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"The Lottery"
Designed to open a unit on the suspense/horror genre, this plan hooks readers with an activity that mirrors the action of Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" (without the grisly ending). Use either the twenty-minute 1969 film or...
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My Secret War: Lesson 5
Fifth graders determine how freedom comes with rights and responsibilities through literature and poetry about World War II. In this World War II lesson, 5th graders use the letters in the word "infamy" to write an acrostic poem. They...
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The Prince and the Pauper
Mark Twain, the famous American author, is often studied in the school system. Use "The Prince and the Pauper" to analyze the differences between the text and its video version. This lesson includes several culminating project ideas for...
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Opening Doors to Social Studies with Children's Literature
Fifth graders read a story about immigration, listen to songs about America and explore the history of their ancestors. They discuss how immigration creates a multicultural country. Pupils create a collage of the people in America. ...
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Class Memorial
What is a memorial and what should it look like? Learners will choose what they believe is important to remember about September 11 and how it should be displayed. They work in groups and brainstorm details about the memorial and present...
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The Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver: Crossroads of the Columbia River
Students study the interaction between Native American and European cultures in the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s. They focus their study on the Hudson's Bay Company and Fort Vancouver.
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A-maizing Facts
Young scholars research the lives of Native Americans living in the Northeast Woodlands region, focusing on how the climate, location, and physical surroundings affected their way of life.
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The Matrix
Second graders compare and contrast groups of Native Americans and culture groups from different regions and times.
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Japanese Folktales
Students read both Japanese and American folktales and respond to teacher generated questions. They compare the folktales and determine if there is a lesson plan to be learned. They draw story card to retell the story to the class.
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Culminating Activities for Sharon Draper’s Novel Copper Sun
Student examine the elements of literature. In this literature instructional activity, students follow the provided procedures to review the novel Copper Sun by Sharon Draper.
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Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Students study the American sport and history of baseball. In this baseball lesson, students complete three levels of units to learn about baseball.
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Longfellow Amongst His Contemporaries: the Ship of State Dbq
Young scholars evaluate the ship of state metaphor in relation to the historical events in America from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. They synthesize ideas presented in ten different primary source documents and compose an...
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Grappling with Identity in Latino Poetry
Learners identify some common themes involving the Latino immigrant experience as conveyed through a variety of media, explore issues of identity in some examples of poetry written by Latinos and learn some basic poetry reading strategies.
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The Search for Identity: "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
Students read the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God". While reading the novel, they identify and discuss the figurative language used and use a passage of interest to them and analyze it in a written paper. They also discuss events...
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Let's Party like its 1849
Students explore prairie life. In this Oregon Trail lesson, students read literature regarding the move west and participate in cross-curricular activities. Students should take digital photographs of the participation in activities and...
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Eisenhower: The Contentious 1950s
Students explore 1950's America. In this American history lesson, students research the McCarthy hearings, Civil Rights, war fatigue, and economic issues of the decades. Students respond to discussion questions about topics.
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Defining Culture
Second graders define the term culture and are exposed to a variety of cultures from around the world. They read books, play Native American games, develop a class book that examines their own culture and, after examining currencies from...
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Marching For Freedom
Students appreciate the sacrifices that people from across the country made to ensure that all citizens could exercise their constitutional right to vote. They access excellent websites and documents imbedded in this plan to guide their...
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The Gullah People of the Sea Islands
Eighth graders examine the lives of the Gullah-Geechee people. In this unique cultures lesson, 8th graders explore music, language, and slavery of the Gullah-Geechee people from the southern low-country in the United States. Students...
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Incident
Students gain insight into human behavior from the study of literature. They read a poem and respond by creating a poem of their own. After a lecture/demo, students utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to help them compose an...
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Tall Tales
Students read tall tales and then write their own tall tales. In this tall tales lesson plan, students read tall tales, write their own, produce plays, and watch videos of their tall tales.
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The Golden Door: U.S. Immigration Through Ellis Island
Students complete a unit covering various aspects of immigration to the United States through Ellis Island. They plan a fictional trip to America, entering at Ellis Island. and actually visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
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Analysis of Frost's poem The Road Not Taken
Students read and analyze the Robert Frost poem, "The Road Not Taken." They identify the meter and rhyme, describe the purpose, and write a paragraph about what kind of job they plan to have and why they have chosen it
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Modern American Poetry
Students identify different types of literary terms in poems. They read different poems and create a packet summarizing them. They write a poem of their own and a biography of one of their favorite poets.