the inside. Reflections...
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Lesson Plan
Teach with Movies

Teaching Students to Write a Narrative

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Encourage narrative writing with a clever exercise. Class members watch episodes from movies and describe what happened to a character, including details about the setting, plot, and characters. Writers then craft a narrative about a...