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Egyptian Burial
Students research burial tombs of ancient Egypt. Acting as pharaohs of Egypt, students create burial plans to decide what items they would include in their own tombs and why. They find another student to analyze their plan.
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Reading Comprehension: Context Clues
Fifth graders use context clues to help them understand unknown words. In this context clues activity, 5th graders practice identifying context clues on a worksheet, then work with a peer to write their own story. Stories are peer edited...
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Creatively Creating Expository Essays
Students, after reading Fahrenheit 451, brainstorm inventions that could have been in the novel. They present their invention to the class and writing an expository essay about their creation.
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Fable Writing
Students listen to and discuss various fables, and identify the moral and central themes. They write their own personal fables and create illustrations to go with them.
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Up Close and Personal with Black Bayou Lake
Students get up close and personal with Black Bayou Lake. Visiting web sites and taking virtual tours, they write multi-paragraph essays using descriptive words and literary devices.
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Proofreading: Lesson 1
Fourth graders examine instructions for proofreading activities and develop strategies to use in proofreading. They find and correct errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics in different writing samples.
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Making a Family Newsletter: Using a Word Template
Young scholars create a one-page family newsletter about a selected person in their family. They bring in a photo or use a digital camera to take a picture of their selected family member, and use a newsletter template to write and...
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Inventors
Young scholars brainstorm a list of inventions that have affected their lives. In groups, they use the internet to research a specific inventor and their invention. They use the information to write two paragraphs and share their...
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Presidents of the United States
Learners discuss American Presidents. They each complete research on one particular President and then, using a template, create a short biography (including a picture) about him. When all biographies are complete, they compile them into...
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Teacher of the Year
Now is the time to identify the great teachers in your school! Discuss the characteristics of persuasive writing and analyze an example. Then, each pupil chooses a teacher who they feel should be named teacher of the year. They plan and...
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Taste Test - Combining Sentences
Pupils combine sentences to create compound sentences. They write about creating their own soda, then make their own soda, comparing and contrasting it with a national brand. They write a paragraph containing compound sentences.
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Help Me Learn About the Holocaust
Young readers select a book from a provided list to use as the basis for an intensive class study of Holocaust novels. After completing their novels, groups create a multimedia presentation highlighting the elements of literature...
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Analyzing Persuasion
A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...
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Hands on Essays
Third graders relate the concept of individuality of geometric shapes to the individuality of topic sentences. They write and revise a persuasive argument essay using an established rubric.
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Was the Wolf Really Guilty?
Students read plays, short stories, or novels which revolve around trials, and write essays explaining or defending the assigned role in a mock fairy tale trial.
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WORDS FRANKLY SPOKEN
Students visit appropriate websites to discover quotes from Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. Working in pairs, they choose three quotes on which to elaborate and then write two original quotes.
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The Story of My Life
Learners complete autobiographical writing assignments throughout the school year that they save and rewrite to put into a published book during the last month of class. They include photographs, drawings and mementos of their lives in...
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Relating to Franklin's Age of Reason
Fourth graders read a selection describing 13 virtues from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." They keep track of their behavior and whether or not they can keep up with 5 chosen virtues. They write a 5 paragraph essay on their...
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I Am a Book
Third graders discuss books that have been banned and the things that they have in common. They explore the concept of freedom of speech and write poems based on their discussion.
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Details and Observations IQ or the Eyes Have it
Fourth graders study Chaucer as a master of details. Then, they create a short story linking unrelated details into a logical plot with a clear setting and established characters. This lesson has some excellent worksheets attached!
Beacon Learning Center
Challenging the Human Spirit
High schoolers select a theme-related essay topic from Night, by Elie Wiesel, or The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, and develop an essay that relates the theme to modern-day personal experiences. The essay follows a preset rubric...
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Clean Air
High schoolers read sales promotion reports and create a sales promotion summary using information from the report. They develop a graphic organizer to outline their information for a presentation. There is an assessment checklist...
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Language for Sale
Sixth graders think about writing terminology as they rewrite a catalogue descriptioin of an item for sale.
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Hey Mom, Are We There Yet?
Sixth graders create a travel brochure for a selected destination of their choice using information gathered from the Internet.