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Fable Writing - Interdisciplinary Approach to Social Sciences
Before writing their own fables, class members select an animal or insect to use in their story and research its character, habits, movements, etc. After reading a wide variety of fables and identifying the elements of a fable, writers...
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What Makes a Novel a Novel?
As your authors prepare to write a hypothetical novel, they need all the inspiration they can find! Using a book they have already read (and enjoyed), learners complete a literary analysis by filling in eight short-answer questions....
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Lesson Plan 2: So What's a Novel, Anyway?
What makes a novel a novel? Class members select a favorite novel, record their impressions on a worksheet, and then come together in groups to discuss the elements common to narrative writing. Next, they identify the characters, the...
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Understanding Narrative Poetry
In this poetry activity, students learn about narrative poetry. They then answer 7 questions about one of the poems they read, practice writing their own narrative poem, and complete a research project using the internet. The answers are...
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Checkmate: The Play's The Thing
Students investigate the Middle Ages and it's relation to the theater. In this acting lesson, students read Arthurian stories form the Middle Ages and practice using vocabulary words from the Medieval Times. Students write a play set...
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Transforming Negatives to Positives
Young scholars write diamonte poems that correspond to the double-exposed photograph they created. In this poetry and multimedia artwork lesson, students use the photographic process to create a double-exposed photo then create a...
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Teaching Selected Poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems
Learners explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. For this poetry lesson, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.
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Shape Shifters- Trees and the Environment
Students make a tree sculpture. In this trees and the environment lesson, students learn about the parts of a tree, discuss what a tree needs in order to grow, find images of trees in art and nature, use various materials to create a...
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The Wind Blew
Students look at a picture book and observe what the facial expressions show. For this character's feelings lesson, students write what they think the character might be saying on each page and the punctuation they use. Students draw...
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Cuentos
Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....
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Discovering the Oregon Trail
Students explore U.S. history by researching the Oregon Trail. In this American exploration lesson, students read the story On the Shore of the River and define the exact path early settlers took to find the state of Oregon. Students...
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Describe a Journey
Students describe the sensory experience of a character's journey in an essay. In this precise details writing lesson, students explain the effects on the senses of weather, time of day, landscape, and other experiences. Students use...
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Reading Response Journal Lit Logs
Here is a worksheet presenting many ways to create topics and start sentences. The writing prompts are best used for young writers who are creating reading response journals or literature logs. Sometimes, all a writer needs is a good...
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Magical Creatures Land
The opening of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit provides a model of how to use rich details to create a setting. After reading the description of Bilbo Baggins’ abode, young writers create their own magical home for a fantasy creature. The...
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Panther Exam: Writing a Play
Students demonstrate their knowledge of panthers by writing a play on the subject. For this animal life lesson, students view a slide-show on school computers of a veterinary exam of a panther. Students utilize this scenario to write a...
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Coyote and Anansi
Students explore the structure of folktales. In this coyote and Anansi lesson, students discuss the attributes of folktales as they read versions of tales featuring coyote and Anansi. Students collaborate to write and perform their own...