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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 1: Memoir - Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

For Teachers 4th Standards
The memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, is the focus of a unit designed for fourth graders. Scholars begin each lesson with a warm-up, then listen to a read-aloud of a section of the book. Pupils complete word work,...
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Activity
Novelinks

The Color of Water: Family History Assignment

For Teachers 7th - 12th
To conclude their study of James McBride's The Color of Water, class members create their own memoir, focusing on a family member who help shape their life.
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Lesson Plan
The Big Read

The Grapes of Wrath - Discussion & Writing Activities

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Add a great resource to your collection of The Grapes of Wrath curriculum materials. A thorough packet contains loads of useful suggestions, whether you use the novel as an anchor text, as a reading circle...
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Unit Plan
New York City Department of Education

Theater Units for Lower and Upper Elementary Levels

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...
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Lesson Plan
Briscoe Center for American History

Mary Maverick and Texas History - Part 1

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
What's the difference between a diary and a memoir? Young historians explore the ramifications of this question as they learn how to use primary source materials to gain an understanding of life on the Texas frontier.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

“Twelve Years a Slave”: Analyzing Slave Narratives

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Readers of Solomon Northup's brutally frank slave narrative Twelve Years a Slave examine passages that support the argument that slavery "undermined and corrupted" the institution of marriage. Background information is...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Exploring Borderlands

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

The Search for Identity

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Discover how writers express identity in their writing. Learners explore how issues of identity surface in the literature of minority writers. Scholars watch a video, read and discuss biographies, conduct research, engage in creative...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Masculine Heroes

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What were the driving forces behind American expansion in the nineteenth century, and what were its effects? Scholars watch a video, read biographies, engage in discussion, write journals and poetry, draw, and create a multimedia...
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Unit Plan
Massachusetts Department of Education

Nostalgia

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Experiences: Carlotta Walls

For Teachers 8th Standards
What was life like in the American South following the Civil War? Scholars watch a video that discusses the aftermath of the Civil War and the events during the Reconstruction Period. Additionally, they continue reading Carlotta Walls...
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Lesson Plan
Novelinks

The Color of Water: Word Square Instructions

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Immaculate, accumulation, dissipation. Vocabulary drawn from chapter 16 of James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, can prove to be challenge for readers. To help kids understand the meaning of these words and what they add to the...
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Lesson Plan
Novelinks

Maus: Bingo Vacabulary Strategy

For Teachers 10th - 12th
The definitions for unfamiliar words drawn from Art Spiegelman graphic novel memoir, Maus, provide the clues for a vocabulary bingo game. 
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Lesson Plan
Briscoe Center for American History

Mary Maverick and Texas History - Part 2

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
To conclude their investigation of the life of Mary Maverick and to demonstrate their ability to analyze primary source documents, groups use the SOAPS questioning method to examine Maverick's account of events in early Texas history.

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