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Making Connections
Fourth graders investigate visual imagery to aid reading comprehension. In this reading strategies instructional activity, 4th graders discover how visual imagery helps in comprehending a story. Students use a reader's notebook to record...
Judicial Branch of California
A New Constitution….Your Turn!
It's the 1700s, and while returning home from the Constitutional Convention, pupils are propelled to 2777. The United States— emerging from a period of unrest and war—needs help developing a new constitution! Using the material from the...
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Making Inferences About a Llano River Rancheria
Seventh graders research the Indian groups that lived 1,000 years ago on the Llano River. They analyze paintings and photographs of tools and artifacts, develop inferences and conclusions about how the Indians lived, and present the...
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Reading And Responding: Lesson 15 Nonfiction
Eighth graders examine a nonfiction selection in a teacher led lesson. They examine the author's purpose for writing the selection and identify the difference between fact and opinion. The compare and contrast expository and narrative...
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The Civil War--Reading on the Internet
Students grasp how to read from text and retain it. They use reading comprehension strategies specific to the Internet. They search for answers to questions related to the Civil War.
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Erie Canal: Journey Back in Time
Fourth graders read the novel, The Eric Canal, identifying the characters and setting. They respond to daily reading by writing in journals and complete a short answer test upon completion of the novel.
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Tooling Around Arizona: Reading Arizona Maps
Students study geography. In this Arizona maps lesson, students develop their map reading skills. They have class discussions and work independently with various copies of Arizona maps to practice those skills. This lesson mentions...
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The Underground Railroad and the I & M Canal in Illinois
Young scholars, in groups, discuss the Underground Railroad, then fill out a worksheet.
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Stratigraphy -- Layers of Time in the Earth
Students are introduced to the process of stratification. Using the internet, they read about the Richard Beene archeological site near San Antonio. Using a map, they color code the different layers present at this site and answer...
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Immigration in the Connecticut River Valley
Students discuss and compare immigration during the 18th century to the Connecticut River Valley to that in America during the turn of the century.
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Living in the Oak Woodlands: Early People of the Jewett Mine Area
Students examine the archeology and native peoples of the Jewett Mine area of Texas. Using a map, they explain the economic patterns of the native groups and how the geography of the area affected activities. They compare and contrast...
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Microbial Contaminants in Drinking Water
When presented with three unopened bottles of water, students are asked to tell decide which one is contaminated with a microbe. Students work in small groups and role play being a Microbiologist, a patient, or a recorder. The patient is...
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Immigration in Massachusetts, 1880-1920
Students, in groups, research immigration in America at the turn of the century. They put together a series of original written essays, letters, newspaper columns, etc. that show what it was like to live as an American citizen and as an...
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The Importance of the Group in Japan
Twelfth graders discuss the importance of the group in Japan. In groups, they compare and contrast behaviors and attitudes of those in Japan and the United States. They are given a case to review and identify the rules by which the...
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Monitoring Comprehension Progress: Story Retells
Students retell a story by filling out a record sheet. In this retelling lesson plan, students fill out a record sheet that gives them prompts about the beginning, middle, and end of a story.
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Look Alikes
Third graders compare and contrast the physical features of parents and offspring. In this life science lesson, 3rd graders classify a set of animal pictures according to their similarities. They share and explain their work in class.
EngageNY
Gathering Evidence and Drafting a Two-Voice Poem (Chapter 13: "Los Duraznos/Peaches")
Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...
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Inspector Readers: The 002 Book Club
This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...
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Persuasive Elements
Investigate letters to the editor and their persuasive qualities. Break your class into reading groups and give each one a different article. As they read, they complete a graphic organizer to record their thoughts and opinions. There is...
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Indians of the Pacific Northwest
Young scholars organize acquired information and make inferences as to the kind of habitat and its probable location. They identify and replicate art forms characteristic of the Pacific Northwest coast involving the use of ovoids and "u...
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Day Ten Lesson- The Whale Rider
Readers respond to Chapters 17 and 18 of Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera. Working in literature groups, they identify the climactic elements in the chapters, discussing the text and making inferences based on their reading.
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Language Arts: Plot Summary
Eighth graders implement plot summary organizers to identify essential elements such as conflict and resolution in literature. In pairs, they retell fairy tales to each other and complete plot summaries about them. As students read new...
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Focus on Figurative Language
Using the poems "First Snow" by Ted Kooser and "Eating Alone" by Yi-Young Lee (or other suggested poems by Robert Frost or Sara Teasdale), middle schoolers search for examples of figurative language. Guide your learners by discussing...
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Creating Context Mural
students examine the historical, political, religious and culture aspects of the Renaissance. Using this information, they read "Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht. They use the internet to research a specific event of the time period and come...