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Wizards and Resumes
Students research the work of J.K. Rowling and use it to make her resume. They view websites to get a clear idea of what resumes should look like and create their own career portfolio.
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Investigating the Harlem Renaissance
The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...
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Encounter with a Skull (Tae dokuro, 1890)
Students read and analyze a short story by Koda Rohan. They conduct research, read and discuss a biography of the author, identify examples of Japanese and Buddhist symbolism in the story, and write an original story.
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Famous Americans Book Project
Students use digital cameras to record their second grade buddies performance of reading their famous American biographies. They retrieve digital pictures and insert them into the biography of their famous American. They print the...
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Students as Editors
Students read poems from a variety of authors. They write biographies of each poet and create a book full of the biographies and poems. They share their creation with the class.
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The Autobiography of a Middle School
Learners use digital cameras to document school experiences. Afterwards, they use computer software to manipulate their photos and write poetry, essays or biographies to compliment the pictures. Finally, students create an...
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Boarding Schools And Native American Culture
Students engage in a lesson that focuses on the influence of American values placed upon the Indians. Students use primary and secondary documents in order to explore the indoctrination. They create a project that reflects adequate...
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For the Fun of It
Middle schoolers investigate author's purpose in autobiography by reading Amelia Earhart's autobiography entitled The Fun of It. Students examine character traits needed to fulfill personal goals.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams
Students study the biography and work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. They learn how the author used autobiographical elements in writing his stories and they try a hand at writing a Fitzgerald-style story with autobiographical elements of their...
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Colors of Gray
Students view a film about theatres in Chicago. They discover how performing arts can be enjoyed by all ages and how one becomes involved in performing in theatre. They answer questions and discuss to end the lesson.
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"
Students explore nature by reading stories in class. In this animal characteristics lesson, students read the story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," by Rudyard Kipling and identify the different animals mentioned in the book. Students review the...
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"Spelldown" by Becky Mushko
Learners read Spelldown, by Becky Mushko and consider how it portrays the Appalachian community. They define and discuss vocabulary presented in the story and write a comparison/contrast paper analyzing two of the story's characters. The...
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Making Choices
Students explore the life of Harriet Tubman. They examine a painting of Harriet Tubman and consider the tools used to communicate information about her. Sudents describe how the color of a painting explains the mood of the illustrator....
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Happy Birthday Hans: How To Celebrate International Children's Book Day
Honor Hans Christian Andersen while encouraging young readers with enjoyable projects and activities.
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Stephen Crane: The Open Boat
Students explore the genre of American literary naturalism by reading,"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane. They examine the relationship of man and nature through analysis of the characters, narration and descriptive vocabulary.
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Tennessee Williams: Exploring the American Dream
Young scholars read and analyze selections of Tennessee Williams' work. They write journal responses, conduct Internet research, perform various scenes from one of Williams' dramas, and create a presentation.
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Jorge Luis Borges and His Life
Students use the internet to research the life of Jorge Luis Borges. Individually, they complete a worksheet noting the important facts from his life and the books he published. They identify words they do not know the meaning and...
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Creative Content through Comics
Students identify the different parts of a comic strip and creat their own about the French and Indian War period. They share their comics with the class. They can compile them into a newspaper format if they choose.
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Cooperative Learning Groups
Students become experts on various topics, researching their topics and creating presentations to teach to the rest of the class. They are grouped into expert groups, or discovery groups, then compare/contrast the information presented.
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Bronte and Rhys' Portrayal of Bertha
Young scholars, while reading and discussing the two texts by Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys, compare/contrast the two main characters and juxtapose them as the same character told from two different points of view. They gain insight of...
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A Summer Reading List for Math Teachers
Teachers can read through these math-related books for pure enjoyment.
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Straight to the Source
Research famous figures from history through the primary sources they created! Explore how these types of documents can enrich our study of the past with your middle and high school learners. They create picture books to illustrate...
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Exploring Animals in Literature
Celebrate Be Kind to Animals Week while teaching empathy and allegory with creature-related texts
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Who would you love to see at your table? Groups research a decade, ranging from the 1840s to the 1960s, read a short story associated with that decade, and plan a dinner party, complete with table set-up and menu. After researching...