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Personal Experience Narratives
Help your middle schoolers identify personal experience narratives in their own lives through telling stories themselves and from family members or other adults. They study personal experience narratives in Swapping Stories and compare...
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Gettysburg: The Civil War's Costliest Battle
Learners research the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg. In this Gettysburg instructional activity, students analyze journals and letters written by the Gettysburg soldiers. Learners define Civil War soldier vocabulary words....
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Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers
Learn about the events that helped shape the United States of America. Elementary schoolers explore the Civil War with six different activities. Each activity has a different focus: literature connections, primary sources, vocabulary,...
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"Charlotte's Web" - Transfer of Learning Across the Curriculum: From Literature to Science
Young scholars research and write about the parts of a spider's body using educational software. They draw spiders using computer software.
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The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush: Native American Life
Students read," The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" by Tomie dePaola and discuss the way legends are passed down orally. They then create their own legend and illustrate it on a simulated "Buffalo Skin" made from brown paper.
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Pioneering Children on the Move
Students inquire about life for pioneer children. In this pioneer period lesson, students analyze photographs of children, make information foldables, and create a covered wagon that was typical of the ones of the past. Students will...
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A Nation Divided
Fifth graders participate in various activities related to the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson plan students understand the events and feelings of people during the Civil War by studying primary sources, journal writing, readings,...
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Trees, Trees, Trees! - Adopt A Tree
Students adopt a tree, take a bark rubbing from that tree, and conduct research about that type of tree. They write an original piece about their tree using three facts and in a genre of their choice.
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Story Starters
Students orally tell different types of stories using the assistance of props. For more advanced students, stories may be told according to a specific genre, or the story may have to include a given condition, setting, situation or theme.
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Fantasy, Fables, Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales
Students identify the differences between fantasies, fables, myths, legends and fairy tales. In groups, they create their own versions of the different genres. They practice identifying the examples, as well.
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Responding To Rembrandt's Work Through Poetry
Students write poetry in response to Rembrandt's landscapes and portraits. They create accompanying illustrations based on interpretations of Rembrandt's work and present them along with the poems in book format.
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Using Southeast Asian Folktales to Teach Reading and Writing
Students use maps to locate the countries of Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. In groups, they compare and contrast the three countries in regard to their culture, morals and values. They read various examples of folktales and write their...
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What About Us? Women in the Civil War
Students research the role of women in the Civil War. In this Civil War unit, students research the role women played during the war. This unit includes eight different activities including vocabulary, writing prompts and a literature...
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Folktales around the World (Middle, Reading/Writing)
Students analyze, synthesize, and use the elements of various US cultural folk tales to describe the elements of fiction in general and in folk tales specifically.
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Poetry
Fifth graders preview different poetry selections form different poets to narrow their criteria for a favorite poem. They use the web and written sources to find a favorite poem and then give an oral interpretation of their poem in class...
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Mice Squeak; We Speak
Students create a poster. In this vocabulary instructional activity, students use vocabulary words such as squeak, creak, squeal, squawk and quack to identify the sounds and noises of each word. Students come up with rhyming...
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Most Wanted Villians
Learners review the characteristics of various characters in fairytales. As a class, they review the story details and create a concept map using a software program. They create their own wanted poster of the villians in the fairytale to...
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Making Steel: An Awesome Process
Students identify the six basic stages used to create a steel component, and explain how each stage influences or interacts with another. They give examples of how technology has improved human lives.
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Haiku: Observation and Writing in the Japanese Garden
Students observe a Botanical Gardens. Upon returning to the classroom, students write their own Haiku based on their observations.
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Hey - It's a Rainy Forest Out There!
Elementary schoolers take part in a very good lesson which has them watch video, conduct experiments, complete hands-on activities, and work in cooperative groups. The educationally-rich activities are clearly-explained, and the group...
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When I Was Young in Brooklyn
Students identify various techniques used in memoirs. They reflect on similarities and differences betwee two authors. Students define the term memior. They write about various techiques they noticed the authors used. Students write...
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Character Bust: Ceramics Lesson
Whether it is a protagonist, antagonist, hero or heroine, characters are a must in any story. Learners analyze a character from a narrative they are reading, then use that character as inspiration. They create a ceramic bust depicting...
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My Favorite Things
Students identify "masterpieces" and mass-produced objects. They explain why they value a given object and determine what physical materials were used to create the objects. They create a class book featuring objects that they value.
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Students Information And Interest Survey
In this personal information worksheet, students fill out this form to give details about their personal history, prior experiences and preferences. This could be used for information gathering or as an icebreaker activity.