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Narrative Structure: Les Miserables
What is the initiating event? What is the protagonist's goal? What attempts are made to achieve this goal? What is the outcome? Model for your class how to map out the structure of any narrative. Readers then search for answers as the...
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City People, City Stories
Young scholars create fictional inhabitants to scale for a place called 'Box City'. They develop stories and personalities to go with the created people, share the stories with the class and write a newspaper for their city.
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Symbolism in China's Material Goods
Students make a generalization about the process of 'looking' and 'grouping', hoping to show that we, as Americans, show preferences and shared choices. They study examples of American art through time and create a class chart...
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Silhouettes and Interiors
Students create a multimedia piece that integrates drawing and collage. Students learn about metacognition and the discovering of self through genres of art and literature by using these steps: inspiration, brainstorm, application,...
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Create Your Own Ad
High schoolers examine the elements of advertising. They analyze the format and structure of advertisements. They develop awareness of advertising techniques and explain that media messages and products are composed of a series of...
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Chairs, Chairs, Everywhere...
Students generalize about a variety of designs of inventions. Students respond to a variety of visual designs. Students become aware of the multitude of design variations in everyday objects.
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Presentations
Students use the Internet and word processing programs to complete their research for their presentations. In groups, they participate in hands-on activities that incorporate into a drawing project. They share cultural and geographical...
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Monster Exchange
Students draw and describe their monster. They exchange papers with another student and recreate the monster based on the other student's description.
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Write Like an Egyptian
Students study the discovery and import of the Scorpion Tableau. They research other examples of ancient writing systems and synthesize their knowledge of them by designing new writing systems based on these early models.
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Our Illuminated Alphabet
Learners examine artwork and create their own. For this writing and illustrating lesson, students view illuminated letters from the Getty Museum's collection and discuss art vocabulary. Learners examine the visual elements in the...
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Members Only
Students discuss the advantages and disadvantages of private communities and the lives led by their residents. They design ideal planned communities for people featured in other Class Matters articles.
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x-rays - the Letter X
Students demonstrate the ability to draw vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines, recognize the difference between inside and outside, and create a picture of themselves.
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"Angel Child, Dragon Child"
Young scholars read and analyze the book "Angel Child, Dragon Child" by Michele Maria Surat. They chart the main story elements on a graphic organizer, and write three sentences about themselves and draw a self-portrait. Students then...
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It's A Mystery To Me
Students become both mystery readers and writers. They utilize the Internet to understand the elements of this classic genre; employ critical thinking skills when reading various stories in both print and electronic formats; form groups...
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Jack and the Beanstalk
Third graders read a story and grow a beanstalk. In this literature and life science lesson, the class reads "Jack and the Beanstalk," then lists fairy tale elements and write a puppet show. The students plant pinto beans and observes...
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Creating Musical Notation
In this creative music activity from Scientific American, students learn about musical notation and then design their own notations. Great web resource links are alsp provided
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Wetland in a Pan
Seventh graders build a watershed from various materials. For this life science lesson plan, the students will be able to change the design of their watershed to see the changes in the way the water will drain. Each group will be able to...
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Solar System Tourist Bureau
Students, working in teams, role-play as advertising agents creating ad campaigns for a planet in the solar system. They design commercials for video, Hyperstudio, or Web pages. The activity includes research, all the production stages,...
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Scientific Method
Students conduct an experiment and complete a chart demonstrating some of the basic properties and components of water via the scientific method. They encompass strategies such as questioning, making predictions, comparing/contrasting...
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Children's Book Creations
Students create a children's book version of the Japanese folk story "Momotaro Boy of the Peach" and present the story to elementary students. In this children's book lesson plan, students design their book to explain Japanese culture to...
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Shakespeare 2000
Comparing the more modern film Ten Things I Hate About You to The Taming of the Shrew leads to an understanding of how Shakespearean plots can be applied to modern-day situations and characters. As a culminating activity, groups select a...
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Imaginative Power - Exploring Superheroes
Third graders identify super human powers and their uses found in comic and cartoon characters, identify use of visual elements such as line, shape, and color, and create drawings of an original super character with at least two extra...
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Families and Neighborhoods
Young scholars explore the concept of community. In this community lesson, students explore the cultural flavor of their neighborhoods as they discuss the history of their neighborhoods and draw pictures of their family and a building in...
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Khamsa Good Luck Hands
Students study the use of symbols in cultural art and create a collage of their hand prints. In this symbolism and art lesson, students learn about the use of symbolism in cultural art by studying the Moroccan art design called a Khamsa....