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Critical Pedagogy
Students read Ruthanne Lum McCunn's Thousand Pieces of Gold and as a class, discuss the Chinese practice of foot binding. They work in groups to read further about how women of different cultures attempt to conform. They write about...
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Rather Cut a Little
Students create podcasts of Measure for Measure. In this Measure for Measure lesson, students decide which lines are the most important and edit scenes to create a shorter version of the play that includes the important...
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We the People
Learners examine both the Preamble of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They work in small groups to connect the two documents and analyze how the documents are important to their lives today. They create a poster that visually...
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Making Inferences
Students discover how making inferences helps people solve problems. In this inference lesson plan, students read a story aloud and discuss problems as they occur in the story. Students work in small groups and use events in the text to...
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Break It Down!
Students practice the strategy of summarization in order to comprehend a text. They drill on how to delete unimportant information, repeated information and substitute easy terms for lists of items. Each student receives a copy of "The...
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Note-Taking to Summary Writing
In this note-taking instructional activity, students review an example of notes for a paragraph and then the summary for those notes. Students then read a new passage, take notes over the passage, and then write a summary for the passage.
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Sensational Summarizers
Students study strategies that aid comprehension. They focus on the main ideas of a passage and eliminate unnecessary and repetitive information. They substitute super ordinate terms for a list of items and create a topic sentence.
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Slavery: Acts of Resistance
Historical accounts of various events have proven to differ depending on the point of view of the person documenting the event. Learners read and analyze two first person accounts of acts of slave resistance seen at a southern...
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What's Special About Nonfiction?
Students examine the difference between nonfiction and fictional writing. They identify the characteristics of nonfiction literature and examine how a nonfiction textbook organizes information.
Curriculum Corner
ELA Common Core Checklists for K-6
In the hustle and bustle of life in the classroom, it's easy for teachers to lose track of the standards they have taught, and those that still need to be addressed. This Common Core checklist provides educators with an easy-to-use...
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Ecuadorian Rainforest
Have your class talk about the importance of the rainforest and the products that come from it. Learners watch a video showing the path of chocolate from the rainforest to the supermarket. They discuss how the rainforest and...
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Finding Promise in Compromise
Examine how the 'safe passage' for Palestinians between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank affects those living in Israel and reflects both conflict and cooperation between the Israelis and Palestinians. The class compares the perspective...
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Anne Frank: One of Hundreds of Thousands
Students conduct research to put Anne Frank's diary into historical context. They use maps, timelines, essays and websites to examine the early victories of the German army, paying special attention to the Netherlands and experiences of...
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Drawing Lewis Structures
In this drawing Lewis structures worksheet, students read about the 5 steps taken to draw Lewis structures for atoms and molecules. These include identifying the valence electrons, placing pairs of electrons between atoms to be bonded,...
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World War I
Using maps, diagrams, and lists, this resource is a wonderful way to review the main concepts involving WWI. There are charts with a comparison of imperialism and nationalism, and other key ideas that explain how Europe plunged into this...
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The Summer of the Swans
The Summer of the Swans, by Betsy Byars, is a 160-page chapter book about a family going through a difficult time. Complement your reading of Byars' book with this detailed outline of each chapter. Every section includes comprehension...
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Understanding the Declaration of Independence
Students identify and interpret the Declaration of Independence and the rights and privileges demanded in the document. They also identify how those rights and privileges have affected our history. Students then research about the...
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Chunks, Chunks, And More Chunks!
Students summarize a selected piece of text nonfiction text. After reviewing the process for summarizing, students read a nonfiction article, highlighting important information as they read. They write a summary paragraph using the five...
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Author's Purpose
Fifth graders determine the meaning of author's purpose. In this author's purpose lesson, 5th graders apply the PIE (persuade, inform, entertain) strategy to determine why an author wrote a piece of writing. They examine passages and...
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What is The Main Idea
Students will investigate why comprehension is a major goal of reading. To comprehend the meaning of text, students must know certain strategies in order to be successful. Form a topic sentence that captures the meaning of a paragraph...
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Take Note!
Young scholars take notes on information they find on the Internet or from other sources. They determine how to avoid plagiarism when gathering information needed. They discuss basic issues and consequences relating to responsible use...
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Combinations and Permutations
Fifth graders investigate the concepts of combinations and permutations using probability. They practice calculations using probability to measure the outcomes. Students demonstrate how to organize and categorize the data.
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day instructional...
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Reap What You Sow with Writing
Students practice using graphic organizers to summarize The Little Red Hen and the Grain of Wheat.