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"The Gambler" and "The Journey": A Comparison of Worlds in Two Short Stories
“The Gambler” and “The Journey” offer readers an opportunity to experience two very different views of Jewish life in Poland between WWI and WWII. Whether used as a part of a study of the Holocaust, or as a compare/contrast exercise, the...
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Briefly Noted: Practicing Useful Annotation Strategies
Post-It notes, highlighting, underlining. Sam Anderson’s New York Times Magazine article, “What I Really Want Is Someone Rolling Around in the Text,” launches a study of “marginalia,” or writing thoughts in the margins of a text. After...
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Argument of Policy
After investigating different policies within the school district, young reformers select a policy they would like to change. They then investigate the policy, and craft a letter in which they advocate a change to the policy. For guided...
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Newspapers in the Digital Age
Is journalism more or less reliable with the influx of Internet sources? Learners investigate the issues of freedom of speech, journalistic ethics, and social responsibility in the age of Twitter and Facebook. After examining the...
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Fractured Fairy Tales
Through reading and writing, learners explore common elements found in fairy tales. After discussing traditional fairy tales, class members listen to The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by John Scieszka, a hilarious retelling of the...
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Bleacher Dance - Adding to School Spirit
Looking for some moves to do in the bleachers while at a school sports event? This lesson teaches two sets of 32-counts. The moves can basically be done while standing up in the bleachers!. The amount of movement will be determined by...
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Stuck Like Glue 4 - Wall Line Dance
Heel, toe, heel, toe, grapevine, stomp. Put some basic dance steps together and get moving. Teach this 32-count series to your class and when they've got the steps down add some music. "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland has a great beat and...
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Celebrate Oktoberfest with the Polka
Here's a pretty comprehensive instructional activity on the polka. There is information on the origins of the polka and the history of Oktoberfest. There is even a list of how to count to ten in Polish, Czech, and German. Include or skip...
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Firework Dance
Teach some dance moves to "Firework" by Katy Perry. It's such an upbeat song, you will have those dancers moving and wanting to move more! There are four 16-count parts to learn. It's not too complicated. Teach them the steps, then put...
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Occupy the Gym Floor
There are eight different steps in this line dance lesson: angle step, jump step, punch step, marching step, grapevine step, turn step, stop step, and down step. Each step has it's own eight-count. Teach these steps to youngsters and...
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Yoga Ball Bash
This line dance lesson involves the use of PE equipment. If you have yoga balls and rhythm sticks then take a look at this lesson. Of course there are other things that could be used instead of yoga balls. This is a 48-count dance...
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Triple Step Stomp
Here's a 32-count line dance to the song "Disturbia" by Rihanna. This dance introduces the triple-step. It's a quick right-left-right or a quick left-right-left step. It's not complicated. The really nice thing about this lesson is that...
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Adapting "List/Group/Label" to Literature
Need a prereading activity in line with the Common Core Standards for Language? Although designed for grades 11 and 12, the procedure detailed in this resource could be used with most grade levels. Prior to reading, select 20 – 25 words...
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KWHL Questioning Strategy for Briar Rose
Whether new to the KWHL strategy or not readers of Briar Rose will benefit from the detailed procedures and templates designed for Jane Yolen’s novel. Links are provided for research into the Holocaust and activities reveal the many...
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"Your Son, Your Only One" - The Sacrifice of Isaac as a Motif in Holocaust Poetry
Class groups examine a series of poems that use Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac as a motif in Holocaust poetry. Included are questions, notes to the teacher, and bibliographical information on each poem. The activities could be...
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Michael Jackson's “Beat It” Dance
Looking for a line dance? Look no further. This dance is performed to Michael Jackson's "Beat It". It is comprised of four eight-counts. The moves consist of walking forward, swinging the hips, doing the grapevine, walking backwards, and...
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Prairie Scavenger Hunt
Middle schoolers take a close look at the prairie environment. They identify common plants and animals of the prairie. In addition, pupils work in teams in order to put together a presentation on a certain aspect of the prairie...
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Rural Life During the Great Depression: A Year Down Yonder
“Anyone who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.” Mary Alice, the fifteen-year-old narrator of A Year Down Yonder, is forced to leave Chicago and spend a year with her Grandma Dowdel in a small rural...
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Sediment Sleuths
Are you looking for a good, solid lesson on sedimentary rocks? This one, produced by the Illinois State Museum, is just such a lesson. Middle schoolers identify common rocks and minerals by analyzing sediments from local water sources....
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Predicting the pH of Salt Solutions
A single page provides you with lecture notes for your lesson on hydrolysis. Introduce your chemistry class to Bronsted-Lowry theory by explaining the hydrolysis of acidic cations and basic anions. Show them how the resulting pH can be...
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Applying Elements of the Graphic Novel to Traditional Literature
The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, provides a series of exercises designed to be used with a reading of the graphic novel version of Hosseini’s The Kite Runner....
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Lesson Plan - Appearances are Deceiving
Herre is a lesson on divergent and convergent evolution. It has links to terrific video clips, an associate worksheet, and more. The analysis questions have been reviewed separately on Lesson Planet if you would like more information....
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The News Article and The Editorial
Here is an outstanding series of lessons on journalism, writing newspaper articles, and writing editorials. This type of writing has long-been neglected in our schools, so this collection of writing activities is most-valuable. Along...
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Adoption Stories
Although originally designed for young film makers who wanted to enter their videos in a contest, the step-by-step instructions included here would serve as a guide for any video project. Classes with no access to video editing software...