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Nonfiction Lessons That Motivate
Incorporating nonfiction lessons into literature instruction can be interesting and engaging for all students.
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Teaching Selected Poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems
Students explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.
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Looking at Human Struggle Through The Language Arts Curriculum: The Faces of Slavery
Sixth graders examine the use of slavery in the United States. Using a map, they draw the route of the Tecora and Amistad voyages. Individually, they write an essay describing their opinions on whether the Africans on the ships should be...
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Charlotte's Web
Fourth graders focus on fluency by reading the book Charlotte's Web. In this reading strategies lesson, 4th graders partner read, do guided reading, and independent reading to increase fluency. Students use Venn Diagrams, discuss...
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"The Westing Game" Activities and Lesson Plans
You can use a novel, such as "The Westing Game", to teach reading concepts and skills in a way that keeps students interested.
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Creating Comic Strips
Students recognize the elements needed to create a comic strip. In this comic strip lesson, student understand that comic strips need words and pictures. Students find differences and similarities in comic strips. Students describe how...
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Trouble in the Fields: Mexican Migrant Workers
Students become curators and museum reviewers for an online gallery using a selected group of primary sources on Mexican migrant workers. They share and reflect on their own and each other's ideas though participation in an on-line...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Folklore in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
Learners define folklore, folk groups, tradition, and oral narrative. They identify traditional elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God Analyze and understand the role of traditional folkways and folk speech in the overall literary...
Facing History and Ourselves
What Does It Mean to Belong?
After reading and analyzing The 'In' Group by Eve Shalen, sixth graders consider how the categorization of people results in exclusion, discrimination, and injustice.
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Counting Crows
Students discuss the fable, The Crow and the Pitcher. In this literature instructional activity, students read the fable and create a crow sock puppet. Students use their puppets to dramatize the fable.
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Fitting Trash into Yesterday: A Fifth Grade Activity
Fifth graders explore the concept of waste management. In this recycling instructional activity, 5th graders discover the history of waste management and discuss how the U.S. should respond to the issue of ever-increasing waste.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Greek And Latin Root Words
Students examine Greek and Latin root words. They research the history of the English language, solve word games and puzzles, write paragraphs about the impact of Greek and Latin on the English language, and create flip chart study guides.
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Where the Red Fern Grows: A 4th Grade Literary Focus Unit
Fourth graders explore the human and animal connection along with the idea that death is a part of the life cycle. They read "Where the Red Fern Grows." Students examine the feelings and emotions surrounding death and they discover the...
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Essay on Themes
Pupils read the book THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London and discuss the different elements in the book. They then write an essay on a theme providing examples backing up their main point of their essay.
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Time Travel
Students investigate the concept of time travel and quantum physics. They complete a Webquest, read excerpts from the book, 'The Time Machine,' play an online time traveler game, and read and evaluate newspaper articles about time.
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The Titanic
Students use various sources to compare and contrast information about the Titanic. In groups, they create a list of questions and use the internet to find the answers. They write a report with the new information and use their peers to...
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The Verbal Sketch
Students use perspective observation sketches to understand verbal description. In this subjective writing lesson plan, students practice writing subjective conversations using the cartoon worksheets.
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Historical Background of Nightjohn Lesson Plan
Eighth graders use first-hand slave narratives that show conditions of slavery. They paste text into Appleworks and publish with a picture clipped from web sites. They create a group account of life during slavery to prepare for reading...
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Pigs Don't Wear Pants
Students engage in the writing process and differentiate between what is real versus fantasy. They identify the rhyming words and follow the steps of writing to complete the page for the class book. The prompt is checked looking for...
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Crazy Critters are Figuratively Fantastic
Eighth graders use creatures created from their imaginations to practice hyperbole, simile, metaphor, and alliteration in association with creative writing. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to guide their writing.
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Stain My Days Blue
Students read several poems related to the life and culture of the Appalachia region. They are introduced to the poetic forms of simile, alliteration and onomatopoeia and respond to the poems through journal entries and poetry of their own.
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Figurative Language - Part Two
Students need to use their papers from Part One of this lesson. They then write a paragraph for each term. This exercise help them to use these terms in their writing. Using figurative language makes writing more descriptive and alive.
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Pablo Neruda
Eighth graders explore the life and works of Pablo Neruda. They complete an author map concerning his personal and professional life. Students identify the key components of an ode. They write an ode to a common object around their...
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ESL Adverbs of Degree and Reason- Likes and Habits
In this ESL adverbs of degree and reason worksheet, students answer questions about books and films they like using the given format. They tell how much they like them by using comparisons. They describe the games and hobbies, and sort...