National Endowment for the Humanities
Practical Criticism
As an introduction to literary criticism, class members recreate I.A. Richards' close reading experiment. Individuals select a poem, paraphrase the story, focus on the imagery used, consider what the imagery adds to the tale, and...
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Poetry in Depth
Scholars use technology to explore poetry and its related elements, such as theme, figures of speech, and other literary devices. They complete four poetry projects including a poem analysis with a concept web, an interactive poem...
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Producing Beats
Turn your classroom into a music studio as groups work together to determine why music sounds different when performed live versus a recording. After listening to some different music, each group picks a poem, creates a recording, and...
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Growing Poems
Young scholars write garden inspired poetry. In this poetry lesson plan, students go out into the garden and write poems about how they feel, what they see, and what is going on in the garden.
Channel Islands Film
The Legendary King of San Miguel: Lesson Plan 3 - Grades 9-12
The documentary, The Legendary King of San Miguel Island, introduces the fascinating tale of Herb Lester, his family, and their life on San Miguel Island. Viewers have an opportunity to expand their study of the island and of...
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Ornithology and Real World Science
Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing instructional activity! This cross-curricular Ornithology instructional activity incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry,...
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Poetry Through Digital Storytelling
Bring digital storytelling to your language arts class! To begin, learners select their own topic, such as a poem that reflects a life experience they had or a historical figure who interests them. Then they work to create a storyboard...
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Poetry and Nature
Students observe an object in nature and record them. In groups, they create a group poem about the same object. They create their own poem based on another object using other their senses to help them. They share their poems with the...
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1900 America: Historical Voices, Poetic Visions
High schoolers examine the United States at the turn of the century. Using primary source documents, they interpret them within a specific historical context. Using this information, they write a poem with metaphors and a specific meter...
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Using Similes and Metaphors in Poetry
The use of similes and metaphors will become more clear and your young scholars will gain knowledge and comprehend the meanings of the words with these activities. They compose interesting similes and metaphors based on visual prompts...
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Project Based Learing: Social Responsibility
Young scholars explore social responsibility. In this service learning lesson, students participate in 4 weekly activities that require them to research "communitarians", write poems about their contributions, and create works of...
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Digital Poetry Books
Students, after reviewing the writing process and assessing how to use a digital camera to take creative photos, create a Digital Poetry Book. They incorporate the use of Microsoft Photo Draw and Publisher for the creation of their...
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Poetry Pop-Up
Third graders, after exploring the process of writing poetry through imagery words that go beyond pen and paper, create a Poetry Pop-Up Book. They incorporate the use of the Thesaurus and clip-art/digital photography to assist them in...
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Found Poetry with Primary Sources: The Great Depression
Students read a sample found poem and create one together as a class. In this Great Depression lesson, students select a topic, such as miners, and read primary source documents related to the topic. Students select one narrative as the...
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King Arthur: Man or Legend
Students research the Legend of King Arthur. In this King Arthur lesson, students explore him as he is presented in stories, poems, and art. Students compare and contrast the real life of King Arthur versus the man in...
Elizabeth Murray Project
Colonial Women During the Revolution
Young researchers use the Internet or books to find out about colonial women during the American Revolution. They organize information in a graphic to demonstrate their understanding of the research they gathered before writing a...
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Power Totem
Students investigate the important symbols to Native cultures by writing a poem. In this animal totem lesson, students discuss animal spirits and their relation to the Native American lifestyle. Students write a cinquain poem about...
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Poetry
Fifth graders preview different poetry selections form different poets to narrow their criteria for a favorite poem. They use the web and written sources to find a favorite poem and then give an oral interpretation of their poem in class...
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Early Explorers Project
Students choose an explorer from a given list, create an original song or poem based on the life of their explorer, make puppets to represent their explorer and then present their original piece to the class while students take notes on...
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Creating Found Poetry From Picture Books
Young scholars use picture books to identify poetic elements and word choice. They create a "found poem".
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Lesson on Ethnic Discrimination
Students study ethnic discrimination. In this discrimination lesson plan, students define ethnicity and ethnic discrimination in the global community as well as steps against it. Students examine their own ethnic backgrounds...
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Character in a Box
Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...
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The Internet of Things: IoT
How has the Internet of Things affected our lives? Scholars examine the massive influence of mobile devices in this analysis activity, which begins with a seven-minute documentary clip. They also read a New York Times article (linked)...
Intel
Insects: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
What would the world be like with no insects? Ponder this question using a research-based STEM unit that encourages scholars to investigate insects from both a beneficial and hazardous perspective. They learn about insect behaviors,...