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History According to Shakespeare
Students read Shakespeare's, Julius Caesar while identifying a number of literary elements including simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole. As a response activity, they simulate a mock trial, and finally, compare and contrast...
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Ideas for Teaching Creative Poetry
Students read and write a variety of forms of poetry and create an original page for a class "I Spy" book. They read and discuss the form of poetry used in the "I Spy" books, and conduct Internet research on how the "I Spy" books are...
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Here Comes Winter!
Students investigate winter behaviors in animals. They describe winter and write about the characteristics of the season by drawing and labeling a winter picture. Students then conduct research on a chosen animal and create a chart. ...
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World Continents
Students identify the continents of the world. In groups, students create a three-dimensional clay representation of their assigned continent. Using KidPix software, they draw and color their continent. Students research their continent...
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Hello Sun, Goodnight Moon
Students become familiar with different times around the world through the reading of 9 O'clock Lullaby. In this Earth, sun, moon lesson, students recognize the movement of the Earth and the relationship to the sun and the...
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Bone's Adventures
Students read and discuss a chapter from the book "A Dog's Life," focusing on the point of view of the dog in the story. They explore dog rescue organization websites, and play the online game "Bone Travels On," creating a story map and...
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Picturing a Story
Students view slides from the movie "Hoot" and discuss characters, setting and the caption. They identify where in the rise and fall of the plot this scene takes place. They brainstorm elements needed to create a story from a picture....
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Getting Ready to Write
Students watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to choose a...
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Math Sleuths
Students work together to complete an online Math Hunt that challenges their problem-solving skills and provides opportunities to further social studies or science understanding. They present their answers to the class and the processes...
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Stump the Dump Maze Game
Young scholars complete reading Because of Winn-Dixie individually or as a class. As students reunite Opal and Winn-Dixie in this timed reading comprehension maze game, they demonstrate their understanding of the novel's plot, theme, and...
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A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Young scholars, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of...
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Write Your Own Screen Play
Students critique the transition of "Holes" from a novel to screenplay and consider how the details in a book are brought to life in a movie. They then choose a scene in a book and transform it into an original script after brainstorming...
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Explore Writing with Louis Sachar
Learners identify and interpret the author's writing process and how he came up with his idea for Holes. They experience a moderated chat with the author by participating or reading the transcript. Students also reflect on their own...
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Going to the Farm
Learners complete a variety of farm-related activities, culminating with a field trip to visit a local farm. They complete a class KWL chart, and write questions for an interview with a farmer. On the field trip students participate in a...
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Enriching Student Inquiry into Endangered Animals
Students read aloud novel Hoot, by Carl Hiassen, choose endangered animal, complete individual research projects related to their interest, prepare persuasive writing piece, and compare and contrast two endangered animals.
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Using Each Trait to Improve Student Writing
Young scholars study examples of each trait in literature. They discuss how each trait adds to the craft of writing and practice revision of a writing piece with a particular trait in focus. They rate their writing on the trait of Ideas...
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Front Page News
Students collect and analyze the front pages of various newspapers and perform research on the Titantic tragedy. They choose a name for their newspaper, a headline, gather photographs, and write a front page article. Using computer...
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Responding to A Sound of Thunder by Writing PowerPoint Presentations
Students, after reading "A Sound of Thunder," create a PowerPoint presentation about time travel. They study and utilize a graphic organizer to assist them in preparing to deliver an oral presentation next and finally they print their...
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Let's Take Care of Our Teeth!
Students identify types of teeth, tools for teeth, the people and behaviors associated with dental care. Then, they create a list of ways to take care of their teeth. Students also create a chart of dental care using key terms and...
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What is a Raptor?
Students explore, analyze and discover the characteristics of raptors and generate a word bank for owls and raptors. They identify attributes shared by raptors and practice various key vocabulary words to master and utilize in sentence...
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Reading the Play
Students read the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. In groups, they identify the instances of similes, metaphors and personification. They use the Internet to compare and contrast the events in the play with historical facts....
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Graphic Timeline
Students complete a written timeline organizer utilizing information from the "Who Am I?" reflection/response handout. They create a graphic time line illustrating important event in their lives in sequential order with the help of...
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Heroes and Legends
Young scholars use print and nonprint sources of different heroic myths to generate a definition of the word "hero." They conduct a character study on three mythological heroes and formulate a definition of the word "hero" based on...
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Create a Playbill!
Students examine the variety of elements for a written play and create a playbill. They read about and define literary elements on a worksheet, and participate in a dramatic reading. Each student then creates and publishes a playbill.