Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
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Magazine Production
Analyze magazines as a class, looking carefully for the target audience, advertisements, and topics presented. Small groups then work as a publication team and receive a magazine that they have to "sell." Each individual has a different...
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Lesson Plan: Before and After a Moment in Time
Think about a moment, frozen in time. Now take a critical look at the painting, Better, Homes, Better Gardens. This painting works to provide learners the opportunity to analyze art, critique artist's choices, and write a story inspired...
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Dali & Desnos: Surrealism in Poetry and Art
High schoolers research the surrealism movement and its primary artists. Language is also analyzed, and students will create their own original poem utilizing surrealistic techniques.
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Lesson: Impressions
Here, Autumn Poplars is the painting upper graders will analyze. They look at techniques, time period, and the use of impressionism to convey a natural theme. They go outside to make observations of nature and use what they see to write...
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lesson: Facing a Stone Situation
Can you imagine what it's like to be able to carve an animal out of stone? Kids do, as they analyze the techniques used to create the South Indian sculpture, Sacred Bull of Shiva. After a critical look at the piece, they write a...
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Lesson: Paul Chan: Tree of Life
Paul Chan's work has been known to show the cycle of change. Learners explore the concept of change by analyzing his work and reading the poem "For Which it Stands." They consider symbolism, communication, art, and society as they use...
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Lesson: A Special Place
Everybody has a special place they like to go. I hang out on top of the fridge, for example. Upper graders analyze the painting Mountain Lake, in terms of technique, style, and imagery. They then write or draw a place that expresses...
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Marketing to Teens: Marketing Tactics
Enlighten young consumers to advertising techniques aimed specifically at their generation. Have learners answer questions about how advertisements are geared for a younger audience, then have them practice selling to other teenagers....
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Style and Voice
Develop the writing skills of your high school class. Writers consider their personal style and voice, read selections by other authors, and then write pieces that challenge them to experiment with their own style.
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Critical Consumerism
What are ads really selling? High schoolers examine persuasive techniques used by print and television advertisements. They generate a list of persuasive techniques they're familiar with, and review other types argumentation and...
Denver Art Museum
Tea Gathering Quick-Write
Japanese tea gatherings are the inspiration for a great activity. Learners are provided with an image of a tea caddy made for thick tea and asked to describe what they notice and what that might mean. This leads into a larger activity...
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Compare and Contrast Poems vs. Lyrics
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...
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Analysis of Theme in Impressionist writing
Eleventh graders explore the concepts of Impressionism and theme. They choose a section of narration which presents Henry Fleming's vision of war. They analyze this section to determine which images invoke the senses: sight, sound,...
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Transcendentalism and Epiphany in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine
Twelfth graders examine the characteristics of transcendentalism. In this transcendentalism lesson, 12th graders determine what this type of writing entails before reading a passage from, Ray Bradbury's, Dandelion Wine. They cite three...
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Macbeth - Analyzing Characterization in Drama
The writing activity in this lesson plan could be used to assess student understanding of previously taught concepts of how language reveals character.
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Examine Persuasive Elements by Reading, Analyzing, and Discussing Persuasive Text
Students identify persuasive strategies and analyze arguments. In this persuasive writing lesson, students read "Chief Red Jacket's Reply" and "Reverend Cram's Speech to the Iroquois Nation" and chart major elements of each argument....
Jen London
Julius Caesar Funeral Speech Essay Assignment
"Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause." "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!" As part of a study of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, individuals as asked to compare the funeral speeches of Brutus and Mark...
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Persuasive Elements
Investigate letters to the editor and their persuasive qualities. Break your class into reading groups and give each one a different article. As they read, they complete a graphic organizer to record their thoughts and opinions. There is...
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Neighborhood Rubrics
Learners use a rubric to analyze their neighborhood and write a persuasive essay about changes that should be made. In this writing lesson, students use a rubric to grade their neighborhood and brainstorm improvements. Learners write a...
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Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature
Analyze the use of balanced sentences and parallelism in a narrative. Included in this resource is a narrative about serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan titled, "The Train Ride Home". Middle and high schoolers review...
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Time Capsule Survey
Here's a fun way to incorporate technology into your curriculum. E-mail each of your class members a picture and 10 questions about the photo. Individuals then imagine the story behind the image and e-mail back their responses. Although...
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Explore, Analyze and Imagine: The Importance of Body Language
Students develop characters and role-play. In this character portrayal instructional activity, students analyze the importance of body language, develop a character to portray and interview another students character.
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Writing a News Report
Students explore journalism by analyzing current events. In this news report lesson, students identify important questions to ask during an interview and discuss a fictitious news story about a missing teacher. Students read published...