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Don't Touch That Dial!
Students explore the affects, both positive and negative, that television has had on society in the past half-century. They read the article "Inside the Soap Opera of Television's Early Days."
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Able Am I
Students read the article "Disabled Skier Designs His Way to Be a Daredevil." They discuss using the questions on the lesson plan. Students create large sized baseball cards featuring competitive, disabled athletes.
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Hurricane Katrina: You Be the Reporter
Students work in a small group to create news stories, feature stories and editorials/letters to the editor and organize them in a podcast, video-based program, or newspaper/magazine focused on Hurricane Katrina.
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Teen Scene
Students examine what teenagers value most, and discuss the trend of decadent sixteenth birthday parties. They read an article, analyze forms of teen-focused media, and create a visual presentation on their media analysis.
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Master in Training
Young scholars identify and examine their own areas of expertise. After reading an article, they discuss the evolution of three opera high school students. They create a timeline collage showing their mastery of their field of interest...
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Who Knows?
Students come up with questions that they may ask an expert in a particular field. They contact those experts and ask their questions.
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Ratios, Proportions and Percents
Fifth graders complete 3 activities centered around percents. In this ratios, proportions and percents lesson, 5th graders create designs on grid paper that illustrate a variety of percents, solve percent problems mentally, and use...
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The Science of Addition
Learners examine the science of drug addition. For this health related lesson, students take a pre-assessment about drug addiction, then read and discuss an article about how some drugs affect the brain to cause addition. They will...
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Slanted Sentences
Students examine biased words in news articles, suggest synonyms, then rewrite the sentences to demonstrate how word choice can alter meaning.
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The New Fant-"Asia": Contrasting Animated and Live-Action Filmmaking
Students consider different stories and story-telling techniques of animated and live-action filmmaking, write proposals for animated films, and storyboard individual scenes.
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The Maccabees and Their Place in Jewish History
Students assume the role of a journalist employed by time Warner to examine data about the long-lost cave contining the tombs of Maccabees. A two page spread is created for the weekend edition of the magazine.
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Exchange Students
Students discuss as a class the items they value and why. They read an article about the popularity of cellphones in Iraq. In groups, they work together to create a guide to their culture to share with others visiting their classroom....
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Oceans and Coasts
Students explore the topic of marine pollution. They define key vocabulary words, list examples of marine pollution, complete a true/false handout, read an article, and participate in a class discussion.
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The Life You Save...
High schoolers identify common warning signs of depression that, if not addressed, could lead to suicidal behavior. They write skits and create booklets in which they document appropriate suicide prevention techniques.
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Monkey See, Monkey Do
Students consider the influence of bullies and map the social ecosystem of their schools. They create lifelines that compare baboon and human development and write an essay that considers the relationship between psychosocial development...
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Trains, Telegraphs, and Steamships: War’s New Weapons
Students examine the technological weapons of the Civil War. For this Civil War lesson, students research the use of trains, telegraphs, and steamships in the war. Students write newspaper articles pertaining to the new weaponry.
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Our Robots, Ourselves
Students imagine how they might use a robot in their daily lives, explore advancements in artificial intelligence, investigate robotic technology under development, and prepare posters that show how robotic technology might be...
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The Ancient Maya
Students explore the culture of the Mayans through a variety of activities. For this lesson about Maya, students analyze pictures in books and on websites, produce scale models of Maya architecture, and create Maya mosaics. Students...
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Designing the Experiment and Answering the Question
Students investigate scientific methods by analyzing an article from the Natural Inquirer. In this data analysis lesson, students read an article from the magazine and discuss at least 2 scientific methods that could be used to...
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Descriptive Verbs
Students read a piece of literature and locate the descriptive verbs in the piece. For this descriptive verbs lesson, students understand the value of using descriptive verbs. Students rewrite a story they've written with more...
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Armchair Travelers
Students consider how other countries and cultures influence furniture and home furnishings. They create a design plan for a particular room using the influences of a particular country.
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Rivers
Students examine how rivers are used in our modern world. They create and analyze a large class mural of a river illustrating the ways rivers are used by people and wildlife, and write an essay on how rivers should be used and why.
National First Ladies' Library
Safety or Civil Liberty? The Trial of Sacco and Vanzet
Students investigate the Sacco-Vanzetti trial and develop a basic understanding of the issues involved. Then they write an essay taking a stance on the Sacco-Vanzetti trial: was the trial fair? were the two men falsely accused? Finally,...
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We Are the Guardians of the Earth
Students understand their responsibility to the world. In this religion, philanthropy lesson, students research the life of Aaron Feuerstein and his views of the responsibility of a person to his world. Students complete several worksheets.