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Animals at the Zoo
Students identify a variety of animals that can be found at the zoo and select one to conduct research on. In pairs they conduct Internet research, complete a graphic organizer chart, and create a two slide PowerPoint presentation.
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Teaching Imagery with Gary Paulsen
Learners read excerpts from memoirs written by Gary Paulsen as examples of how to write a narrative piece. They identify figurative language used and then they write a memoir of their own that contains imagery and figurative language.
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Descriptive Writing
Second graders analyze descriptive writing. In this writing lesson, 2nd graders read a story with a villain, describe the villain in words, and create a Wanted Poster describing him on paper.
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Story Elements
Sixth graders use several pieces of literature to identify specific story elements. In this story elements lesson, 6th graders analyze the story element of character, character traits, and setting for the example stories. Students work...
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Write a Myth
Learners explore myths in ancient times. In this mythology lesson, students read or view a video production of a myth to determine specific characteristics of myths. Learners work in groups to write a myth that explains an...
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The Underground Railroad
Fourth graders participate in a literature circle after reading a book about the Underground Railroad. They discuss their selected book with their literature circle group, and complete a handout about their role in the circle. Students...
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Russia and Eastern Europe
Learners study Russia and Eastern Europe. They select from a menu of option activities to demonstrate their knowledge of both countries including preparing meals, reading Russian works of literature, analyzing political cartoons and...
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Death in Poetry: A.E. Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young" and Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"
Students analyze poems about death. In this poetry analysis lesson, students read poems from both Dylan Thomas and A.E. Housman and analyze them in groups for common poetic devices. Students present their analysis and complete a Venn...
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Rain Forest Birds
Fifth graders look at the levels of the rain forest. In this rain forest lesson, 5th graders choose a rain forest animal and explain which of the four levels of the rain forest they think that animal lives in. They also complete a word...
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Zulu King, Zulu King
Learners listen to story Brown Bear, Brown Bear, brainstorm everything they know about Mardi Gras, create pages relating to Mardi Gras for class book, type information on computer, play slide show, and take turns reading their books.
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What Happens Next?
Fifth graders complete activities to help them sequence events in a story. In this sequencing lesson, 5th graders read a story and work in groups to retell the story by creating a flowchart of events to reconstruct. Students create their...
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U.S. History Timeline
Fifth graders complete a timeline activity in which they outline the events from explorations to the early Colonial era. In groups, they discover an overview of the events that lead up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. ...
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Legends and Fables
Fourth graders identify and discuss the differences between legends and fables. They define fable and legend, then as a class take turns reading our books. Students select two of the stories, and complete a Venn diagram, comparing one...
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Talking About Clouds
In this weather worksheet, students read a selection about the water cycle and cloud identification. Then the students fill in the missing words in 5 sentences and write the name of 5 cloud types while describing the clouds.
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Innovations That Stand the Test of Time
Students create a class presentation that explains the value of an innovation to society. In this design innovation lesson, students discuss relationships among math, science, technology, and engineering, read a story about design...
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Vocabulary Building Worksheet
In this vocabulary building worksheet, students matches the word with a definition, and uses definition clues to select the correct word.
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Introduction to the Holocaust: Appreciating Another Culture
Middle schoolers explore the concept of cultural diversity. In this cultural diversity instructional activity, students read Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen and discuss cultural traditions. Middle schoolers then research countries and...
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Borrowed Poem Performance: Practice for Slam
Students practice for a poetry slam. In this poetry lesson, students select borrowed poems to perform in a poetry slam in order to participate in their own poetry slam competition.
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Lyric Poetry Lesson
Students synthesize the "textbook" definition of lyric poetry and discuss various forms (love lyric, complaint lyric, loss lyric, satiric lyric). They discover the relationship of poetry to musical selections.
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A Caterpillar's Life
Students use different colors, surface textures, and shapes to create form and meaning to their caterpillar. They also come to recognize that living things have similar needs of water, food and air by teacher reading The Very Hungry...
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Focused Learning Lesson
Eleventh graders read and analyze primary source documents from World War II. They are to create a timeline of the important events by using the sources.
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Author Study
Young scholars work collaboratively to create PowerPoint presentations on an author of their choice. This lesson is written for a first and third grade joint project with students pairing up across grade levels.
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Measuring Up To Standards
Fourth graders use Unifix cubes to estimate standard measurements of length, weight, and capacity. After practicing, 4th graders complete an individual assessment by the teacher where they are asked questions about measurement and...
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Bunnicula
Students create a dictionary of vocabulary after reading a story. Individually, they create a story web making sure to include all of the basic story elements. They also create a timeline and write a book report of all important events.