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Folktale Unit Outline
Seventh graders analyze grammatical structures and identify literary elements in a variety of texts. Through the genre of folktales, ancient or indigenous cultures are studied.
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Voyage to the New World
Students examine the exploration of the New World. They write a descriptive account of the first encounter between Europeans and Native Americans, analyze and label maps, plot Columbus's journey on a map, and write a chapter summary.
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Grappling with Identity in Latino Poetry
Students identify some common themes involving the Latino immigrant experience as conveyed through a variety of media, explore issues of identity in some examples of poetry written by Latinos and learn some basic poetry reading strategies.
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Disease and Culture through Literary Time
Students select books to read that include disease as a plot or theme component. They fill out a matrix for the disease in their novel and write a five-paragraph paper about their book. Students use the rest of the week's classes to...
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Oregon Trail Maps
Fourth graders explore the Oregon Trail. For this Oregon Trail lesson, 4th graders collaborate to conduct Internet research regarding states along the Oregon trail route. Students present their findings to their peers.
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Discovery of America
Students examine the European conquest of North America. They participate in activities which allow them to discover the indigenous peoples of the region. They also place events in chrongological order.
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Egyptian Mummification
Students explore Egyptian mummification and burial practices. They conduct research on gods, goddesses, afterlife, and mummification. Students dissect and mummify a frog "pharaoh and create a tomb wall for their frog "pharaoh."
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Getting Down and Dirty: An Exploration of the 1930's
Students complete an exploration of the 1930s. Using artwork and primary source documents, they compare, contrast and identify cause and effect relationships in the events of the decade. They discover how the events then affect people...
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Stories of Nepal
Students explore folktales and fairy tales from Nepal to help them understand the Nepalese culture, and to compare the stories to the ones the students may know. After reading the stories, students consider what rural life is like in...
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A Year in Arizona
Fourth graders create a calendar about their state. In this state calendar instructional activity, 4th graders select a state theme and create a calendar based on that theme. Students write paragraphs for each month related to the theme...
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A Kids Guide to...
Students look into their community's historical changes. In this community instructional activity, students see what draws people to their community and research important buildings or national historic sites. They look at local...
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VH1 And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip-Hop
Students examine the origin and elements of Hip Hop music and the associated culture. They visit websites and listen to examples of the music.
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Hong Kong Symphony: Heaven, Earth, Mankind
Students complete a unit on the reunification of Hong Kong with China in 1997. They watch and discuss a documentary, write an essay about unification, conduct Internet research on three artists from the film, complete a data sheet, and...
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Biotechnology
Young scholars introduced to the genre of science fiction and the theme of biotechnology within that genre.
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How We Have Changed!
First graders practice using their writing skills. They create memory books through the use of daily journal writing questions of the day. Students respond to story prompts and write autobiographies of themselves and another classmate.
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The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush: Native American Life
Students read," The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" by Tomie dePaola and discuss the way legends are passed down orally. They then create their own legend and illustrate it on a simulated "Buffalo Skin" made from brown paper.
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Graphic Novel/Comics with Josh Elder
Students read about graphic novels and complete related activities. In this graphic novels lesson, students read about the genre and author Josh Elder. Students complete novel analysis activities for the lesson.
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Fiction vs. Nonfiction
Students explore fiction and nonfiction writing. They identify the elements of fiction in a short story and identify the criteria necessary in a nonfiction piece. Students distinguish the author's purpose in an expository text,...
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Tel-ing It Like It Is?
Pupils explore how television has changed over the last fifty years, focusing on how world events and societal trends affect (and are affected by) television.
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Someone Like Me
Students investigate what sort of person the author is. They listen as the teacher use her notes to introduce Tom Holt briefly. Students are asked if anyone has read any of his books. They work in pairs to find more about Tom Holt as a...
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Keeping Time
Students compose lyrics to songs for a music festival to promote issues in their community. They write artists' statements explaining the issues they chose to write about.
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Visual Arts: Portraits
Second graders examine a portrait of George Washington, and analyze the historical record and likeness in portraits of the period. They create their own portraits from snapshots brought to school.
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Research as a Historian, as an Artist
High schoolers work together to research one area of history that is of an interest to them. Using primary sources, they examine photographs and disuss what they already know about the topic. They present their images and information...
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Africa
Second graders explore Africa. They label the popular places in Africa on a map. Students label the different cities and monuments that are popular in Africa. They discuss the similarities and differences between cities in Africa and...