National First Ladies' Library
School Reform, Again!
Students discuss their perceptions and experiences with changes in schooling. They work in small groups to prepare a PowerPoint presentation to explain the efforts toward reforming schools since 1983. Students speculate on the next...
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The Harlem Renaissance: Awakening the Black Soul
Eleventh graders explore, examine and study about the impact of the Harlem Renaissance on the American culture. They assess and explain how the Harlem Renaissance was a "rebirth" for the African American culture through art, music, and...
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Ideas for Research and Discussion of Anne Frank's Diary
Students explore the life of Anne Frank. In this World War II lesson, students consider Frank's religious identity and national identity. Students also discuss children's rights as they consider Frank and other Jewish children who...
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"Words, words, words"
Students discuss words that represent the "big ideas" in Othello and that recur throughout the play. They will be assigned words to track throughout the text, recording which character says the word and in what context.
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Illuminations of the Middle Ages
Students investigate medieval music, art, and manuscripts. They research the materials and equipment used by illuminators, examine images of manuscripts, and illuminate their own initials in a medieval style.
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Dressing for the Season
Students discuss what types of clothing to wear for the different seasons. They dress a paper doll every morning based on the weather outside. They also discuss what is a typical day in each of the different seasons.
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Cinderella Stories: An African Tale
Students read and analyze an African version of the Cinderella story. They listen to John Steptoe's story, "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters," locate Africa on a map, compare and contrast the story with Cinderella, and identify fairytale and...
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Using Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom
Learners explore ways to use technology. They create pictures with Kid Pix software to describe something about themselves. They create pictures os something they did over the summer and write sentences to accompany their pictures. They...
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Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum
Students explore the American dream. In this contemporary music lesson, students analyze the lyrics of songs by Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, and David Massengill. Students create 3-D representations of the American dream and write...
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Cat Study Article
Young scholars write a letter to the editor of USA Today. In this letter writing lesson plan, students read a newspaper article about cats and consider a dog or cat's view on current events. Young scholars reflect this perspective in...
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Little Red Hen
First graders explore biology by identifying plant anatomy in class. In this botany lesson, 1st graders read the book The Little Red Hen and identify the methods used in order to grow successful plants. Students discuss other ways people...
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In The Quest For Sustainable Stuff
In this environment instructional activity, students read nine pages about recycling and focus upon how products can be produced to help save the environment.
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Cinderella Stories - Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
Students examine an African Cinderella story. In this Cinderella lesson plan, students listen to the story, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, in order to compare it to the original Cinderella story and to increase their understanding of...
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Matisse Cut and Paste
Fifth graders use cut and paste paper composition inspired by the work of Henri Matisse and his book called "Jazz." After composition is completed, 5th graders select 2 shapes to reproduce in minitaure for border.
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Forest Management Dilemmas
Young scholars discuss forest management dilemmas and make uninformed decisions as to whether they are appropriate management techniques. They draw bar graphs of the class opinion for each dilemma. They use media sources to become more...
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The Geography of Renaissance
Students use the internet to research the geography of the Renaissance. Using maps of Europe, they identify at least three key cities during the time period and discuss the main types of transportation. They research the various customs...
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Who is Harriet Tubman?
Second graders read A Picture of Harriet Tubman, by David A. Adler. In this Harriet Tubman lesson plan, 2nd graders explore the concept of slavery and discover how Harriet helped free slaves in the past. The book is read out loud. They...
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Columbian Folklore
Students learn about Columbian Folklore and make a mini documentary based on their own cultural background. In this culture lesson plan, students include Canadian cultural diversity in their presentation.
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Using Infinitives
Infinitives have multiple purposes. Introduce your Spanish class to the variety of ways to use infinitives other than simply conjugating them. Use the material and presentation included here to inspire and inform a lesson on infinitives....
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How's the Weather
"How's the Weather?" is an exercise that combines science and math as students graph the weather along the Iditarod Trail. They complete a double-line graph of the weather of a chosen checkpoint over the course of one week. Students...
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Becoming A Local Historian
Students practice the art of being a historian. They compare primary and secondary resources to conduct a critical thinking assignment. Students compare the map of the Baton Rouge area to a modern one in order to make inferences about...
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"Julie of the Wolves"
Fifth graders research life in Alaska and compare life there to their lives in this lesson. They read "Julie of the Wolves." They research through the novel and other reference books facts about the Alaskan climate and geography. They...
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Describing Graphs
For this graphs worksheet, students fill in the blanks to sentences to describe graphs. Students complete 19 sentences total on this worksheet.
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Religion: Great Schism Debate
Students examine the Great Schism in the Roman Catholic Church and research the positions of the three popes. The three groups research their popes' positions and then hold a debate. Students write position papers about the Great Schism.