Curated OER
How To KidPix II
Students practice using KidPix to create illustrations. In this visual arts activity, students define key vocabulary words, such as "palette" and "toolbar" to familiarize themselves with the KidPix program. Students create...
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Hurricane Katrina: You Be the Reporter
Students work in a small group to create news stories, feature stories and editorials/letters to the editor and organize them in a podcast, video-based program, or newspaper/magazine focused on Hurricane Katrina.
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Sounding Off About Impeachment
Help your middle and high schoolers reflect on the responsibility of newspapers to act as a vehicle for 'everyday citizens' to voice their opinions. Then, using an article about the first day of the Senate impeachment trial of President...
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Where Do You Stand?
Scholars assess a government's ability to intervene in personal health decisions. They research basic facts about euthanasia and describe their opinions about new legislation passed in the United States Congress about an individual's...
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Neighborhood or Slum? Snapshots of Five Points: 1827-1867
How has your local neighborhood changed throughout recent history? Young researchers evaluate census data, images, and primary source descriptions describing the living situation in the antebellum Five Points neighborhood. They consider...
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8th Grade Writing - Motivation, Organization and Emotion
Using relevant, current events with historic literature makes for great writing.
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Writing a Letter to the Editor
Learners identify the main elements/structure of a letter to the editor. They brainstorm for thoughts and opinions on a specific topic and write a first draft of a letter to an editor of a newspaper. They give each other preliminary...
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A Colony is Born : Lesson 5 - Dear Mem
Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...
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Family Foodways
Discover, document and share the knowledge of family food and ways special occasions are treated. Your class will explore the context in which food traditions are created and adapted in their families and communities. Each student also...
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How Advertisers Persuade
This plan centers around the article "How Advertisers Persuade," although it is not included in the lesson itself. Get your class thinking about advertising, appeals, and techniques that companies use to get their products from the shelf...
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HOT TOPICS OF THE MISSISSIPPI
Students use a five-step process to write a persuasive essay about an issue that is related to the Mississippi River. Students build an argument based on prior knowledge and information from a variety of sources. Students base their...
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Persuasive Writing: Creating Book Reviews
By reading and analyzing examples of persuasive text, students can get a better idea of how to form their own essays.
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Do We Have to Do This?
Students conduct Internet research, and read articles about education to determine why particular educational practices are used, and why they are important in terms of No Child Left Behind. Students create PowerPoint presentations...
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Speaking Out About Kosovo
Invite your class to reflect on the responsibility of newspapers to act as vehicles for citizens to voice their opinions. Using an article to gain factual info. about gov't strategies in dealing with current events in Kosovo, young...
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Immigration in Spain
How many people immigrate to Spain illegally each year? Both the United States and Spain see a lot of illegal immigration. Advanced learners will read various articles, compare and contrast the situation in both countries, and discuss...
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Smoking Today = Smoking Tomorrow
Examine statistical data to recognize the relationship of statistics to real-world issues. Pupils navigate e-stat using the Internet and find data about social issues. They complete a worksheet with their data and create an anti-smoking...
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Cite Right
What do you need to cite, and how can you avoid plagiarizing? This presentation is aimed at beginning writers, and it details some of the ways people plagiarize (even accidentally) and what sort of information needs to be cited. The...
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Writing Author's Purpose
Write in all three authorial purposes (persuasive, informational, entertaining) with this lesson. Young writers consider a time when a friend of theirs helped them out and gave them advice on something. They write a short paragraph (no...
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Checklist for Persuasive Writing
Provide third and fourth graders with a persuasive writing example and this checklist. Have learners read through the persuasive writing example to find the characteristics included in the checklist. Is the passage a good example?...
Learning to Give
It's Never Too Late: Air Quality
What are the causes and effects of pollutants on the quality of the air we breathe? Groups research emission standards, emission controls, career opportunities in the area of air quality control, and things government and individuals can...
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Latin America: Our Neighbors at Home and to the South - Newspaper Project
Students work in pairs to create a comprehensive newspaper depicting the major themes covered during the study of Latin America. The activity includes writing, reading, social studies and technology.
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Trap Door Reading: Persuasive Text
Students create T-charts to analyze persuasive text. In this persuasive text lesson students make predictions based upon titles and learn how to make arguments based on facts.
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American Civil War Lesson Plans
Civil War lesson plans can get students thinking about, and discussing issues related to history, politics, and even photography.
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Elaborating the Main Idea, Using Supporting Details
A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...