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Reader Response
Fifth graders reflect upon different concepts of Language Arts while reading literature. In the novel Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, the characters discover a spring of eternal youth. After reading the first several chapters of...
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Career Planning and Research
What do you want to do when you finish school? Most high schoolers have an idea of what they'd want to do, but little idea of how to achieve this goal. After researching a career of their choosing, learners identify qualifications,...
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Up Close and Personal with Black Bayou Lake
Students get up close and personal with Black Bayou Lake. Visiting web sites and taking virtual tours, they write multi-paragraph essays using descriptive words and literary devices.
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Figurative Language - Part Two
Students need to use their papers from Part One of this lesson plan. 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...
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Literary Analysis of The Minister's Black Veil
After reading The Minister's Black Veil, by Nathaniel Hawthorne as a homework assignment your class will complete a literary analysis. Learners will analyze important element of the story and take notes to help support their...
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The Abstraction Ladder (Using Examples in Essays)
Students examine and discuss most appropriate format for giving examples in the American discourse style.
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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...
Do2Learn
Brainstorming Map Clusters
Get your class thinking with a graphic organizer made for brainstorming. Pupils note down a topic in the middle and then branch out to write down more ideas in each of the three circles that form the cluster around the topic.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Power
In this comparison writing worksheet, students read a short paragraph and questions about nuclear power. They write a comparison essay describing the advantages and disadvantages of the use of nuclear power.
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Writing to Photography/Photography to Writing
Students improve their' writing by incorporating photography into descriptive and narrative writing exercises. They write descriptions of various professional photographic collections. Later they use their own and other classmates'.
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Introductions and Conclusions
The format of the introduction and conclusion paragraphs in an expository essay are the focus of short presentation that details how to craft these all-important sections of a paper. No specific examples are included.
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Civil War General Comparison
Eighth graders compare Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. In this Civil War lesson, 8th graders research both generals and write a comparative essay. They include a paragraph about Lee, another about Grant, and one showing the...
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The 1920s and World War I
In this global studies worksheet, students read the noted pages in their textbooks and then respond to 8 short answer questions and write a thematic essay about the 1920's and World War I.
Achievement Strategies
ACT College Readiness Standards
Here is a template offering a comprehensive outline of ACT skill categories, what standards are expected to be mastered, and blank spaces for you to include how you plan to address those standards within your curriculum.
University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
University of Chicago
Comparing Modern and Ancient Ideas of Ethnicity and Identity
Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...
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Who Wrote That?
Scholars creatively respond to writing prompts. They respond to writing prompts that reveal clues regarding their personalities and then use the prompts written in class to guess the prompts that belong to their classmates.
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Collaborative Editing
With the use of an online editing site, budding authors revise their writing. This is a creative way to have your class practice essay revision. Instead of being a tedious process, editing and revising can be fun.
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Librarian, Legacy Keeper
Students brainstorm a list of all the kinds of items kept in a library. They answer questions about the job of a librarian then they write a three-paragraph essay about the work of a librarian.
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Comparative Essay – Scholarly Articles
In this comparative essay worksheet, students read and complete the narrative for the assignment that requires them to prepare predrafts of their comparative-scholarly articles.
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Context Clues, Plot Structure, Conflict, and Personal Narrative Essay
What are the elements of a personal narrative? Get your class talking by reading "The Necklace" and "A Dangerous Game." The lesson focuses primarily on defining certain vocabulary terms (like context clues, plot, conflict, climax, etc.)...
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How to Combine Sentences
Students practice combining sentences. In this writing lesson, students view essays and discuss how it can be revised, using sentence combining. Students practice this skill in their own essays.
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Character Traits and People in Black History
Third graders, after reading a one-page biographical essay, write in paragraph form how an African American has demonstrated a certain character trait.
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Create Your Island Paradise
Sixth graders create a descriptive essay and map describing their island paradise. They try to evoke the reader's senses: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting. They revise their paragraphs using their partner's feedback.