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Journey to Topaz, a Literature Based Approach
Students view a video clip of the experiences of Japanese-Americans during World War II. They read parts of a book in which a child tells her story about living in the internment camps. They participate in a simulation activity as well.
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-How Dogs Really Work!
Students read How Dogs Really Work! by Alan Snow. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of dogs as pets. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library connections.
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Animal Diary
Young scholars create a diary of an animal. In this creative writing lesson, students read the book Diary of a Worm and conduct a brief research session on their animal. Young scholars fill in a template with facts and create an animal...
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The Power of Mental Images: Visualizing Literature
With a chapter book in hand, readers practice visualizing the events and characters of the story. The lesson plan gives suggestions of novels that are rich in detail to help facilitate the process. Drawings from what they read act as the...
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Tear Into a Story
Learners retell a story using the correct sequence of events for a story they have listened to five times. They identify the characters and the setting for the story, and sequence the events using a dissembled copy of the book.
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Prewriting Strategies
Fourth graders explore various strategies to overcome fears of writing, and utilize a story map as a prewriting strategy. They read and discuss the steps of the writing process, follow the steps along with the teacher as they discuss the...
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Long Vowel Phoneme - y
The long vowel phoneme /y/ is the star of this language arts lesson. Kindergarteners share the book, I Spy a Little Fly then brainstorm more words that end in /y/. Since so many of our words end in /y/, this would be a very...
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Collecting Rocks
Students examine how rocks are formed, used, and how to collect them. They listen to and discuss the book, Let's Go Rock Collecting, sort rock samples, and collect rocks from home.
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Finding Captain Hook's Treasure
Students use their map-reading skills to find Captain Hook's treasure. They see how the directions on a map correspond with "real-life" directions, and that symbols on a map represent real things.
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Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers
Young scholars compose a letter to a family member. In this writing activity, students listen to the book, Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers and identify the parts of a letter.
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Real World Math: Unexpected Events
Ready to delve into personal finance? Learners discover how to organize a check book register. They practice debits and credits in a math game involving the register they set up. While they gain valuable practical knowledge, they also...
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Flight Formation: The V's Have It!
Read, revisit, and reflect. Older elementary young scholars summarize main idea 6using key details. They consider the V formation that birds fly in, summarize an informational text, and write critical thinking questions.
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Let's Get Along
Students examine the book Smoky Night. In this cultural lesson plan, students read the text and discuss why it's important to get along with others. Students complete a Venn diagram to compare and contrast themselves with a peer.
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Have You Seen My Pot of Gold?
Have your class look for a pot of gold. Learners create a St. Patrick's Day mini-book. They use the worksheet pages included to cut out and color St. Patrick's Day symbols. They staple the pages together to create a booklet.
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Music for Alice
Third graders explore Japanese culture. They read the story Music for Alice. Students write a paragraph defining what happiness means to them. They discuss Alice's culture and their own cultures. Students create a brochure about Japanese...
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Catcher in the Rye: Chapters 18-20 Venn Diagram
Well into Catcher in the Rye, when things are looking bleak and your readers may be needing some levity, read the picture book The Perfect Square by Michael Hall. Then use the Venn diagram included to compare how Holden Caulfield and the...
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Hoot: List-Group-Label
Word association is a great way to explore vocabulary and new ideas. In a unit about Carl Hiassen's Hoot, kids think about the word environmentalist and come up with additional words that they associate with environmentalism on...
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Creating and Presenting Haiku With Kid Pix
Learners research the history and characteristics of haiku poetry using books and the Internet. They use Kid Pix to create and present original haiku.
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A Walk Around the School: Mapping Places Near and Far
After reading Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, have your young cartographers create a map of Rosie’s walk. Then lead them on a walk around the school. When you return class members sequence the walk by making a list of how the class got from...
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SBRR Strategies to Teach Vocabulary
First graders use principles for learning useful, interesting and sophisticated words based on scientifically-based reading research. They expand their vocabulary knowledge of Tier 2 words through explicit, direct instruction.
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People are People
Explore human diversity in this human rights lesson. Middle schoolers compare novels, speeches, videos, and short stories that promote diversity and basic human rights. They complete daily coursework as they read the selected literature...
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Main Idea in Informational Text
Readers identify main ideas and supporting details using informational texts. For this literacy lesson, they make predictions and read the text to find the main ideas. They use a table diagram to define the main idea and supporting...
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Just Like the Old Days
Students examine customs of rural Mongolia. They read and discuss a letter, discuss families, locate Mongolia on a map, reenact scenes from the letter, and write a prediction of how life change in rural Mongolia during the next 50 years.
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Writing a Personal Narrative
Students complete a variety of computer file pre-writing activities to help them prepare for writing a personal narrative. They focus on including a beginning, middle and end to their narrative. They make a class book.