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Nouns in a Story
Learners, assessing a variety of formatting tools with Microsoft Word, utilize a bank of vocabulary words to make a personal dictionary of nouns. They classify nouns for people, places, things and ideas and separate them into common and...
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Convey Ideas in Writing
Use the platforms of the 2004 presidential candidates to bring persuasive writing to your class. Young voters identify the three issues most important to them in the election and research the issues and candidates' positions. They write...
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Propaganda
How does word choice affect the reading of a text? Compare two headlines that were written about the same event. Is one biased? Discuss how word choice often reveals the author's feelings about a topic. Then look at different techniques...
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Rooting One's Way to Meaning
Discover the Virtual Thesaurus with your class. They use the Virtual Thesaurus to assist them in an inquiry-based approach to discovering the meanings of some common Latin and Greek roots. Each child then teaches a particular root and...
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The Iditarod Race Compared with the Movie, Iron Will
Feel the freezing rush of an Alaskan sled dog race in this reading lesson. Using research about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, seventh graders compare and contrast the depiction in the movie Iron Will. The lesson lasts for seven days...
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Outstanding Women
Research the lives of famous women in this social studies lesson. Middle schoolers use various sources to research a famous woman and create a presentation about the accomplishments of the woman. They can find the central idea throughout...
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What Are the Issues?
Investigate and report on three issues related to a current election. Elementary aged learners research information about specific issues, develop an opinion, and write a persuasive essay using supporting details and evidence to support...
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St. Patrick's Day: James Joyce
Whether it's St. Patrick's Day or not, this lesson can be a great way to study James Joyce and how his heritage has influenced his writing. The lesson is meant to be used with the Gale database, specifically the Student Resource Center...
Wake County Public Schools
Language
Have your class doing everything from reading literature, analyzing literary devices, identifying independent and dependent clauses, discussing, and writing creatively with the rich resource found here. After a mini activity on...
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Amos and Boris: Text Study
Twenty insightful questions follow a read aloud of the story, Amos and Boris by William Steig. Scholars then show what they know through completion of a cause and effect chart, reading fluency assessment, and a written explanatory or...
CPALMS
Analyzing Vonnegut's View of the Future and His Commentary on the Present in Harrison Bergeron
Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" engages adolescents with its theme about the dangers of complete societal equality. Learners complete a graphic organizer to track literary elements in the story, as well as an inference...
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All About Me
Using technology, learners create and deliver a multimedia autobiographical presentation to present to the class. This ambitious instructional activity has learners use a variety of sources both old and new; magazines, poster board, the...
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Sentence Auction
Students read sentences and try to identify which ones are grammatically correct and which contain grammatical errors.
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Verbs
Ninth graders define the term 'verb', differentiate between action and linking verbs, and distinguish between active and passive voice. Use this lesson to examine the effect of passive and active voice in writing.
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Write Right!
After watching part of a Club Write Kids video and discussing the editing process, each group of learners writes a letter to a favorite author. They ask for a copy of a page of manuscript that has gone through the editing process. Prior...
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Cinderella Around the World
Fourth graders compare and contrast different versions of the fairy tale of "Cinderella" around the World. They find the difference and similarities of the different versions that exist of Cinderella fairy tales.
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Persuasion and Parallel Structure
Discuss the definition of parallel structure with your high school class. In small groups, they read a section of "The Declaration of Independence" to identify examples of parallel structure. Each learner writes an essay explaining the...
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Creatively Creating Expository Essays
Learners, after reading Fahrenheit 451, brainstorm inventions that could have been in the novel. They present their invention to the class and writing an expository essay about their creation.
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The "Write" Stuff: Strategies and Conventions for Imaginative Writing
Fifth graders develop and practice the steps involved in imaginative writing. They follow the steps/worksheets included and write imaginative stories of their own.
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Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Read All About It!
Develop an online newspaper covering the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The class publishes their newspaper on the school's Web site and analyze both primary and secondary sources.
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Doctor DeSoto's Foxy Persuasion
Who is Doctor DeSoto? Start by playing a video clip (included). Discuss different methods of persuasion, and then analyze two different persuasive letter examples. What should your class be looking for? Send them off to work in groups...
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Hyperbole and Idiom
Seventh graders use context clues to determine the figurative meaning of idioms and hyperboles. They practice writing idioms and hyperboles in sentences about real life situations around them. This lesson is a good way to improve variety...
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Introducing Synonyms to Early Writers
Upper elementary schoolers examine the concept of synonyms and how using a variety of vocabulary through synonyms can expand their writing skills. They revise a paragraph using synonyms located on the Visual Thesaurus and participate in...
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Dewey Decimal Game
Engage all the upper elementary classes in your school in a game to learn Dewey Decimal Classification. On 5 or 6 consecutive visits to the library, teams from each class learn how the system works, locate books in each category, and...