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A Nation in Mourning
Students reflect on what the deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lauren Bessette mean to them. They then work to compose and read aloud found poems from The Times' coverage of the burial and memorial services.
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Sparking History
Learners create exhibits about patriotic symbols for a living museum. They write reflective essays exploring the themes and symbols of independence and their influences on social responsibility.
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Sex, Guise, and Video Games
Students examine the portrayal of women in action-adventure video games and in other forms of entertainment to assess whether or not these portrayals perpetuate positive images of women in today's world. They develop new female video...
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I Will Survive!
Students define and explore the term "survivor" through the study of real-life stories of survival. They interview a person whom he/she considers to be a survivor, and share their interviews with the class.
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The Writing's on the Wall
Students examine a job-training/violence reduction program that removes gang graffiti in East Los Angeles. They discuss issues confronting their own communities and propose community service programs to address these issues.
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Won't You Be My (E-)Neighbor?
Students explore the concepts of community, belonging and human relationships through an Internet application designed to foster neighborly relations and write a persuasive statement to recruit others to join their community.
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Redefining Addiction
Students study about how addiction can have both physiological and behavioral effects. They synthesize their knowledge by creating a sensitivity training session for counselors working with teenagers who are addicted to drugs.
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Do You Know Your Health IQ?
Students define common medical terms. they prepare quizzes on health-related topics to administer to both peers and adults. They write analysis papers based on their findings.
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Mining For Descriptive Gold
Students describe places using language that is as vivid as possible. They will examine the writer's craft in describing a place by reading and discussing "Resurrecting the Miner's World." They will then revise their descriptive pieces...
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"The Big Orchard Book of Funny Poems"
Learners read and analyze various poems from the book "The Big Orchard Book of Funny Poems." They clap to the rhymes, identify patterns, compare and contrast poems, and write an alternative poem based on the poem "Christine Crump."
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The Power of Persuasion
Students explore the power of persuasion. In a classroom setting, students discuss incentives, testimonials and deceptive pricing schemes that are used to influence others. After observing professionally made infomercials, students...
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Framing the Landscape
Students draw their own drawings after learning about composition of drawings and lines. In this drawing lesson plan, students learn about different lines they can use while drawing. Then they go outside and draw their own.
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Building the Foundation
Students understand the purpose of the judicial branch of government. In this judiciary lesson, students participate in exercises to understand how the court system works. Students complete activity sheets to develop understanding of...
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Preparing the Soil
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning activity, students read Seedfolks and discuss the characters in the story and consider their actions that led to a community garden. Students journal about their...
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Night Lesson Plan: Stereotypes and Scapegoats
Students read the novel Night by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and complete related activities. In this novel analysis lesson, students prompt write and discuss the answers. Students take notes on stereotypes and scapegoats and...
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Hoosiers in the Civil War
Fourth graders research soldiers in the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson, 4th graders listen to the story Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco and identify the main events. They read facts about "Hoosiers in the Civil War" and create...
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Wordless Picture Books
Students use wordless picture books to examine elements regarding a story, the plot, and characters. In this wordless picture books lesson, students select a book to creatively discuss. Students then listen to the teacher read the story...
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Cemeteries Are Historical, Not Solely Grave
Students reflect on the value of graveyards as places of great historical importance and information. They create an epitaph for and a brief biography of a deceased historical figure whom they admire.
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A Long Way Home
Students examine the difference between hard news and editorial writing by considering several pieces written about the Elian Gonzalez custody battle. They then craft their own hard news and editorials on the case.
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Race to the Presses
Students explore how the news media relays information about race in the United States by creating collages from newspapers and magazines and by sharing their reflections about the responsibilities of the news media in covering...
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The Long and Short of It
Young scholars take a look back at the week's news by exploring the news summaries article offered in The New York Times' Week in Review section each week. They look further into ongoing news stories of interest to them in order to...
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Saving Face
Students research the allegations of unfair or illegal business practices of various corporations, then create media campaigns that seek to improve the companies' images.
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Time in a Capsule
Students analyze the meaning and process of categorizing items, people and events as 'the best.' students then defend pieces of literature, images, and sounds that they feel most represent 'the best of the 20th century.'
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Strength-Training for Both Body and Mind
students take part in a variety of writing exercises about the most important pastime or activities in which they participate and the personal growth gained through this participation.