Media Literacy
Once Upon a Time
Robert Munsch's The Paperbag Princess and Jon Scieszkafrom's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs launch a discussion of the role of stereotypes in stories and movies.
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Community and Colonization
Eighth graders explore the nature of the European colonization in the Americas. They compare how it relates to the inception of their community. Students identify the major players in America's colonization and explore the motivations...
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Accentuate the Positive
Students analyze the attitudes, ideas and beliefs of characteristics that
assist humans in living a positive, proactive life that values self,
family, community, nation and world. Students identify their own strengths as individual....
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Ponyboy, What's a Theme?
Third graders seek supporting proof of major conflicts and themes in the novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan which has them identify the conflict in each chapter of the book.
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Ideal Weight, Cultural Stereotypes, and Eating Disorders
Students explore the societal stigma that accompanies people who are overweight. In addition, students research current medical thinking on "ideal weight" and identify how the perception of body image can lead to eating disorders.
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Integrating Anime and Manga into an Art of Motion Picture Course
Students examine the art of Anime and note its characteristics. Using scenes, they identify the plots, characters and themes trying to be portrayed. In groups, they compare and contrast the animation in America to that of Anime and...
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Anne Frank: Pictures - First Impressions
Fourth graders identify personal biases and formulate a plan to 'make a difference. They, hopefully, increase their sensitivity to diversity. Groups of students view photographs of different people, and share their first impressions.
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Laurence of Arabia
High schoolers critically examine the life and contributions of Lawrence of Arabia to the modern Middle East. They view a video on Laurence of Arabia. Students discuss the movie. High schoolers create a propaganda posters or stories...
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Space
First graders examine space in this unit of lessons. They create a KWL chart and write in their journals about space. They also examine the phases of the moon and identify the constellations.
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Where are your borders?
Young scholars explore the meaning of borders, both real and symbolic. After viewing film footage and visiting poetry websites, they develop their own point of view. To express their perspective, they are to write a journalism poem, or...
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Introduction to Primary and Secondary Sources
Fourth graders are introduced to primary and secondary sources. Using examples of each type of source, they work together to identify which are primary and which are secondary sources. They end the lesson by reviewing the...
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Art and the Golden Ration
Students manipulate several metric measuring devices to become competent in their use. Students work cooperatively to complete a worksheet based on the Golden Ration. Students observe example of sculptures from different cultures and...
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A Movie in Your Mind: Persuasive Text
Students listen to a broadcast of War of the Worlds and illustrate what they hear. In this persuasive text lesson students prepare for making a movie poster intended to persuade a director to make a film based on a short story.
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Ancestors in the Americas: Lesson One
Students are introduced to the characteristics of documentaries and making films. Individually, they write their own proposal for an idea of a documentary making sure to identify the point of view of which it is going to be filmed. ...
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The 35mm Camera Lesson
Ninth graders explore the 35mm camera. They discuss and identify the various parts and characteristics of the 35 mm camera. Students examine the two aspects of a 35 mm camera that control the light.
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Cloud Observation and Graphing
Students identify the three major cloud groups. They are introduced to the three main cloud types and spend a week making and recording observations of clouds. Students produce a graph that presents their findings and conduct research...
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Culmination of Mighty Waters
Third graders investigate the concept of bodies of water. The information is obtained from the internet while conducting research. Then students draw upon prior knowledge from a film to combine information for the purpose of creating a...
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Is It Living?
Students investigate the definition of life and alive in the context of a unit that is involved with building their own planet. They participate in a class discussion about defining life, and in small groups analyze artifacts to...
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The Cassini Robot
Students compare the functions of a robot to that of the human body. In this technology lesson plan, students identify the important components of the Cassini robot that would enable it to carry out space missions. They design and build...
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Alka-Seltzer Cannons
Fourth graders observe what is happening when an Alka-Seltzer tablet is placed in a clear cup of water. They observe the release of carbon dioxide gas. Pupils answer the question of how much as is released by observing the experiment...
University of Southern California
Coming to America After the War
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War II. To...
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Animals of the Arctic
Sixth graders research an Arctic animal. They survey the questions in the Animal Report in order to conduct their research. They investigate their chosen animal by using the Internet, library books and reference books.
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Fly Forensics
Freddy's Friendly Fruit Market is under attack by fruit flies, and it is up to your aspiring biologists to solve the crime! By reading and analyzing the phenotypes, detectives determine which fly is responsible. This memorable assignment...
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 6: Congruence, Construction, and Proof
Trace the links between a variety of math concepts in this far-reaching unit. Ideas that seem very different on the outset (like the distance formula and rigid transformations) come together in very natural and logical ways. This unit...