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Storytelling in the Classroom
What makes story telling special? Young readers demonstrate how to tell a story to others. Kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders read biographies of "Building Blocks" characters and tell a story about a character to their...
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Building Trust
Students identify the qualities that make them trustworthy. In this philanthropy instructional activity, students define the word "trust" and play a game that demonstrates trust between the players. Students discuss people they know who...
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The Classroom Library
Youngsters visit the classroom library to complete various reading activities, pushing their motivation to read! They will discuss different library books and read two specific books that use "Building Block" reading skills. They also...
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In-Group Favoritism
Learners discover how to cross social boundaries. In this character education activity, students discuss the positive and negative impacts of favortism they witness in their local community as well as the international community....
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Peace Journals
Students create peace journals. In this character education lesson, students record their thoughts about peace and their innermost thoughts and feelings. Students use various journal starters, including describing someone who is a...
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Good Judgement and Honesty
Seventh graders write about the importance of honesty. In this character education lesson, 7th graders reflect about the value of honesty and following the rules. This lesson is part of a larger unit on honesty.
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Aesop's Fables
Examine the fables of Aesop with your class. Pupils identify the morals of fables and role-play a scene from their favorite fable of Aesop. Additionally, they compose letters to a favorite character in the fable. Learners role-play again...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Puppet Scenes
Explore character, plot, and setting through dramatic puppet play. Second graders discuss basic story elements and then practice making a character with their sock puppets. After they've crafted a dynamic puppet, they pair up to create a...
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Puck's Girdle
Fifth graders calculate the perimeters, areas, and volumes of everyday objects. They discuss the word problem involving Puck from the Shakespeare play "Mid-Summer Night's Dream," and invent and plan a method for solving the problem in...
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A New Point of View
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
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Remembering Ray Bradbury
Develop empathetic analysts of human character by exploring Bradbury's literary works.
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That's Moor Like It!
How do modern adaptations of Shakespearean plays relate to their original source material? Middle and high schoolers focus on Shakespeare's play Othello and its screen adaptation "O" to explore how modern film adaptations of Shakespeare...
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Interactive Activities to Introduce Teamwork Skills
Introduce teens to the teamwork skills and habits of mind they need to be successful in 21st century classrooms and in the workplace with the activities based on Sean Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens.
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African Americans in the Civil War
Students examine the contributions of African American soldiers during the Civil War. In pairs, they complete Civil War timeline worksheets. They use character cards to assume the identities of African Americans and determine whether or...
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Camel Container: Ceramics
Play with clay while building finger dexterity and important sculpting techniques. Learners make camel containers while they practice throwing and molding clay. Fun camel facts make this an interdisciplinary art lesson.
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Othello's Father of the Bride
High schoolers read and analyze Act one of the play Othello. They examine the themes of love and marriage and interpret Brabantio's words by using different subtexts.
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Let's Put a Spin on Things: Graffiti Role Play
Fourth graders examine what is and what isn't graffiti. They role-play various scenarios, research the Graffiti Hurts website, and discuss when graffiti should be reported to local law enforcement.
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Divinity of hell
Students have to look at the text of the play Othello and cut the text in half. Each group then moves to the computer to their right and continues on with what that group wrote. They then have to stage the final script and perform in...
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The Sorcerers Shown
Students consider the different genres of literary and movie characters. In this character types lesson plan, students brainstorm character genres from books and movies. Students read the article 'Which Wizard Beats 'Em All?' and develop...
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Storymaking Through Pantomime
Students explore performing arts by participating in a role-play activity. For this storytelling lesson, students utilize their physical expressions to particpate in a pantomime performance. Students evaluate performances in their class...
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Communicating Feelings
Learners demonstrate ways to communicate feelings. In this character education lesson, students talk about communication and are shown examples of faces showing different emotions. Learners identify the emotion and practice communicating...
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Crafting a Character - The Making of Shylock
Students, in groups, analyze the characterization of Shakespeare's Shylock from "Merchant of Venice". They examine text, view movies and interpretative drawings and conduct historical research.
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Lucha Music
Middle schoolers listen to four styles of Mexican music, and create percussion instruments which they use to play each style. Additionally, learners create Lucha Libre masks which are also a part of the colorful culture of Mexico. These...
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Earning Trust
Middle schoolers explore trustworthiness. For this character development lesson, students brainstorm communities to which they belong and generate common traits of these communities. Middle schoolers discuss how trust is gained and...