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Skimming and Scanning
Students practice skimming and scanning an article to determine its main points. They develop their own questions about the article and shares them with the class. They complete a worksheet about the article to end the activity.
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Themes of Geography in the News Contest
Learners discuss current events in the world today. After choosing one to focus on, they identify the themes of Geography present in them and practice using new vocabulary. They use the internet to find all of the themes present in...
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Making Headlines
Students identify acts of kindness in the news. In this random acts of kindness lesson plan, students discuss kindness, find a news article about an act of kindness that took place in another country, locate the country on a map, and...
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Africa Today
Students examine the AIDS crisis in Africa. In this global studies lesson, students watch "Medical Crisis in Africa," and read articles about AIDS in Africa. Students then research the topic and create awareness posters.
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Get the Skinny! Summarize a Story!
Learners examine the steps of summarizing text. They silently read an article, then read and discuss the steps to summarizing a passage. Students then write a summary of the article they read, and as a class discuss the main idea,...
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Rebuiding Houses of Worship
Students explore architecture as a reflection both of culture and history as well as practical/functional considerations. They discuss examples of local architecture they find beautiful or interesting, and their criteria for making such...
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Held Hostage
Students follow news coverage of the India Airlines hijacking as presented by international newspapers and magazines in countries directly affected by this event.
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Gender Bias in Language
Twelfth graders study the issues between male and females. In this current events lesson, 12th graders read an article and answer questions. Students watch a video and write an essay.
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Mixed Plate
Students locate a sample restaurant review in a newspaper or magazine. They examine the review to find the opinion of the reviewer and discuss reviews that convey mixed opinions. They compose an original review in a similar style to...
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No Publicity, Bad Publicity?
Students examine the factors that can influence a celebrity's media image and marketplace viability. They read an article, answer discussion questions, role-play advisors to a studio head, and write a letter to a studio head.
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Medium Studies
Learners consider the evolution of newspapers. In this current events instructional activity, students investigate changes in newspaper production as they visit selected websites to educate themselves about the topic. Learners...
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Who Ever Heard of the Big Bang?
Students examine the theories that attempt to explain the origins of the Universe. Some theories are based on scientific facts. Others find their source in folklore. The variety of beliefs systems are discussed as a motivating factor for...
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On the Edge and Under the Gun
Students brainstorm ideas related to gun control and share with the class. in this gun control lesson, students research teacher approved websites related to gun control. Students write a paper in groups on a self selected topic related...
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Paradigm Shift: Gandhian Nonviolence and the Concept of Power
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this social justice instructional activity, students examine sources regarding the teachings of Mohandas Gandhi pertaining to...
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Current Event Jeopardy
Learners read current event magazines and newspapers, and highlight questions and answers that are to be used for a class Jeopardy Game. They participate in class Jeopardy Game.
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A Splendid Summarization
Students review three steps to follow to correctly summarize a written passage. Through modeling, guided and independent practice, they distinguish between unimportant and important information and summarize an article using these steps.
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Civil Disobedience Action Plan
High schoolers investigate incidences of civil disobedience. In this civil disobedience lesson, students watch a video and read a newspaper article on civil disobedience. Then, in groups, they search a current newspaper for examples of...
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Using Information Resources: Lesson 5
Eighth graders follow along with a teacher lead lesson to find information by skimming and scanning a resource booklet. They examine different types of resources that are available in a library. They practice skimming skills and complete...
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I, Spy
Fifth graders utilize the library in order to find the answers to three questions about The Revolutionary War. For this writing and library skills lesson, 5th graders pretend they are a Spy, and write the answers in a fictional letter to...
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The Land and the Water
Third graders read "The Land and the Water," a fictional short story and an article about John F. Kennedy, Jr. and compare and contrast fictional tragedy to a non-fiction tragedy. They fill out a Venn diagram and write an essay using...
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Why Size Matters
Students examine the concept of body image. For this current events lesson, students research selected websites for information about fashion models, plastic surgery, and advertising. Students share and discuss their findings.
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Protest Art in Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Young scholars study the social class conflicts that existed during the Russian Revolution by reading the short stories of Anton Chekov and Leo Tolstoy. They analyze the stories to find criticisms of pre-Revolutionary Russia before...
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Texas Native Plants
Students "adopt" a plant for use during this lesson. They take digital photographs of the plant over time, and measure and record the growth of the plant. Students write an article describing the plant and its needs for optimum growth....
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Small Wonders
Learners investigate some of the 'mysteries' of the animal, marine and insect worlds, and create student books explaining their findings to younger students.