Curriculum Corner
Fairy Tale Unit of Study
What makes a fairy tale a fairy tale? Use a 27-page packet to supplement your next fairy tale unit. With sequencing activities, story map worksheets, character analyses and story elements graphic organizers, and fairy tale highlight...
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Hispanic World - Spain
Take your class on an electronic field trip to Spain! Visit Cordoba or Barcelona, and run with the bulls (virtually) in Pamplona. Groups search the Internet to find sites that permit them to explore the original Spanish-speaking country....
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Reader Response
Fifth graders reflect upon different concepts of Language Arts while reading literature. In the novel Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, the characters discover a spring of eternal youth. After reading the first several chapters of...
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A Lesson in Vocabulary with El Bronx Remembered
After reading El Bronx Remembered by Nicholasa Mohr, learners complete a KWL graphic organizer based on vocabulary from the novella. A SMARTboard presentation is a good resource for reviewing the vocabulary, as well as the triple-entry...
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Writing Fables
Students develop a working skill of using graphic organizers for writing. The lesson notes that the best kind of organizer is one that is engaging to the appropriate audience. The assessment follows the rubric given in the lesson.
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Literature Circles
Students view a PowerPoint presentation in order to show the five jobs involved in a literature circle. The literature circle is to be used in the class for the reading of novels. A graphic organizer is also used to increase comprehension.
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Writing about Internal & External Conflicts in Lois Lowry's The Giver
Seventh graders examine the internal and external conflicts that Jonas faces in "The Giver" in an essay. Students use SMART Board and Inspiration to organize their ideas graphically before combining them into their paper.
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Words From Names
In this language worksheet, students study words that originated from names. Students complete the graphic organizer of 10 words giving the origin of each English word presented.
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Picture Dictionary
Young scholars write and contribute one page for a class picture dictionary. They discuss how to alphabetize words, and examine both regular and picture dictionaries and how they are organized. Next they create a page for the class...
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A Historical Career Search
Learners analyze the use of language, including non-standard written and oral English. They write persuasive, descriptive, narrative and/or evaluative pieces in response to the story read and keep reflection journals. Finally, students...
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"Data Dabble"
Pupils engage in a lesson which facilitates their use of web sites to find data, graph it, and interpret it, thus scaffolding graphing skills to prepare students for their 8th grade I-search exit project.
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"Whispering Wires": Public Law vs. Individual Civil Liberties
High school student love discussing controversial issues like those brought up in this fourth amendment case study. They examine the 1928 Olmstead vs. U.S. prohibition court case, applying the fourth amendment to determine whether...
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Lions at Lunchtime
In this lion shaped word search worksheet, students find and mark 15 words in a puzzle. The words pertain to the book Lions at Lunchtime.
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Polar Bears Past Bedtime
For this sled shaped word search puzzle worksheet, students find 12 words from the provided word bank. All pertain to the book Polar Bears Past Bedtime.
University of Wisconsin
BEAM: Background, Exhibit, Argument, Method
Thinking of assigning a research paper? Get writers off on the right foot with a lesson that introduces the BEAM research model. Writers brainstorm the background of their topic, explicate the aspects of their topic, consider the...
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The Giver: K-W-H-L Strategy
Explore the theme of release and death in Lois Lowry's The Giver with a K-W-H-L chart. After noting what they already know, kids come up with a list of questions about topics that they would like to know about, as well as how they...
Novelinks
Zach’s Lie: The K-W-H-L Strategy
The attached resource is no lie! The K-W-H-L activity, which is fourth in a series of seven, serves as a pre- and post-assessment. First, pupils brainstorm what they know about a specific topic, then they list what they want to know, how...
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Karaoke in the Classroom
In this word recognition instructional activity, students use a karaoke program to read and sing songs, enhancing their sight word recognition. Students preform these songs to each other. This could also be a fun way to...
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Advertising and Healthy Decisions
Students analyze alcohol and tobacco ads and create parodies of them. The eight lessons in this unit include discussions about why teens smoke or drink, the psychology behind the advertising, and writing persuasive letters to agencies,...
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A Creative Presentation
Bring writing to life with this lesson in which elementary and middle schoolers create a display of the imagery they identify in a series of Gary Paulsen books. They read the suggested materials, identify imagery and descriptive...
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Narratives
Add to the narrative writing experience. Elementary or middle school writers listen to the teacher read a descriptive passage, then reread the same passage silently. They highlight sensory details and figurative language, then orally...
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The Research Paper - Searching for a Subject
Students research a website to look for potential topics for a research paper. They develop a narrowed prioritized subject list on an index card (3X5) using word processing program.
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The Great Kapok Tree- Teaching About Conflict in Literature
Learners identify the plot of a text. In this literature lesson, students listen to the book The Great Kapok Tree and identify the problem and solution. A graphic organizer is used to help reinforce the concept.
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Monster and Myths: Scripts
Learners explore characteristics of the myth genre. In this myth lesson, students become familiar with various myths and the cultures they were derived from. Learners compare in a graphic organizer. Students write...