California Academy of Science
Carbon Cycle Role Play
Anytime you make concepts clear with role playing or hands-on experience, it's a win for the whole class. Ping-Pong balls are used to represent carbon in a carbon cycle role-play activity. In small groups, children first discuss what...
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Heartsongs Poetry by Mattie Stepanek
Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...
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Reading Plays
Students examine the role of tone in a comedy play. They also discover how to paraphrase a passage and explain a character's point of view.
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The Amazon Rain Forest
Fifth graders perform a play about the Amazon Rain Forest. They practice assigned parts and sing a song about the Rain Forest. They create costumes for the characters and discuss the role each character plays. They perform the play...
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Spirit of Enquiry
The lesson includes guided questions to help students to think about their own behavior and purpose in life. They do this through a quiet time of reflection that can include the writing of ideas. Then students act out a play to...
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Accepting And Learning From Mistakes
Students examine a quote by Oliver Goldsmith to determine its meaning as it relates learning life lessons. They read a play before answering comprehension questions and determining the values that are presented in the dialogue. Next they...
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Much Ado About Nothing
Students explore the genre of romantic comedy through their reading of Much Ado About Nothing. In this literary genres instructional activity, students study the genre of romantic comedy through their reading of Much Ado About Nothing....
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Theatre Prop Design and Construction
Fourth graders construct individual props. In this theatrical arts lesson, 4th graders use the elements of art to create various props using paper mache. Students construct objects such as logs, fruit, and a picture frame.
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Handle A Hurricane! Students Become Mayors
Pupils take the role of mayor of the city of Pensacola Beach, Florida
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The Constitutional Convention: Four Founding Fathers You May Never Have Met
Students read biographies of their assigned Founding Father. They present an oral argument that their assignee deserves to be better known by making connections between regional politics and postions defined by character.
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The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said
Students critique the Creation of the U.S. Constitution. They list some ideas proposed and debated during the Constitutional Convention. Discussion of the important issues requiring compromise are examined.
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Art Tape Amusement Parks
In need of a quick way to get rid of extra art tape? This simple idea describes how learners can use it to create mini amusement parks. They'll form the tape into roller coasters, cars, and people with a little imagination and creative...
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The Voice of the Individual
Students examine the role of the individual in society as a whole. Individually, they design and create their own calling card as used in the past. They put together an art kit in which they are able to use outdoors. To end the lesson...
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Belonging and Identity
Students participate in a class in which they eat in different social groups. As a class, they discuss the importance of eating a healthy diet and how some foods are harmful to some but not to others. They use the internet to research...
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Clifford Learns About the Circus and So Do We!
Students investigate the characteristics of different circus jobs and the animals commonly seen at the circus. They read a book about clowns and construct and perform a trick hot dog. Students also create a clown accordion book.
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Celebrating Women: Toni Morrison
Students research Toni Morrison's life, work as a writer, and major contributions to the field of literature; students choose one of her novels to read, & perform a scene from it; each group member writes an autobiographical essay...
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On With the Show: Fifty Years of the Public Theater
Learners view video clips from the program NY VOICES: "The Public" at 50, which examines Joseph Papp's passion and commitment to bring theater to diverse communities of New York. They create a playbill highlighting productions for an...
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Fifties/Sixties Musical Playwriting Workshop
Students write a coherent script based on characterization, theme, conflict and emotional tone as found in the songs' lyrics and develop an understanding of the enjoyment that comes through discipline and hard work leading toward a...
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Face Study: Draw the Other Half
Build fine motor, spatial, and drawing skills by having the class complete the other half of a portrait. They choose an image of a face from a magazine, then attempt to draw the other half of the face as accurately as they can. Two book...
Friends of Fort McHenry
Sensory “Star Spangled Banner”
Music can help us to access memories and events in a meaningful way, and Francis Scott Key used specific words to convey what he had seen and felt when writing what would become America's national anthem. Help your class connect to...
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In the Poet's Shoes: Performing Poetry and Building Meaning
Learners explore poetry by completing a webquest in which they hear poets reading their own work. Later, they examine the dramatic impact of reading poetry out loud. Finally, they practice reading poetry aloud and performing.
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Bug Jars
Students explore symmetry. Students observe a variety of bug and plant drawings, then draw a bug jar. Students observe bugs from the top of the jar for a symmetrical view, and the side of the jar for an asymmetrical view. ...
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What's In A Name
Second graders read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. They then discuss where various names come from. They create a individualized biopoem and publish it on word processing software. Their poems are compiled into a class book and presented...