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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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Act It Out!
An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative lesson designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know about the play, its themes and...
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English Literature: An Overview
Relate literary works and authors to the major themes of English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period through the 20th century. Working in groups, high schoolers will evaluate period philosophy, religion, and politics that influenced...
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Lesson: Storyboarding Revolution
Kids consider revolution as a basis for creativity, art, and storytelling. After reading an excerpt from the book, Persepolis, learners choose one event from any world revolution to write about. They storyboard the event focusing on...
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News View
Students read and analyze three different news sources that describe the same event. They compare/contrast the similarities and differences of the news sources, and write an essay describing the main event.
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Fantasy Stories
Students create fantasy stories. In this creative writing lesson plan, students write a fantasy where they can use characters that they have read about in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
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St. Patrick's Day: James Joyce
Whether it's St. Patrick's Day or not, this lesson can be a great way to study James Joyce and how his heritage has influenced his writing. The lesson is meant to be used with the Gale database, specifically the Student Resource Center...
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Voice of History
Way before the digital age radio was the medium of popular culture. After listening to excerpts from radio programs (easily available on the Internet), participants return to the radio age by creating a two-minute sketch based on a...
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Writing Places American Communities
Students interview a member of the community and write a piece of poetry using the voice of the interviewee.
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Expressing Our Thoughts Through Poetry
Students create a poem on about spring. They read final version of their poem chorally. They write reflections of their experience in creating the poem.
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Create a Video Poem
Collaborate to create a visual version of a poem using video. Before class, choose a poem to pick apart. Read it aloud and then analyze it in detail as a class. Assign a line or short section to each student to expand upon using a...
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Finding the dress code balance
Students write a persuasive essay, expressing their opinions of how the school dress code should be changed. Students investigate their own school's dress code, developing their own opinions of whether the dress code should be more or...
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Painting Modern Life
Examine three Cubism art pieces by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque with your students. They will research how Cubism was advanced due to Picasso and Braque. and then compare and contrast Cubist works through image based discussion. Your...
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Similes, Metaphors, and Figurative Language
There are creative ways to make similie and metaphor lessons and activities motivating for students.
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Autobiographies: A Jigsaw Puzzle
Students read The Autobiography of Ben Franklin. Using construction paper, they cut out five jigsaw puzzle pieces in different shapes using the entire sheet of paper. They write events from their own lives on the puzzle pieces, thus...
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The Renaissance Person: composing an Extended Definition Essay
Young scholars recognize the characteristics of an extended definition. In this Renaissance person lesson, students read a collection of short stories. Young scholars research the definitions of Renaissance and Renaissance person. ...
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House on Mango Street: Future Opportunities and Limitations
Students complete a literary analysis lesson for House on Mango Streetby Sandra Cisneros. In this literary analysis lesson, students read and discuss the assigned chapters and complete an open mind diagram. Students write a letter from...
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This Is Our Town
Students use digital cameras to document their community through the use of photographs, artwork and writing. They create a community tribute book that includes essays, artwork and pictures. Afterwards, they debate the benefits and...
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Who, What, Where, When, Why, How
Students take a closer look at the organization of news stories. In this journalism lesson, students identify the elements of news stories and then write their news stories on the same topics using different types of leads.
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Journalism - The Attention Grabbing Topic Sentence
Young scholars act as journalists to grab audience attention with the topic sentence for their writing. They write paragraphs in quantities appropriate to grade level.
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Pizzazz!...Persona-Poems
Students compose persona-poems. They examine the sample poem and then practice writing their own persona-poem. Students collaborate in small groups and write a poem about their partners.
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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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Journalism: Following Your Lead
Students, in groups, identify the components of news article lead sentences. They visit other classrooms and take notes identifying the lead components on the lesson. Students search local and national newspapers for leads that grabbed...
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In Cold Blood: A During Reading Activity
Following the method used by Truman Capote, class members research a major character from his novel, In Cold Blood, and then conduct an interview with that character. The resulting research is used to craft a newspaper article about the...