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Six Ways to Appreciate Educators All Year Long
Why, and how, parents should appreciate teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week and all year.
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Baby Elephant Orphans Get New Home, Families
Young scholars react to a series of statements about elephants, then read a news article about how workers at an elephant orphanage are working to return the animals to the wild. In the animal studies and current events lesson, the...
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Beethoven Manuscript Sold at Auction
Students react to a series of statements about Beethoven, then read a news article about the sale of a 179-year-old manuscript by the musical genius. For this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion...
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Symbols of Our State: Arkansas
Here are a series of lessons designed to assist early elementary learners to discover the symbols of Arkansas. They learn about the state flag, insect, state seal, state bird, flower, tree, and gem. A booklet (emedded in the plan), is...
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British Royalty Tours the U.S.
Students share their knowledge of England, then read a news article about Prince Charles's anticipated visit to the U.S. In this current events instructional activity (written prior to Prince Charles's visit), the teacher introduces the...
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Chicago White Sox Win World Series
Students react to a series of statements about the World Series, then read a news article about the Chicago White Sox winning the 2005 World Series. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and...
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Colossal Squid Caught in Antarctic
Students define the word colossal, then read a news article about an enormous squid caught off Antarctica. In this animal studies and current events lesson plan, the teacher introduces the article with dictionary and vocabulary...
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Gas Prices Keep Rising
Students discuss rising gas prices, then read a news article about how the increase in fuel cost may affect other prices. In this economics and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and vocabulary...
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Building Collegiality During Teacher Appreciation Week
Acknowledge the teachers in your life and on your campus as we celebrate all educators during Teacher Appreciation Week.
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NASA Plans Moon Base
Students react to statements about the moon, then read a news article about NASA's plans to build a permanent base on the moon. In this space science and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and a...
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New $1 Coins Honor U.S. Presidents
Elementary schoolers examine money, then read a news article about new coins being produced by the U.S. Mint. The teacher introduces the article with samples of American money and a vocabulary activity, then students read the news piece...
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New Supreme Court Justice Sworn In
Young scholars react to a series of statements about the Supreme Court, then read a news article about the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion...
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Oprah Winfrey Opens New School in Africa
Students locate Africa and share their knowledge of the continent, then read a news article about Oprah Winfrey building a school in South Africa. In this current events instructional activity, the teacher introduces the article with a...
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Postmark U.S.A.
Students identify and collect postmarks from across the United States. They develop a list of ways to collect postmarks, display the postmarks on a large U.S. map, and find the exact location using MapQuest.
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Real Ice Ages Longer Than Movie Ice Ages
If your class's knowledge of the Ice Age is limited to animated movies, use this lesson plan to strengthen their knowledge. After sharing what they know about the Ice Age, young readers explore a news article seeking to dispel...
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Return to the Moon
Students react to statements about space exploration, then read a news article about plans to resume manned flights to the moon. In this space science and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and...
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Soda to be Absent from Schools
Should schools serve soda to young scholars? Learners read an artlcle that argues against the sale of soda in schools and engage in a class discussion. They then complete a short assessment to check for comprehension and reflect on the...
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Trailers Become Schools After Hurricane Katrina
Students share their thoughts about natural disasters, then read a news article about how life at an elementary school was changed after Hurricane Katrina. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a...
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Traveling Cat Flown Home to Family
Students locate Wisconsin and Belgium on a world map, then read a news article about a cat that stowed away on ship from the U.S. to Europe. In this current events instructional activity, the teacher introduces the article with map and...
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Winter Olympic Torch Traveling Across Italy
Students react to statements about the 2006 Winter Olympics, then read a news article about the Olympic torch's journey through Italy. In this current events lesson (written prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics), the teacher introduces the...
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Celebrate May Day this Spring
Welcome spring as you explore various traditions for celebrating May Day.
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Blueberries
The blueberry is the star of the show. Young farmers take a close look at the blueberry in order to begin to understand the production of small fruits. They describe the factors that affect a blueberry crop, how blueberries are grown,...
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Oral traditions: Facilitating education through verbal traditions
Bring oral traditions into the classroom to engage learning and facilitate best practices. From story telling to listening skills, this article provides reasons and rational behind oral traditions as a tool for education.
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Go Fish!
Young scholars share a bowl of goldfish crackers. In this instructional activity on sharing, students see how a limited resource goes furthest when it is evenly shared. Young scholars are allowed to take as many crackers as they would...