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Using Scholastic News to Introduce the Net
Third graders log on to the net, type in the address for Scholastic and browse the subjects for the week. They select one area of interest and generate five interesting facts about the article.
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American Robin: Territory Study
Learners read the article, American Robins: Territory Study, discussing the vocabulary, underlining key words, and taking notes. They write journal entries, and develop various writer's workshop assignments.
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A Poet's New Post
Students investigate the genre of poetry and focus upon its purpose while participating in class discussion. They read about the life and writings of Charles Simic and use it for the context of creating poetry that is similar in style.
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Guess What It Is?
Third graders write and present a descriptive 'powergraph' that describes a secret object using prior knowledge of adjectives, clustering graphic organizers, and presentation skills. Authors read powergraphs and classmates 'Guess What It...
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Faces of the Bench
Students use primary source documents to gather information on justices in the Michigan Supreme Court. They write about the thoughts and experiences of the author. They identify and describe each justice briefly.
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Words to Warm the Winter: Characters Count!
Fifth graders take part in a mini-lesson on characterization, discuss roles for Literary Circles and meet for the first true session of their Literary Circles.
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Notetaking Skills
Fifth graders review notetaking skills and brainstorm a list of times when notetaking is important. They review a given text then take notes on writing paper, using the modeled style.
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And Your Point Is . . .? Part I
Students, in groups, complete a WebQuest titled "Love Canal Debate". They follow the WebQuest to research and write papers on different points of view regarding the Love Canal environmental disaster.
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Plants
Students identify and label parts of a plant. They will construct a plant from art material and describe the purpose of each part for the plants survival. Students author a book with pictures and words or a story about a plant.
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Busy As a Bee
Learners define the term 'simile,' write their own similes using the words as or like, and work cooperatively to write similes. In addition, students write stories that include similes and illustrate picture books that contain similes.
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A Long Time Ago in the Future
Students read and discuss Canadian young adult literature. They compare/contrast the elements of citizenship, characterization, and themes, write journal responses, and identify the elements that define Canadians.
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Surprise in a Suitcase
Students research an animal from Australia. They create a habitat (in the form of a diorama, poster, mobile, etc.) for their animal and write a coordinating paper. They present their animal and habitat to the rest of the class.
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The Movement of Ideas
Twelfth graders read and analyze the literary elements of Alphonse Daudet's "The Last Lesson" and Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. They compare the two works and write an essay describing the reasons they feel the authors...
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Reporting Live From...
Students examine the many disasters in West Virginia. In this US history lesson, students write about and give an oral presentation of one of the disasters as if they were reporters.
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Labeling
Students discuss the use of labels. They read the story "Cassie's Word Quilt" by Faith Ringgold. Students view the illustrations in the story. They discuss how the author used labels in the story. Students create labels for their own...
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Studying Pillow The Book
Learners investigate the content of The Pillow Book. They conduct research and complete journals about the readings. There are target questions to guide the writing and reflection process.
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Rapping Regions in America
Students determine what designates a place as a region. They apply their criteria for a region to the US map. They work in groups to write a rap about their region that describes its organization, type and structure.
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American Perceptions of the Wilderness
High schoolers examine various American perspectives about the wilderness over time. In small groups they read and analyze writings by William Bradford and Frederick Law Olmsted, summarize the major points of each author, and write an...
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Incorporating Thoreau And Theatre
High schoolers investigate the writings of Thoreau. They read passages orally and look for words of imagery in the text. Students also answer a series of questions and they convert passages of writing into theatrical presentations in...
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James and the Giant Peach
Fourth graders read James and the Giant Peach, write a chronological narrative, and complete a webquest dealing with the life of Roald Dahl.
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Character Sketch
Young scholars view a PowerPoint presentation about Character sketches, and write a four paragraph character sketch. Emphasis is placed on topic sentences having one main idea per paragraph and elaborating. They study and discuss ways to...
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I Am An Animal: Where Do I Live?
Students make an alphabet booklet using the computer to find pictures and facts about farm animals, zoo animals and pets. They write facts about the animals: where they live, what they eat, their coloring, etc.
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Tasmanian Time Travel
Sixth graders perform research using the Internet about the Tasmanian Devil. The project can be presented in a variety of ways. The use of computer software is important for students to know, specifically Hyperstudio.