Smithsonian Institution
Giving Speeches: George Washington's First and Second Inaugural Addresses
Young scholars discuss the purpose of the President of the United States giving an inaugural address. They describe their impressions of any inaugural speaches they have heard or read. Students research events leading up to Washington's...
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Academy Awards for Books
Students are exposed to literature and create an Academy award for their piece of literature. They play an author or a character and present themselves, a category, and each of the nominees in that category to gain awareness of...
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The Ultimate Classroom: Presentations
Students create a classroom floor plan. In this ultimate classroom instructional activity, students create a floor plan to scale, determine a materials list with cost, and write a summary of their results. They create a PowerPoint...
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Understanding the Theoretical Basis for Civil Disobedience
Students analyze Henry David Thoreau's 'On the Duty of Civil Disobedience' and Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." For this civil disobedience lesson, students read Thoreau's essay and answer 6 questions for the...
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Interesting Beginnings: An Autobiographical Sketch
Students discuss the characteristics of an autobiography. Individually, they complete a graphic organizer and a timeline of events about their life. In groups, students brainstorm ideas for an interesting sentence and write an...
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More Choices
Fourth graders create onomatopoeia for a variety of things such as a mean dog, a crying baby or a doorbell ringing after exploring word choice as used by authors in selected books. They complete a Word Choice worksheet that is attached.
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Critic's Choice
Third graders read three to five genres and choose one as a favorite. They write an essay persuading the class to read the genre. This lesson serves as a nice introduction to different styles of literature.
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Children's Books
Students use their personal experiences to create students's books for younger students on topics to which they can relate. Students observe a guest speaker who talks about different formats of students's books that are available, then...
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Auto-Bio Poem
Students create an autobiographical poem. In this writing lesson, students write an eleven line autobiopoem after read the teacher's model. Students include their name, fears, and family in the poem.
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This Place is Just Like the Other
Students write paragraphs that compare and contrast the geographical characteristics of Arizona and the Southwest region. In this geographical characteristics lesson plan, students complete a diagram and discuss how Arizona differs from...
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Nursery Rhyme Mania
Students become familiar with many different nursery rhymes. They use nursery rhymes for a variety of creative activities including writing, singing, poetry and acting.
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Food Labels in the Classroom
Students read all information given on packaging; write down complete ingredients and grams of protein, carbohydrates and fat per serving. They compare the information with current health references and write a business letter to a food...
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Poems That Work!
Students are introduced to the elements of poetry. As a class, they practice the correct way to read a poem and determine the author's audience. They identify similies and metaphors and determine the rhyme and meter. To end the...
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The Use of Substitution As a Creative Thinking Tool
Young scholars practice using substitution as a creative way of thinking about writing and try to substitute song lyrics, food items, rhythm movements and more. For this substitution lesson plan, students create a new candy, and create...
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Moccasins are Made for Dancing
Students perform a traditional Native American dance. In this cultural dance lesson, students research two Native American dances. Students discuss the relationship between the dances and Native American culture. Students use their...
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Philadelphia Museum of Art
Students study paintings and use their knowledge of story elements to analyze the art. In this art analysis instructional activity, students review a novel for its elements. Students study the image At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance and...
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Media Literacy Unit - Part 4
Seventh graders study how advertisers use techniques to sell their products. In this persuasive media lesson, 7th graders analyze media messages to find the advertiser's purpose. They examine different advertising techniques and their...
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Qu'est-ce Que C'est? Foreign Phrases
Eighth graders develop their reading comprehension skills by reading foriegn phrases. They also use the foreign phrases to develop their writing skills.
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You Ain't Whistling Dixie
Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on the Civil War. They identify the factors that led to the Civil War, develop and perform a skit, research and write a report, or create a replica of art from Civil War period.
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Macbeth
Students discuss the changes the characters go through in Shakespeare's play Macbeth. They discuss the themes of the play write an essay comparing current events to the themes of the play.
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Tech It or Leave It
Students define "status symbol" and identify such items. They discuss the purpose of beta testing new technologies. They examine new ways that current technology is tested and publicized. They work in groups to develop proposals for...
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A Study of China with Lon Po Po, a Chinese Little Red-riding Hood
Sixth graders study and identify the elements of a story such as. setting, character, plot, and theme, using two versions of the folktale Little Red-Riding Hood. They use the Internet to locate more information on the author Ed Young.
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Outer Space
In this space worksheet, students write a sentence for each picture. The pictures show a space shuttle, an astronaut, and a planet.
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Convening, Creating, and Conventioneering
Students study coelenterates. In this science lesson, students author a story regarding the life cycle of coelenterates following an in depth study of the creatures.