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Digital Storytelling
Scholars of all ages can use the various tools of technology to construct and illustrate a story. Utilizing this resource, learners work with a partner to brainstorm and draft a story based on personal experience. They use computer...
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Check It Out: Verifying Information and Sources in News Coverage
If it’s in the news it must be true, right? Prompted by a New York Times article, class members consider the importance of accuracy in reporting and validating sources. The detailed plan includes warm-up exercises, discussion questions,...
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Nudging Questions
Students choose one topic to write about. They brainstorm ideas about their topic or incident. They use sensory details to visualize their topic. They answer a variety of teacher directored nudging question to help them describe their...
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Poetry Gifts
What kind of shoe is this person? What time of day is this person? Aspiring poets’ responses to a list of questions provide descriptive words and phrases that can be crafted into a blank verse poem. A link to sample poems is provided.
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Making Sense of Homographs
What is a homograph? Develop your students' vocabulary with a word association tool. Language arts classes discover what a homograph is and how it can be used as a visual thesaurus. They discover the other uses for homographs such as...
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Scrambled Stories
Character development, setting, and plot? Sounds like the makings of a good narrative story. Young authors read and analyze several narrative examples, and then they use what they know to pen an original composition. They work both in...
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Writing a Newspaper Article
The perfect resource for a beginning journalism teacher or someone designing a journalism unit, this activity prompts students to write a newspaper article. It covers all aspects of the writing process, such as a guided warm-up...
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Against the Odds
What factors help people achieve goals? What factors prevent people from achieving goals? What are the elements that need to be in place to make a team function well? Using Damien Lewis’ Desert Claw and John Francome’s Winner Takes All,...
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On the Scene: Analyzing Scenes in Film and Literature
Students examine how a scene in a movie or in literature is constructed. In this film and literature lesson students answer questions based on film clips then create storyboards depicting a scene from their life.
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Video Biographies
Who was Alexander The Great? How did Abraham Lincoln’s early life influence his political life? Learners select a historical figure to use for video biography. After developing research questions and collecting information, pupils search...
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School Newspaper
High schoolers investigate writing a school newspaper. In this writing a school newspaper instructional activity, students choose topics that will be included in the school newspaper. High schoolers view online sites about writing...
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The Whole Story
Students collect and convey information about a current event. By focusing on who, what, when, where, why, and how questions, students study to thoroughly analyze and report on important world events.
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Labor Unions and Strikes
Teens explore economics by listening to a labor history lecture and an excerpt from Looking Backward, by Edward Bellamy. A detailed outline is provided for the lecture, along with follow up and assessment questions. In groups, they...
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Kids' Newsbreaks
Group learners together to identify a question relating to an issue and create a 60-second kids news break highlighting information that begins to answer the question. They research and answer issue questions in a news story format.
BW Walch
“Outsider” Poet Kay Ryan Goes from Poetry Club Reject to Poet Laureate
The cat might have got your tongue, but you can’t avoid the elephant in the room while you wait for the other shoe to drop. After all, the early bird gets the worm and the chickens are circling. After researching Poet Laureate Kay Ryan...
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Developing Story Ideas
Students complete activities to learn how to develop story ideas in journalistic writing. In this story ideas lesson, students learn news value judging criteria, identify language to ask beat sources for story ideas, distinguish story...
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Unit 10: Going Shopping Day 1: Buying School Supplies
Students, who are second language learners, develop a story about shopping. In this language development lesson, students brainstorm in their native language about the items they purchase at the beginning of the school year. They work...
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Mesearch: A Reason for Research
Learners complete a research activity about themselves. They access an article on brainstorming and identifying personality traits. Students brainstorm about their personality traits and view a related PowerPoint. Learners create their...
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The Haitian Crisis: Thinking Historically
Students analyze the 2010 earthquake's effects on Haiti. In this Economics activity, students brainstorm the problems caused in Haiti by the earthquake. Students listen to interviews with scholars to identify additional answers to focus...
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Writing to Argue
Students write an argument using a clear structure and argumentative techniques. In this persuasive writing lesson, students brainstorm, write, and peer edit an argumentative essay. Worksheets include the prompt, facts and quotes, and a...
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Greenhouse Gasses
Students study words in the news. They explore vocabulary including "climate change" and discuss its meanings and related meanings. They read a text about climate change and carbon dioxide emissions and answer questions. They complete...
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Legends and Lore
Students begin the lesson plan by responding in their journals regarding questions about their favorite fairy tales. They listen to a folk tale and answer questions based on the folk tale genre and then brainstorm aphorisms that convey...
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Revision Activities
In this revision activities worksheet, students plot the development of tension throughout the book, answer seven questions about plot, analyze characters and theme, and discuss the writing style of the author. Students answer ten short...
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Understanding What Makes a Good News Story
Students explore the news sources at their school in order to write stories that reflect what's going on in all communities and to identify what makes a good story. In this news writing lesson, students journal about what makes a good...