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Shakespeare 2000
Young thespians can try their hand at writing a script and acting out a scene, while gaining a deeper understanding of the universal topics presented in Shakespeare's wide array of plays. Begin the lesson by conducting a compare and...
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What Is the True Story of the Three Little Pigs?
Cozy up and listen to a recording of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Three Little Javelinas. Then, lead your class in a compare and contrast of the two stories by creating a Venn diagram.
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Cat in the Hat
Explore the book The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss with your class. They will design a pattern for the cat's hat. They will create color pattern designs with candy and frosting. In the end, they will describe their pattern.
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"Knot" the Whole Truth: Writing a Modern-Day Story with a Tall Tale's Voice
Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write their own...
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Multiple Meatballs
The book Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, is read aloud,and students listen for regular and irregular plurals in the story. They record their words on a worksheet which is embedded in the plan. This lesson plan provides good practice...
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Founders of the Children's Rain Forest (Open Court)
Fifth graders read a narrative nonfiction piece describing the formation of the Students's Rain Forest organization from the SRA/McGraw-Hill Open Court Reading Anthology entitled, Cooperation and Competition. Founders of the Students's...
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Race into Fluency!
Elementary learners practice reading short passages to increase their fluency. They work in pairs to do repeated readings of Jane and Babe, recording their times. They switch roles and time one another in an effort to decrease the amount...
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Arthur and His Pals
Arthur, the main character in Marc Brown’s books, is the star of this lesson. Pairs of researchers select one character from the Arthur series and use the internet to access Brown’s web site and learn more about their chosen character....
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Lincoln, Douglass, and Black Emergence (Literature and Politics, 1840-1865)
Students examine the ideas of Lincoln and Douglass. In groups, they compare and contrast writings from each man and how they formed the nation with their ideas. After watching "Glory", they discuss how people like Lincoln and Douglass...
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Literature and Interactive Writing: "Plenty of Penguins"
Students listen to and discuss the story elements of the story "Plenty of Penguins." They discuss the elements of reality and fantasy, and as a class write two sentences on small dry erase boards in the form of a letter to the teacher...
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MONSTERS AND MYTHS: SCRIPTS /SCULPTS
Seventh graders are introduced to myths formed by many cultures as a unique genre of literature. They use critical thinking skills to compare and contrast mythic tales, compare versions of the same story, and respond to literature in...
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Literature Circles in Action
Students form cooperative groups to read, discuss, and respond to a novel. They select a novel from offered choices or by criteria given by teacher and complete a culminating project on the novel from such choices as: creating a...
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Cowboys
Young scholars analyze cowboy literature. In this United States history and literacy lesson, students listen to a variety of cowboy songs and poetry, view the video "Rediscovering America: The Real American Cowboy," and view related...
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Women in Africa: Tradition and Change
Students examine a selection of traditional African artwork that portray women and explore postcolonial African literature created by women in order to gain insight into the lives of some black women in Sub-Sahara Africa.
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Using Each Trait to Improve Student Writing
Students study examples of each trait in literature. They discuss how each trait adds to the craft of writing and practice revision of a writing piece with a particular trait in focus. They rate their writing on the trait of Ideas using...
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Genre Study - Grade Three
Third graders learn to identify different types of literature genres. In this genre instructional activity, 3rd graders complete pre and post- assessment, conduct a genre research activity, and complete the associated worksheets.
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How Tragic!
Tenth graders read and study, in-depth, a specific classical tragedy, in this case, Oedipus. They explore strategies from making meaning out of or interpreting texts, as well as strategies for determining how authors create meaning in...
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Flower Symbolism
Fourth graders identify flowers as symbols in art forms. They focus on the Victorian era and create their own flower design for use in visual art or literary forms.
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School Newspaper
Fifth graders write a website based school newspaper using a variety of literary forms to present the news of the school.
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School Newspaper
Fifth graders run a school newspaper on a school website and discover how to use various literary forms as they relate to the writing process. In this school newspaper lesson, 5th graders synthesize information from different sources,...
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Through the Looking Glass: Eudora Welty's Photography and The Ponder Heart
Students study the context of The Ponder Heart through Welty's photographs.
They analyze how illustrations and photographs interact with written text and
create their own images to illustrate a well-known Welty short story....
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I Spy Poetry
Students identify and interpret the rhythm and form of the I Spy poem.
They then integrate art, music, literature, technology, and writing with poetry. Students also write their own poem based on the picture they printed from the I Spy...
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Animal Tales Around the World
Students explore characteristics of Indian Tales/ Parables. In this literature lesson, students compare contemporary society to western culture through analysis. Students create their own tales using this genre.
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Speaking in Grave Tones
Fourth graders examine how a change in attitudes about death took place from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century and was embodied in gravestones, literature, and art.