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Meet the Instruments of the Orchestra
Students examine the characteristics of the four families of instruments. They read an eBook, unscramble instruments and categorize them in the correct families, take a quiz, and explore the San Francisco Symphony website.
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Sunday School Inspiration Lessons
Many activities related to the Chrisitan religion are included in this lesson about storytelling; students create their own Bible related art from stickers, stamps, t-shirts and hats. Puppets also help to to retell Bible stories and...
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Kinetic Sculpture
Students discover the art of kinetic sculpture using found materials to create objects with human characteristics. Activities address inventive thinking, utilizing unusual materials and team building through the creation of robotic...
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Personal Narrative Paragraphs: Class Quilt
Begin this activity by asking third graders to bring from home pieces of cloth that represent something important to them. (Have extras for students who need them.) They reflect on important events in their lives, compose narrative...
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Back To School Ideas_Compiled
Help your class participate in hands-on activities to get them back into the swing of going to school everyday. This list is designed for all grade levels with unique ideas for each (note that many ideas are geared for elementary, but...
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Bud, Not Buddy: Anticipation Guide
Hoover flags? Hoover blankets? Hoovervilles? Drawing upon prior knowledge of the Great Depression class members respond to the prompts on an anticipation guide for Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis’s tale of Bud Caldwell’s quest to...
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Ordinary People: Guided Imagery
After reading chapter six of Ordinary People with your class, conduct this activity with your class. Turn the lights down, put on your softest voice, and have them try to imagine that they lost a close friend. Then, encourage them to...
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Connotation: "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke
What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...
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History Personified
In 1856 Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts over the head with a cane. This event, which highlighted the acrimonious debate over the expansion of slavery, is the focus of a paper...
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Brazilian Animals
Students research the animals of Brazil. In this animal science activity, students locate Brazil on a map and discuss the types of animals that can live in its tropical climate. They research a Brazilian Carnaval and see the roll the...
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Latin American Film
Students identify characteristics in a Latin American film. In this filmography instructional activity, students describe their favorite movies and the reasons why they like them. Students are shown a short clip of a Latin American movie...
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Literacy Lesson: Guided Reading
Here is a wonderful lesson designed for pupils with special needs. This well-thought-out lesson uses Big Books, familiar stories, and has a lot of review learning built into it. The book, The Keeping Quilt is used in the main part of the...
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How to Write an Essay: Secondary ed.
Whether introducing the structure of expository essays or reviewing the format with your high schoolers, take the time to check out this resource. Examples of seven common forms of introductory paragraphs and six types of conclusions, as...
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Camera Shots
Understanding how visual codes such as long-shots, close-ups, and camera angles affect meaning helps prepare young filmmakers to plan their own productions. The concepts embedded could also be used to analyze photographs and paintings.
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Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Create an online poster, or Glogster, with your class to promote Ray Bradbury's novel Dandelion Wine. This activity can be done at any time in the novel, although the directions suggest waiting until your readers near the end so...
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I Know an Old Lady
Young learners sing the song "I Know an Old Who Swallowed a Fly." They learn to track the words on a pocket chart and identify rhymes in the song as they are learning. Using illustrations, a flip chart, and the song, the teacher will...
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The Facts, Gimme the Facts!
Young scholars engage in a variety of activities which help them memorize their times tables. There are some very good ideas imbedded in this plan of how to systematically teach the basic facts in a way that help students retain what...
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Going Greek
Third graders learn about the life of a young boy in Greece and all about his cultural heritage. Pupils gather information about the history, culture, and the many influences the ancient Greeks had on modern day society. Terrific video...
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Allusions to Shakespeare in Popular Culture
Send your high schoolers on a scavenger hunt through popular culture (music, television, video games, movies) to find allusions to Shakespeare. They must each provide three to share with the class, and the one they present cannot have...
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Police Arrest MySpace Users
Students research the background of websites, MySpace and FaceBook. In groups, they interview local experts about Internet crimes. They investigate what their school's policy is and write a news feature how local schools are disciplining...
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Are You a Super Sign Speler or Speller?
Why is spelling important? Develop your class' spelling skills. They examine examples of homonyms, heteronyms, and creative spelling. They also photograph misspellings in the real world in order to discover the importance of spelling...
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
In this story structure lesson, students read the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and identify the characters, setting and main themes of the book. They answer a list of study questions about the book.
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Just Pass It
Pupils investigate a minimalist dance using two props, a chair and a pillow. They demonstrate transferring a prop from one person to the next in a task-like manner. Then they work as a group to transfer a prop with restrictive guidelines.
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What is Sound?
Second graders discuss sound and describe them. In this investigative lesson plan students observe sound through their eyes, bodies and ears.