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All About Me Brochure
Eighth graders complete a prewriting activity to gather information about themselves. They create a brochure using their prewriting activity that will introduce themselves to either a prospective employer or their freshman teachers.
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Laura Ingalls Wilder and Pioneer Life
Fourth graders complete a three-week unit about Laura Ingalls Wilder and pioneer life. They research the topography of Michigan in the 1870's, conduct Internet research, write journal entries, participate in polka and waltz dancing, and...
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Media Awareness: the Basics of Advertising
Learners explore marketing techniques. For this media awareness lesson, students watch instructor-selected advertising and identify the marketing techniques used in each of them. Learners then create advertisements for products.
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Understanding Civilizations through Art
Students research artwork, and create their own using their research as a model. They write a report on the importance of artwork in civilizations.
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MALI TO MECCA, MANSA MUSA MAKES THE HAJJ
Students explore the historical event when Mansa Musa, Ruler of Mali, made the Hajj (or holy pilgrimage) to Mecca in 1324 AD. They create Web pages or PowerPoint presentations maps, charts, posters, and oral presentations with...
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Sea Turtles Underwater
Students discuss different types of sea turtles. They talk a about the characteristics of sea turtle anatomy. Students pretend to look over the edge of a boat in the ocean. They pretend to see a sea turtle. Students create their artwork...
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Mountains: A Drama Exploration
Students dramatize the formation of mountains. In this earth formation dramatization lesson, students read Anne Issacs', Swamp Angel, and research the how the layers of the Earth move to form landforms. They work in groups to dramatize...
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Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf"
Fourth graders study Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf." They explore the characters and the instruments that represent the characters. They create their own version of "Peter and the Wolf" for the purpose of introducing the...
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Portrait of a Place, Portrait of a Family
Learners act out stories based on lives of famous people from Harlem. In this memoirs lesson, students compare the life of the people in Harlem in 1930 to the people of today. Learners explore how "home" is different for different...
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Go, West, Pack Light!
Students investigate the hardships related to pioneer life and the Wagon Train. They listen to an excerpt from the book "Little House on the Prairie," and discuss the hardships faced by pioneers travelling west. In small groups...
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Masks and Aesop's Fables
Students study and perform Aesop's fables. In this Aesop's fables instructional activity, students read and/or listen to a number of the famous fables. They make masks based on the characters and perform a fable using the masks. They...
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Sondheim: Secret Metaphors
Students explore the work of Stephen Sondheim. In this musical theater lesson, students examine the musicals Merrily We Roll Along and Sunday in the Park with George. Students identify and anaylze linear and nonlinear structural patterns...
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Chinese Shadow Puppets
Students explore Chinese culture by performing a shadow puppet play. They create the puppets, develop a script, and rehearse and perform a play which illustrates an understanding of Chinese stories and traditions.
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Toco Toucan - Oil Pastels
Learners create a picture of a toucan from the continent of South America using a pencil, marker, and oil pastels. Students identify the continent of South America and discuss the Toco Toucan. They follow teacher directions to create...
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Life of a Navajo Weaver
Students explore Native American weaving patterns and dance movements. For this Native Americans lesson, students view examples of weaving patterns on the Internet and compare the patterns to a Native American dance. Students demonstrate...
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Castles and Cornerstones
Students become familiar with the style of architecture of medieval times. In this architecture lesson, students design a model of a medieval castle including its cornerstone. Students understand scale in their representation.
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Oceans: A Sensory Haiku
Students create an ocean haiku. In this haiku lesson, students use their five senses to write a haiku. Students watch videos about the ocean, make a sensory portrait, and create a class haiku.
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Contour Drawing Shells
High schoolers develop skills in shading and create eye movement through the use of lights and darks. They show five principles of shading while drawing shells and bones.
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Tie Snakes
Second graders make snakes out of ties. The students sew the bottom of the ties shut and stuff them with shredded plastic bags, the kind from a grocery store. They then sew them shut at the top. The students then sew on button eyes and a...
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Orchid in Blind Contour Format
Students create blind contour drawings. They compare methods of drawing including blind contour and contour approaches. Students follow a blind contour method to produce a drawing of a flower and then complete the piece with a watercolor...
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Discovering National Parks
Students work to preserve American National Parks. For this environmental activism lesson, students research the history of the national parks and determine why they were created. Students then focus on protecting the land, using it for...
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Keyboard Buddies in my Community
Second graders utilize Microsoft Word to create stationery and letters to send to other children in their school building, expressing experiences in their daily lives. As the unit progresses, they create documents to send to other second...
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Youth Helping to Elevate Awareness
Eighth graders read a book whose main character has a physical disability, and complete various related activities. They listen to a guest speaker, simulate experiences at school as a disabled individual through the use of wheelchairs,...
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Percussion Instruments and Pitch
Learners play string instruments to discover how the pitch changes on various string instruments. In this pitch lesson, students listen to video clips and play an online music game. Learners become familiar with music vocabulary.