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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Fourth graders participate in a play to work on seeing events from a different perspective. Some of them are reporters, some cameramen and women, and others are interviewed. They put themselves in the shoes of the people in the book...
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Dr. Seuss
Students read books by the same author and compare what they find. In this Dr. Seuss lesson plan, students learn about Dr. Seuss' writing style, listen for the rhyme scheme in his stories, and create a KWL chart on Dr. Seuss. Students...
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Getting Ready to Write
Students watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to choose a...
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Adventurous Magic
Students investigate storytelling by creating their own dialogue. In this writing development lesson, students read the story Jeremy Thatch, Dragon Hatcher in class and discuss their own magical object they wish to write a story about....
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The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins
Students explore the penguin life cycle. For this penguin life cycle lesson, students read the book The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins. Students look at the pictures and make predictions. Students identify facts about penguins and do...
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A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Students, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of ideas...
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Slave Narratives
Students examine the slave perspective and how it differs from stories we hear in text books. For this slave narrative lesson, students use primary source narratives to compare how slave life was expressed by the slaves to how slave life...
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Lake Tahoe Then and Now
Students investigate the differences in Lake Tahoe from the past to the present. In this geography instructional activity, students read the book Washoe Seasons of Life and identify the descriptions of the land and lake. Students create...
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Growing Gold
First graders explore a folktale from India. In this folktale lesson, 1st graders read the tale, Growing Gold and discuss facts about India. Students construct the national flag of India from construction paper. Students also participate...
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Pioneers Heading West
Learners research Pacific Northwest Pioneers in order to create a bio-web poster about the author in which they illustrate and write facts about the pioneer. Students then create a book page about their pioneer to add to a class book of...
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Using Story Structure to Enhance Comprehension
In these story structure worksheets, students review story structure and learn how to use story maps to help with their reading comprehension. Students review an example story map and then study three different graphic organizer versions...
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The Library Caper
Fifth graders use a graphic organizer to identify polices and procedures for borrowing library media center materials. They demonstrate the ability to locate, retrieve, and handle media and equipment. Students demonstrate an appreciation...
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Understanding the Layers of the Earth
Fourth graders explore the three layers of the Earth describing the composition, thickness, and temperature of each layer. Layers are compared and contrasted and data unearthed placed into graphic organizers.
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Parts of a Friendly Letter
The art of writing a letter has not been lost to email and texting! Teach kids how to format a friendly letter with a presentation about the parts of a letter, as well as prompting them to write a letter about their favorite holiday.
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The Living Environment
Ninth graders compare and contrast animals according to their four systems. In this living environment instructional activity students complete their assignment on the animal they were given and present their findings to the class.
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Nonprofit Environmental Groups
Young scholars examine the importance of nonprofit organizations when it comes to the environment. They discover how to evaluate different organizations. They research different organizations and present their findings to the class.
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Organizing Main Ideas and Supporting Details
Students read given information and identify the main ideas and specific detail of the story. In groups, they read a historical title and create a "book talk" for each one, summarizing the story. In addition, students create a...
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A Creative Presentation
Learners read chapter books by Gary Paulsen. In groups, they identify imagery presented in the book. Students locate 10 quotes, categorize each quote into one of the five senses, and then organize it and create a display of their three...
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What's the Point? A Lesson on Point of View
Fourth graders read the book, Good Dog by Alexandra Day. In this writing instructional activity, 4th graders re-write the story from a chosen character's point of view. This instructional activity can be used with many other wordless...
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What Is Kwanzaa?
Students use vocabulary related to Kwanzaa. They identify main ideas and details related to the celebration of Kwanzaa and summarize information about Kwanzaa. They make picture books appropriate for first and second graders.
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Exploring the Eras of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Movement
Eighth graders utilize many sources (books, computer, magazines, etc...) to research the eras of the Emancipation Proclamation and Civil Rights Movement and create a T-Chart comparison.
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Picture the Process!
Learners read "Chasing Vermeer," and then study the author's writing process. They make connections between the book and the author's real life experiences. They then write an original mystery story, following the writing process.
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Independent Reading Responses
Students participate in independent reading activities by reading a book at their independent reading level and selecting activities to complete after reading. Activities are broken up into C Level, B Level, and A Level activities.
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Cause and Effect with the Treasure of Green Lake
Students, after reading the book, "Holes," answer questions about the story's plot, make decisions about game play that involve cause and effect relationships and utilize problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination to navigate a...