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The Great Depression and Now: The Migrant Worker Experience
Students identify the concerns of people caught in desperate times during the Great Depression. They make connections between The Grapes of Wrath and historical images from the Great Depression. Students make connections between the...
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Persuade or Die!
Learners read Patrick Henry's speech. They review prior learning about persuasive writing, and the American revolutionary war. Students listen as the teacher reads Patrick Henry's speech aloud to the class using lots of emotion and...
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Ode to a Nightingale
Students read poems about Tuberculosis by John Keats. Using the poems, they identify similies, metaphors, personification and imagery. In groups, they make connections about the author's outlook on life and how his disease impacted his...
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Identity in A Raisin in the Sun
Ninth graders read the play, "A Raisin in the Sun," and participate in a class discussion about "identity." They discuss racial identity and examine and interpret how community influences a personal identity. They demonstrate how...
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Language Arts Lessons Coupled with Technology Training
Students can benefit when teachers infuse technology training into language arts lesson plans.
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Nature and Haiku Poetry
Young scholars compose haiku poems and recognize how cultures value nature and
natural forces through the study of Japanese poetry. This lesson includes a bibliography of resources.
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Mindful Murals
Second graders depict the illusion of depth in an artwork, using overlapping shapes, relative size and placement of fabric on a mural. They identify with the elements of art in objects in nature, the environment, and Ringgold's mural.
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What Difference Does it Make How Old I Am?
Young scholars identify subtle messages advertisers send (often unintentionally) about age in the course of trying to sell products; to analyze the consequences, both positive and negative, those messages have on the American audience;...
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Character Comparison: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Fourth graders compare and contrast Fudge and Peter, two main characters from "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". They use a software template to analyze and compare the characters in a rough draft, edit their work and then produce a...
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African American Voices
Students investigate the many forms of Haitian art. They compare the art of some different cultures, religions, countries, and philosophies. Students also read the biography of an artist to build context for a particular piece of...
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Editing Emily's Way: An Exercise in Diction and Its Implications
Students examine the poetry of Emily Dickinson and the diction in her poetry. In this poetry analysis activity, students read Dickinson poetry and analyze the diction in the poems. Students journal about the poetry and rewrite their own...
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Predictions, Predictions, and More Predictions
Third graders pose questions about the subject of a short story based on the title and cover illustration; then read the story and determine if their questions actually pertained to the story line, and, if so, how the story answered the...
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Music Drama & Richard Wagner: The Lord Of The Ring
Students study Richard Wagner and his idea of "Music Drama". Students listen to his music, pantomime, and lead "music dramas" to discover Wagner's idea of the world of composition and drama.
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Part One of Unit on Bless Me, Ultima
Tenth graders read and analyze the first two chapters of the novel, 'Bless Me, Ultima.' They respond to a partners journal entry, discuss the two major landscapes in the novel, and create a drawing/interpretation of what these landscapes...
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The Perils of Translation
Students discover the challenges of translating poetry written in a character-based language through the study of Lao-tzu's work, Daodejing. This lesson includes possible extensions and evaluations.
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Comparing Chinese And Japanese Ceramics
Students discuss the conception of beauty by considering and contrasting the
appearance and use of Chinese and Japanese ceramics in this lesson for the middle or high school classroom.
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From Book To The Big Screen
Learners create a six-panel byobu (Japanese visual storytelling) based upon the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" in this lesson suitable for an early High School Language Arts or Social Studies classroom.
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Looking Through Lenses
Students explore the various societal and cultural "lenses" which color their perspectives and life experiences by reading the short story "What Means Switch" by Gish Jen. They discuss how the cultural ideas and beliefs affect the...
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The Dream Factory
Young scholars compare postcard samples from Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX. They examine them to find common elements they share (tone, mood, romanticized themes, artistic elements, etc.) They create postcards to show the "real" Austin.
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Defining American Culture Photographic Parallels
Pupils assess the diversity of the photographs taken by a Czech photographer, that illustrate how existed in 1920's Texas. Then students compare and contrast these photographs with more current photographs of Texans and evaluate in what...