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Past and Present New York Through A Comparative Study of Photography and Poetry
Students study New York in three time periods, 1890-1930, 1930's, and 1950's-60's. They discuss themes that are important in each time block. They describe a brief historical picture of each time period before they approach works of...
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A Country Far Away
First graders compile questions they want to explore other people. Given the information shared by the guest speaker, 1st graders become familiar with customs from another culture and recall what they learned about another country and...
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Compositional Techniques: Are There Similarities Between
Students recognize how chromatic scales create tension and pentatonic scales create relaxation as compositional techniques used to create tonality. Also, students aurally recognize the use of mixed or alternating meter as a means of...
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Gwendolyn Brooks
Students examine the contributions of the author Gwendolyn Brooks. They create a journal, read and discuss poems by Brooks, write a poem about themselves, and create a timeline of their own lives.
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The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
Students read and analyze a poem about a speaker's posthumous view of war, assess the purpose of an author's note and evaluate the effect of the point of view on the reader's response. They work in groups to discuss and analyze the poem.
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Speech in the Virginia Convention
“. . .different men often see the same subject in different lights. . .” but the great orator Patrick Henry used all the skills at his command to craft a speech to convince listeners to see things as he did--that liberty was worth dying...
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A Bird's Eye View of the Caribbean: Art, Folklore, and Music
Students examine the Caribbean in terms of its music, art, and folklore. As a class, they listen to a folktale and discuss the difference between telling a story and reading a story. In groups, they write their own folktale and share...
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Frankenstein
Students use an outline of the story "Frankenstein" to identify mistakes in English. They practice making corrections to make the sentence correct. They answer questions to end the lesson.
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To Walk the Sky Path
Fifth graders use maps of Florida. They locate places from a list on their map. Students use the places mentioned in the book, "To Walk the Sky Path," and locate them on the map. Students should have labeled a minimum of 10 places, and...
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Slave Culture during the Age of Jackson
Students consider slave culture during the time of Andrew Jackson. In this lesson on slavery, students watch a PowerPoint presentation, take notes, then analyze an extensive list of primary sources in order to understand what and how...
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Hometown Travel Journalism
Steinbeck’s witty memoir, “Travels with Charley: In Search of America,” inspires kids to investigate their neighborhoods as local travel journalists.
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Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Primary learners will embrace diversity and celebrate multiculturalism through these engaging activities. Which include reading the story Martin Luther King and singing the song "A Man Named King." They will also explore the concept of...
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas Bells
Students read and analyze the anti-slavery poem, "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They discuss the content and form of the poem, write an essay, write an original poem, examine how this anti-slavery poem was converted...
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Dealing with Growth and Change
Students discuss the right and wrong actions of a young Navajo boy. Using that information, they compare and contrast his culture to their own. In groups, they create a newspaper or poster showing the cultural contributions of the...
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Book Week
Students discuss favorite books. They listen to the teacher tell how Book Week started. Students participate in a variety of activities designed to help them focus on books and reading. Some may create covers for the older books,...
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Thanksgiving: Traditions
Students investigate the traditions and history around Thanksgiving. They divide into groups and research specific aspects of the holiday. Students then share their findings with the rest of the class. They also complete crafts,...
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Margaret Mead: Anthropologist
Sixth graders examine the life, travels, and cultural experiences of Margaret Mead. They participate in group work and inquiry activities about the qualities that Margaret Mead possessed and the places she traveled to. They distinguish...
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Civil Rights: Rosa Parks Centers
Research the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Rosa Parks. Set up different centers and have learners rotate through the activities aimed at researching Rosa Parks. They read The Bus Ride that Changed History: The Story of Rosa Parks, write a...
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For the Fun of It
Learners view pictures of Amelia Earhart and discuss the social and historical context of her life. They read excerpts of Earhart's autobiography "The Fun of It" and analyze her purpose in writing it.
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The Postbellum Period and Freemen
Young scholars become familiar with the ways slaves reacted to educating themselves. In this postbellum and freeman lesson, students complete readings from chapters in the book Up From Slavery. Young scholars write about the readings...
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"Jazz is About Collaboration": Jim Crow Laws And Segregation
Students explore development of jazz music in the 1930s by forming imaginary jazz bands which tour several cities in Depression-era America. Jazz band members create imaginary identities for themselves, develop publicity for their tour,...
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Piercing the World of Silence
Students explore the sign language alphabet. They examine the difficulties faced by handicapped persons, and are introduced to Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan and The Miracle Worker.
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Sew, You Want To Quilt?
Students become familiar with the achievements of the artist Faith Ringgold. They take notice of the patterns in their environment. They connect the mathematical concept of patterns to create a class quilt.
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Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition: Corridos
Students create and perform Corridos which are oral tradition ballads. In this Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition lesson, students interview family members using a predetermined list of questions. In addition, students...