BrainPOP
Civil Rights Lesson Plan: Tracking History Through Timelines
Use the accompanying assessment to determine your class's prior knowledge on Martin Luther King, Jr. before beginning a lesson on the famous civil rights movement leader. The resource has young historians thinking about life for African...
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KWL Chart
Young scholars create a KWL chart on a selected nonfiction topic using a variety of strategies. They infer the answers to four questions, identify a purpose for reading, list four or more things about the topic, and list four or more...
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Friendly Patter Poetry
Pupils create a free from poem on the topic of friendship. They read examples of free form poetry to gather ideas. Through the use of a graphic organizer, students generate a list of friendship characteristics which is used to create a...
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Loose Tooth
Students read the book Loose Tooth by Magaret Yatsevitch Phinney. They discuss the activities that the character does on each day, connect the girl's experience with their own, and practice writing the days of the week with capital letters.
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Heirlooms
Students design a quilt square to reflect their special memory. In this family heirlooms lesson, students read The Patchwork Quilt and discuss the importance of family involvement in creating a family heirloom. Students write and publish...
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Legacies of the Middle Passage
Students research the Atlantic slave trade during the 18th century. In this slave trade lesson, students read a narrative about colonial expansion in the Americas and the rise of slavery in the United States. Students write down what...
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"The Big Cheese"
Eleventh graders research and examine the significant individuals of the 1920s and their impact on American society. They identify characteristics of people who make a difference, and in pairs conduct research on two people with...
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Introducing Powers and Models II: Multiplication Rummy
Students practice their multiplication table using a game to increase speed and accuracy. In this multiplication activity, students distribute 5 random number cards to each player (2-5 players) and they "play" if their hand includes 3...
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Using Pictures to Read the Past
Students use primary and secondary sources, using the Internet and other media.
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Harriet The Spy
Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...
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What's So Important?
Students work to develop comprehension strategies. They focus on the five 'w' questions for summarizing: who, what, when, where, and why? Through modeling and guided practice, they apply these questions to summarize several passages in...
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Summing It All Up in a Nutshell
Students observe and demonstrate a variety of summarization strategies. They discuss the process of asking the five W questions, and apply then to a passage from the book "Sarah Plain and Tall." Students then finish the chapter from...
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Spermatogenesis versus Oogenesis
High schoolers compare and contrast the processes of spermatogenesis and oogenesis. This lesson uses the KWL+ strategy to promote reading. The + used here is the Venn diagram.
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WHAT, IF ANYTHING, IS A ZEBRA?
Students read the essay, "What, If Anything, Is a Zebra?" following a teacher made reading guide. They investigate cladistics, shared derived characteristics, with further online research to enhance their study of evolution and...
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Peer Pressure
Students talk about how their peers can influence their behavior. In this peer pressure instructional activity, students complete a KWL chart on peer pressure, read a handout on peer pressure and break into groups to discuss the...
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Proofreading
Fourth graders explore the proofreading process. They practice proofreading for errors in sentence structure, usage, and mechanics. Students develop strategies for proofreading and differentiate between commonly confused words.
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Writer's Workshop: Mood Endings
Students listen to a story, "My Mama Had A Dancing Heart." They discuss the feeling they had after reading the story and define "mood." Students brainstorm a list of moods and discuss the mood of each character. Afterward, they write a...
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Watsons Go To Birmingham--1963Patricia Wachholz
Students research the 1960s to prepare for reading the book, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis. They watch a documentary, create a timeline, and listen to music from the 1960s.
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Enrichment Activities - "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH"
Fifth graders read the novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." They discuss the various characters in the book, and the different types of conflict that take place within the book. They also research owls and rats to make comparisons...
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Shaking Things Up In Summarization
Students practice several techniques and strategies to become better at summarizing a piece of writing. They emphasize the five "W's: who, what, where, when and why. A book of Earthquakes is read and then summarized by each of the students.
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Summarization
Students summarize a selected piece of text using the five Ws. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a selected piece of nonfiction text. They write a summary paragraph using a process outlined by the instructor.
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Wolves
Students utilize several different sources to research wolves, after completing the K-W-L process.
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That Was Then - Persuasive Essay
Student explain how geographic and cultural settings influence a person's identity. They compare and contrasting Esmeralda Santiago's Puerto Rican self with her American self by participating in a close reading of the text and writing a...
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There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Fourth graders examine the new vocabulary associated with the book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly before listening to a teacher read aloud of the book. They complete a choral reading of the story, sequence it, and write...