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Are We Safer?
Students discuss the meaning of feeling safe in their environment after September 11th. After reading National Intelligence reports and news articles summarizing the findings about national security, they write letters to their...
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President Obama's Address to Students Across America
Students write about goals, responsibility, and persistence, and listen to President Obama's speech. In this President Obama lesson students create concept webs, listen with a purpose, and list the challenges of our generation.
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I Have a Metaphor
Learners locate the literary devices used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. In this figurative language lesson plan, students first distinguish between similes, metaphors, analogies, personification, etc. Learners...
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Exit to the Left
Students share their own thoughts about the United States' involvement in Iraq. They read an article about what the Democrats would do if they were in charge. They develop a poll for members of their community to take and analyze the...
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American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
Students explore daily life and its influences in the late 1700s for two families in different colonies- Delaware and Massachusetts by becoming historical detectives. After gathering information from artifacts to make inferences about...
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World Consumption: Unequal Slices of the Pie
Students interpret the United Nations Human Development Reports and explain the relevance and use of the human development index in offering insight into a nation and its challenges. They draft a letter to the United Nations.
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Red, Undecided, and Blue
Students analyze voter preferences in past elections, and then write letters to a presidential candidate, recommending winning strategies drawn from their research.
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On the Fence
Students read a news article from the New York Times related to the construction of a fence between Mexico and the U.S. and its impact on the lives of the people living on both sides. They read and discuss a variety of scenarios, answer...
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The Musher's Trail
Second graders follow the Iditarod race that begins in March. They research data and select a musher to trail in the race. Then they write daily in a journal about events that happen on the trail, including pictures from the Website.
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Name the Constellation
Students read stories about constellations. They create constellations by filling in the letters of their names on a test bubble sheet and tracing the design onto white paper. They make up stories about their name constellations.
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An Underground River
Seventh graders describe how water flows through the ground, what an aquifer is and what soil properties are used to predict groundwater flow. They consider the affects of pollution on groundwater supplies and write a letter drawing...
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Frosty the Snowman Meets His Demise: An Analogy to Carbon Dating
Students read and discuss an article about carbon dating, then participate in a hands-on lab to discover how carbon dating works. Students also write a letter to a friend explaining the process, and how archeologists use the process to...
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Perks and Perils
Students research the life of the first family. In this U.S. Government lesson, students take a White House quiz, read an article about the first family and write in their journals about a typical day in their lives versus what a day...
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A New Look at Romeo and Juliet
Students explore life and language development in the Elizabethan Age. In this English instructional activity students complete web-quests and other activities surrounding Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
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FDR's Fireside Chats: The Power of Words
Students examine Franklin D. Roosevelt's Fireside Chats. For this presidential history lesson, students listen to the radio broadcasts of select FDR Fireside Chats. Students analyze the effectiveness of his messages to the public as well...
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Separate But Equal Opinions
High schoolers examine the ways in which editorials and Op-Ed pieces respond to current events. They write editorials in response to news items from the New York Times.
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Classes For The Masses
Students explore how class is represented in the media by developing ideas for television pilots that deal with class issues. They compile short lists of television characters from working, middle and upper classes.
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Johnny Tremain for the 21st Century
Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on the American Revolution based on the novel, 'Johnny Tremain.' They define key vocabulary terms, develop a timeline, write a report on a colonial craft, make a colonial flag, and create a...
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Whose Peace?
Young scholars discuss the historical conflicts in Israel and the Middle East after reading an article from The New York Times as a class. Students are divided into groups after the discussion and research parties of interest in the...
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Students create Thanksgiving menu and pre-dinner blessing or ritual that is sensitive to five different imaginary Thanksgiving guests from a variety of backgrounds.
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A Place for the Birds
Students reflect on bird migrations and develop a project to collect data on bird species from across North America to further investigate the ranges and migrations of common birds. They create a field guide of North American birds.
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Pizza for Everyone
Pizza is the inspiration for the cross-curricular lesson detailed here. Start out with a poem about pizza and move into a discussion about balanced eating. To close the language arts portion of the lesson, ask your pupils to write...
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Nursery Rhyme Modernization
Students retell a nursery rhyme updating it and create a video. In this Movie Maker nursery rhyme lesson, students use technology to update a nursery rhyme. Students incorporate special effects, actions, and captured...
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Uniforms vs. Fashion: Want to Take a Side?
Seventh graders write a draft of a persuasive essay to the principal addressing the issue of whether or not Three Oaks Middle School should adopt uniforms. This lesson get your students motivated to try persuasive writing!