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Explore Chapters 1 - 5
Learners preview the novel, "Dragonwings," by Laurence Yep, make connections between the novel previewed and their prior knowledge, other texts, and the world. They utilize graphic representations including charts, graphs, pictures, and...
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Noisy Nora, Studious Students: Story Elements
Alliterative adjective nicknames generate stories inspired by Rosemary Wells' book Noisy Nora (also a thematic complement to any class with children who make a ruckus to get attention). Class members explore basic story elements --...
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Dragonwings: Evaluate Chapters 10-12
As your class finishes the novel Dragonwings, use these culminating projects. A vocabulary list is given for chapters eleven and twelve and either an epitaph or letter activity concludes the book. The final project consists of creating a...
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Up, Up, and Away
Fifth graders participate in a WebQuest that introduces them to a study on clouds and how they relate to weather systems.
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Mix and Match Poetry
Third graders compare boring and vivid words: adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. They list them and come up with 10 vivid words on cards. They shuffle all the cards and use 10 to write "vivid" poetry.
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Fall Similes and Metaphors
Students interpret what a similies and metaphors are. They give examples of similies and metaphors. Pupils write different similies and metaphors using fall or autumn descriptive words. Students base their comparisons on facts, once they...
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Glossary, Index, and Table of Contents
Fourth graders use two separate sources to learn about index, glossary, and table of contents usage. For this library lesson, 4th graders use two books, Learning About Weather with Graphic Organizers, and The World Almanac for Kids, to...
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Vocabulary - Unfolding Meaning
Students use the dictionary and thesaurus and are able to explain a definition in their own words.
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The Couplet
Students create the sounds of a thunderstorm with a symphony of body percussion to compose a couplet about rain using Microsoft word to publish. They are introduced to rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses and use Internet sources for...
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A Twist On Teaching Affixes
Engaging your class in prefix and suffix instruction with these helpful ideas.
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“Home on the Range”
Fourth graders analyze the song "Home on the Range" and identify its meaning and setting. In this timeline and retelling instructional activity, 4th graders use dictionaries to find definitions of unfamiliar words, create a...
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Anne Frank and Louisiana - There is a Connection!
How is Louisiana connected to the Holocaust? After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, eighth graders complete a research report about a survivor of the Holocaust who currently resides in Louisiana. Though the idea is a good way to...
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Musical Change
Young learners record observations about different coin denominations and create a song about coins to the traditional song, "The Wheels on the Bus." This lesson is based on the Tennessee Quarter Reverse, and has all sorts of excellent...
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Homophone Cartoons
A terrific activity on homophones awaits your youngsters. First, pupils access a website that contains lists of homophones. Then, it's time to get creative! Everyone gets a piece of poster board and they create a homophone cartoon -...
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Reference Source Four Square
Fourth graders play a four-square game on the playground while reviewing four main references -- dictionary, atlas, thesaurus, and encyclopedia. Students must throw the playground ball in the correct "square" identifying the correct...
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Synonym Crossword Puzzle
In this synonym crossword instructional activity, students use a dictionary and/or thesaurus to help them solve the crossword puzzle. There are 10 words in this puzzle.
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Antonym Crossword Puzzle
In this antonym crossword puzzle activity, students use a dictionary and/or a thesaurus to find the antonyms to the words in the clues and solve the puzzle. There are 13 words to fill in.
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Dragonwings: Explore Chapters 1-5
If you are beginning Laurence Yep's Dragonwings, this will provide activities for the first five chapters. The objectives include making connections to oneself and the world, organizing information and events, vocabulary acquisition,...
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Become an Expert
Young scholars are assigned a separate species of plant or bird to research. Using a worksheet, they are responsible for finding a variety of information on their assigned plant or bird. They also complete a mini-poster and give an oral...
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Desert Plant Detectives
Students examine and categorize plants in their own schoolyard desert garden and then observe other plant areas of their schoolyard.
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"Spelldown" by Becky Mushko
Learners read Spelldown, by Becky Mushko and consider how it portrays the Appalachian community. They define and discuss vocabulary presented in the story and write a comparison/contrast paper analyzing two of the story's characters. The...
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Frederick Douglass Expository Reading Guide
Help your high schoolers navigate the cross-curricular text Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass with this reading guide. The questions guide learners through composing a summary of any given chapter in the text. In addition,...
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Template #1 A Lesson Before Dying Journal Reflections/Personal Statements
If you're working through A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, you might be interested in this resource. Pupils fill this page out after reading each chapter in order to create a short summary and clarify plot points and...
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Feelings From A to Z
Third graders express and interpret information and ideas. They identify a variety of feelings and their effect on people. They explain how someone's actions can cause someone else to have a specific feeling.