School Improvement in Maryland
Evaluating Political Advertisements
How do interest groups try to influence elections? As part of their study of the election process, groups view 30-second advertisements produced by advocacy groups and use the provided worksheet to evaluate these ads. They then craft...
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Color Poems
Students describe colors. In this descriptive writing lesson, students brainstorm color descriptions using all of the senses except sight. Students write poems including similes, sensory images, and interesting word choice. Examples are...
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Biographical Time lines
Students create a time line. In this biography lesson, students define biography and autobiography and then read short examples of each. Students create a time line using a read aloud.
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Key Pals
Second graders analyze the proper form of friendly letters and write emails to a key pal. In this friendly letters and email lesson, 2nd graders discuss sending friendly letters and view examples of the letter format. Students then...
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Message in a Bottle
Sixth graders write a short story about being stranded on a deserted island. After a brief geography review of locations at various latitudes and longitudes, 6th graders draft their story about being stranded. They use sensory and...
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Goal Setting -- Mission Statements
Students read examples of mission statements related to goal setting. Individually, they research accomplishments of their hero and how they overcame fear. To end the lesson, they write their own mission statement on how they plan to...
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Christmas Poetry
Middle schoolers explore writing using literary terms. In this Christmas poetry lesson plan, students write a poem about a Christmas tree or a snowman using at least one example of each: metaphor, simile, and personification.
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Writing Away For Information
Students review the format used to write a friendly letter which they will use to write an e-mail. They use questioning techniques as they write a letter of inquiry using a number of drafts. Using a word processing program they develop...
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Retro Sports Card Self Portrait
Pupils create a "Sports Card Self-Portrait" using the student as model and the sport of their choice as the subject. They use the examples of early baseball cards from the Library of Congress online exhibition "Baseball Cards 1887 to 1914".
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ABC Book
Students create a class alphabet book. They correctly illustrate a letter with a picture using the corresponding sound. Students also read and discuss various alphabet books and decide on what theme their book will have, for example,...
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War With Iraq
Pupils research a variety of magazine articles on the issue of Iraq and conflict resolution. Students chart the costs and benefits of the military action. Pupils prepare a rough layout and draft some content findings on the happenings in...
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Revisiting Writing through Revision
Strategies to teach and motivate your students to revise their writing.
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Map Your School
Learners participate in a project to map their school. They measure and graph various areas around the school. Students find the longitude and latitude of the school and research the school's history, and highlight special important areas.
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Writing a Personal Letter Using the Short Story "Eleven"
Challenge your class to connect to the text of "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros with this activity, which prompts them to write a personal letter from the main character's point of view. The story, prompt, and letter template are all included...
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Creating Children's Books
Students collaborate to create a children's book. For this visual arts lesson, student study the components and procedures that go into making a children's book including the shape, size. layout, biographical information about the...
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Mexican Metal Tooling
Metal work can be a wonderful way to expose learners to Mexican folk art. This resource provides all the necessary steps for creating Mexican metal tooling with your art class. Images, web links, recommended books and products make...
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Writing Formal Letters
Help your young writers recognize the importance of composing formal letters. Middle schoolers read letters written by Thomas Jefferson and analyze the components that make it a formal letter. They will then compose their own letters.
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Newbery Award Winners
Sixth graders select a book from the Newbery list and read it. They write a short summary of the book without giving away the ending and then research the book's author. They write a book review and, finally, incorporate all of this onto...
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Young People and Television
Students explore communication by participating in a role playing lesson plan. In this media analysis lesson plan, students answer surveys about their own television watching habits and compare them to the rest of the class. Students...
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Making A Story Map
Sixth graders learn to plan a story by using a story map. They analyze a detailed sample story map and answer 5 questions about it. Then, plan their own story using a story map template.
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Geometry Project
Proofs are usually an intimidating assignment. An engaging lesson focused on geometric proofs may reduce the anxiety! Pupils choose between several triangle proofs to complete and work on completing them. The assignment also gives a...
Teaching Tolerance
Act Up! Drama for Justice
A lesson turns young historians into playwrights to understand and speak out against social injustice. Pupils work individually or in groups to write and perform monologues that deliver personal messages on social justice. Writers then...
Teaching Tolerance
Buddy Share
Here's a project that gives academics the chance to share their opinions on social justice with storytelling, creative writing, or art. Scholars choose what they want to create and are assigned buddies to support their efforts. To...
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Who's Confused? Not Me!
The class works together to tackle easily confused words. Each learner receives a word and he or she must create a flashcard with the following things: the word, its definition, an original sentence that uses the word, and a picture...