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Weapons in school: Protection or danger?
Students write an editorial (staff opinion) or commentary (writer's opinion) if they/he or she believe the school rules are either too strict or too lenient when addressing weapons possession. Students research past situations in their...
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Can You Get the Signal?
What is a signal word? Recognizing these words is an important step in both reading and writing formal text. Review a list of signal words (provided and organized into specific categories), and then have your class play a game to...
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How safe is your school bus?
Students research various aspects of school bus safety about what makes a bus safe or unsafe. They check the Internet (with sites below and others) and see what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has to say.
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Parole or Nor to Parole
Students create a visual presentation to show the steps in the parole process and define the terms involved in the parole process. Students also develop an argument for or against parole for Charles Jennings and present the findings to...
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That #!%@! English class
Students research the Alameda story. They interview English teachers, curriculum experts, parents, etc. to view their intake on the story line. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions on a...
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Mixing Metaphors with Politics
Students discuss different literary devices and use them to write summaries of New York Times articles dealing with international news. They reflect on the effectiveness and appropriateness of sports metaphors in the political arena.
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Youth Leading the Way
Students share opinions about groups or activities that give meaning to their lives. They read and discuss the article "Challenging Tradition, Young Jews Worship on Their Terms". Afterward, they investigate and write news articles about...
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Lessons to be Learned: The Importance of Attribution, Accuracy, and Honesty
Students investigate real world examples of media law issues. For this media law instructional activity, students read Janet Cooke’s feature and respond to the writing. Students read articles by Stephen Glass to highlight facts...
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No Publicity, Bad Publicity?
Students examine the factors that can influence a celebrity's media image and marketplace viability. They read an article, answer discussion questions, role-play advisors to a studio head, and write a letter to a studio head.
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From Whose Perspective?
Students critically analyze news coverage of Palestinian-Israeli violence by comparing information from a variety of news sources. They compose expository essays reflecting on how to obtain accurate, unbiased, and credible information.
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Ready, Set, Summarize
Students summarize nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read in order to summarize, students independently read a nonfiction article. They write a summary paragraph using the three step-process outlined by the instructor...
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Why Volunteer?
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. For this service learning lesson, students explore the spirit of volunteering as they locate news articles or advertisements regarding the topic. Students discuss whom benefits from volunteer...
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Outlining
Students read and evaluate a piece of expository writing. They participate in a class discussion of the outlining process and individually outline a piece of expository writing. Finally, the students create an outline for the purpose...
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The Social Sciences
Students search for examples of social science in and around their school. They create a Social Science scrapbook of the eight social sciences, that includes news articles and summaries that focus on each social science area.
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I'm Thankful I Can Summarize
Students summarize a selected piece od nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a nonfiction article concerning Thanksgiving. They write a summary paragraph using the five step process outlined by...
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Summing it all Up...In Your Own Words
Students observe and demonstrate the steps to identifying the main ideas of a text. They listen to the teacher read a paragraph and model the steps of summarizing the main idea. Students then independently read a different paragraph...
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Fly, Fly Away
Students use materials from their own environment to design a kite. In this kite design lesson, students research the history of kites and obtain a formal mathematical definition of a kite. Students sketch kite designs after discovering...
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Discovering and Converting the Battle of Homestead
Students study and explore the Homestead strike and locate where the events took place. In this investigative instructional activity students use several perspectives to write an objective newspaper article on the event.
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On the Edge and Under the Gun
Students brainstorm ideas related to gun control and share with the class. in this gun control activity, students research teacher approved websites related to gun control. Students write a paper in groups on a self selected topic...
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Freedom of Press or Bulletproof Vests?
Students explore the extent to which a person go for his ideals, focusing on one man's pursuit of free speech in Thailand. They, in groups, respond to five questions related to the article and based on the theme of free speech.
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The News Knows!
Sixth graders examine three national parks and focus on what makes them special. Working in small groups, 6th graders create a small newspaper in which each of them writes an article that expresses the concerns of their park.
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News real?
Students distinguish and evaluate information from various sources and determine whether the information found is fiction or facts. They also view television shows, radio stations and newspaper articles Internet sites are also visited by...
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iPod Reporters
Young scholars develop a topic for a class newspaper article and set up an interview with someone involved in the issue. They record the interview using an iPod with a voice recorder then use direct quotes for their article. As a whole...
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Full Court Press
Students investigate the Supreme Court's role and function in the federal government and examine how Chief Justice Rehnquist's illness might affect the future of the Court. They write letters to President Bush on the Supreme Court...