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Who Am I?
Your budding journalists need to understand the five W's for writing a news story. They read a story, complete several graphic organizers to help them organize and write their article, and then use a self-assessment activity to edit and...
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Summer Shorts
Want to use sequence maps in your narrative writing unit? Young writers work to create personal narratives about their summer vacation. They write a narrative of their vacation and create a display using summer clothing shapes made from...
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Narrative Writing
Are you the oldest in your family? The youngest? The middlest? How do you feel about your place in your family? After reading such stories as My Rotten, Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by...
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Understanding Characters
Young scholars analyzing characters from a story by creating an article about one. In this story analysis lesson, students read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, and pick one character to write descriptively about. Young...
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Crazy Critters Creative Writing
Students brainstorm animals with unusual characteristics such as a giraffe with a short neck or a zebra without stripes. They write paragraphs about their animals and work in peer editing groups to refine their stories.
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Six Trait Writing with Twain and Doyle
Students explore the traits of writing in this six lessons unit. Poems, fiction, and drama are evaluated to identify writing strategies. Utilization of vocabulary and writing rubrics help students judge the effectiveness of their own...
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Like It Or Not?
Write a review of the film adaptation of Holes. After viewing the film, your young reviewers make recommendations about viewing the film. Using details to support their opinions, they highlight the important parts of the movie without...
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Painting Faces: Interpreting Portraits
Over the course of four sessions, upper elementary learners explore the elements of visual art and portraiture and the work of Canadian painter Robert Harris (links included). (Paintings by any portrait artist will fit the plan; choose...
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Animating a Historic Event
Research a historic event using textbooks, primary source documents, the Internet, and other library and media resources. Young historians will take the research they have gathered and write an attention-grabbing, historically accurate...
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Legends Old and New
Students listen to a Native American legend and discuss the basic elements of story. In small groups they read and analyze more legends from books and Websites. Then they compose and present an original legend.
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My Secret War - The WWII Diary of Madeline Beck: Lesson 2
Fifth graders explore world history by reading historical fiction. For this World War II lesson, 5th graders read the story My Secret War and identify the importance of fiction when analyzing history. Students answer study questions...
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"The Westing Game" Activities and Lesson Plans
You can use a novel, such as "The Westing Game", to teach reading concepts and skills in a way that keeps students interested.