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"Weighing the Elephant"
Can your class solve the problem presented in the Chinese folktale, "Weighing the Elephant?" Read your class the description before having them attempt to solve the problem. After they've come up with an answer (or attempted to!), finish...
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Comparing Two Poe Classics
Students read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. In this poetry lesson, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.
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Celebrating Our Connections Through Water
Students examine the role of water in ceremonies around the world. In this world history instructional activity, students explore how other cultures celebrate water. They create a Water Day for younger students to participate in.
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Mosetsana
Students read and discuss a poem about the issues of gender, education, and family written by a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in South Africa. In this poetry lesson, students read the poem 'Moetsana' and discuss the issues South Africa...
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Image as Metaphor
A Dorothea Lange photograph launches this study of metaphors. Using the questions provided, the class examines the image and the title to consider how Lange uses her photo as a metaphor. Class members then select an object they can use...
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Symphonic Poetry (SMART Board Lesson)
Let music and poetry collide in this well-orchestrated language arts lesson plan. After studying program music and C. Debussy's Prelude to an Afternoon Faun, view the attached SMART board lesson plan to read through "Fog" by Carl...
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The Raven
After a close reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" individuals copy the rhythm and rhyme scheme and rewrite the final stanzas of the poem.
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Identifying the Theme in a Story
Students recognize Theme through the use of simple, short stories. Using Pro Quest, students begin by researching the literary element, theme, and how it can be identified. They then identify the themes in Aesop's Fables and other short...
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Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today
Students use Web technology to access immigration history and develop an understanding of the concept of immigration. Then they develop oral history writing skills, including note-taking and conducting an interview and read for detail....
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Recasting Language through Found Poetry
Discover the concept of found poetry in this engaging lesson. Secondary students will explore the poem "Natural Selection" and compare it to the writings of Charles Darwin in Origin of the Species. Students chose a text and create...
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Electronic Poetry Project
Students explore poetry. In this cross curriculum poetry and technology lesson, students choose a favorite poem and analyze its meaning. Students select several images and music to represent the poem, then create a corresponding...
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PowerPoint Short Story Report
Students make a Microsoft PowerPoint report from a short story read in class. They summarize and paraphrase a short story identifying the six story elements: characters, setting, plot, conflict, solution, tone/mood.
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Personalized Poetry Portfolio
Eighth graders create their own poetry portfolio containing poems that relate to Students' lives and families. The portfolio consist of the following types of poems: acrostic, diamante`, haiku, cinquain, and free verse.
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Carousel Brainstorm Book Report
Students participate in a group review activity to analyze and discuss a book they have all read. They write a paragraph summarizing the findings related to one of the topics. Older students might summarize three topics or all the topics.
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"War of the Worlds": A Broadcast Re-Creation
Why did Orson Welles' 1938 Broadcast of a adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds cause such a panic? To answer this question, class members listen to the original broadcast and research the panic that resulted. They then engage...
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Reader's Theater: Presenting Asian Folktales
Students create and perform folktale plays. In this reader's theater and Asian literature lesson, students work in groups to rewrite Asian folktales into scripts and perform the folktales for their class in a Reader's Theater. Lesson...
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Paper Bag Book Report
Students read books and write a unique kind of book report. For this literature lesson, students use paper bags to construct projects about the books they read. Students present their projects to the class.
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Nibble, Nibble, Little Mouse
Learners complete activities to analyze points of view in different texts. For this point of view lesson, students read Hansel and Gretel and The Magic Circle and discuss the points of view. Learners choose a character from the story and...
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Exploring the Dark Heart of an Obsessive Mind
Students complete a unit of activities for "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe in part to analyze short stories, playwriting, and video production. In this Edgar Allan Poe lesson, students complete a 37 page packet of activities...
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Catherine, Called Birdy: June and July
Students illustrate types of conflicts in Catherine, Called Birdy. In this Catherine, Called Birdy lesson, students take notes on four types of character conflict. Students work in teams to illustrate a conflict from the novel on a...
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Fort Wayne's Industrial Girls
Eighth graders explore what life was like for Fort Wayne's "industrial girls." In this industrialization lesson, 8th graders discuss the conditions that the Indiana factory girls worked in as well as their backgrounds. Students also...
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Lights, Camera, Action...Crossing the Delaware in 9 Scenes
How does reading a drama differ from reading a novel? Middle schoolers become playwrights and explore these differences. After viewing the A&E movie,"The Crossing," groups create stage directions, write dialogue, and design sets and...
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Evaluating a Book By Its Cover
Students practice using predictive strategies before reading a book. In this literacy lesson plan, students identify the theme and characters of the novel based on the cover illustrations.
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"Declaration (of a Kgomotso Girl)"
Pupils explore the poem, "Declaration." Students discuss how elements of poetry such as tone work to convey meaning. Pupils compare and contrast their lives and the lives of the poem's characters from South Africa.