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Introduce Vocabulary: Clap Your Hands
Read Clap Your Hands to explore new vocabulary with your class. In this three-tiered vocabulary instructional activity, youngsters read the book and identify the plot, setting, and characters. They also define vocabulary terms from...
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Twisted Tales
Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select...
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Teaching "Theme" with Children's Literature
In this exercise, learners examine the difference between a theme, topic, and moral. After a class discussion on the definition of literary themes, the instructor reads The Cello of Mr. O by Jane Cutler. Next, individuals analyze the...
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Teaching Radioactive Decay: Radioactive Half-life And Dating Techniques
Students generate a radioactive decay table for an imaginary element using a box filled with pinto beans and M&M's. They use their data to plot a decay graph, develop the concept of half-life, and use the graph to "age" several samples.
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Map It Out
Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...
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Applying Ahimsa to Traditional Stories
Investigate the life of Mahatma Gandhi by researching non-violent lifestyles. Learners define the word ahimsa and discuss the personal characteristics that made Gandhi a peaceful warrior. They also create a poster about the story "The...
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Original Children's Books
Bring the fun and creativity of children's stories to your language arts class. Middle schoolers write, revise, and publish an original student book which incorporates the elements of a short story. They put their story in the form of a...
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What Can I Do?
Students identify their feelings and examine constructive ways of handling conflict. In this conflict activity students discuss how to communicate their feelings and resolve conflicts.
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Fractured Fairy Tales
Learners use familiar characters, plots, and settings from traditional fairy tales to create "fractured" versions, while experimenting with satire, irony and parody. A fractured fairy tale is designed to be humorous by changing the story...
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Radioactive Decay
Students generate a radioactive decay table for an imaginary element, use their data to plot a decay graph, develop the concept of half-life, and use the graph to "age" several samples.
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History/Mystery: Regionalism and Ethnicity in the American Detective Novel
Students use mystery novels to focus on the history and ethnicity of different regions of the United States. As a class, they are introduced to the elements of a mystery and compare them to the other types of novels they have read. In...
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Being in the Noh: An Introduction to Japanese Noh Plays
High schoolers read a Japanese Noh play and discuss its structure and traditional characters. They choose a short myth and write a Noh play based on it.
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Insect Monitoring
Students participate in an interactive lesson using the scientific method to study biodiversity. In this insect monitoring lesson, students simulate the layers of soil and the insects that would live there. Students design...
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Electric Field Mapping in 3D
Students create a 3D vector field map of an electric field. In this physics lesson, students measure the voltage inside an aquarium with water. They present their findings and map to class..